Suspended "Limiting Factor" [V2] (from Iain M Banks Culture novel "The Player of Games")

Background

I got the Iain M Banks Culture drawings book for Christmas; I've loved the books for many years and I've modelled them in the past to build fan art (http://www.fastness.co.uk/imb) so I decided to do a project for printing based on one of my favourite books - “The Player of Games”.

This is a ‘suspended’ model (inspired by but not built from https://www.printables.com/model/573397-suspended-hand ) where the model of the “Limiting Factor” is embedded in a frame using filament strings. If you want to print the ship only there is an STL available of just the ship. If you want the ship model to be a different size the arguments of the SCAD file can change the scale of the ship but note that you will need to remove the code that cuts holes for the suspending strands.

The model looks better in 3d in person than in photos!

This is the second version of this model, I wasn't happy with the old one and this is quite a bit clearer

Technique

The “suspended” model needs to be built in a way to allow the model to be embedded in strands of filament bridged from one side of the frame to the other. This means that the model is not solid, holes for the strands are cut from the model (and the frame). This is important as it allows the bridges to be uninterrupted by the model and laid into the framework. Nevertheless the holes need to be only just bigger than the strands to avoid the slicer joining them to the model but to allow the strand to bond to the model.

The strands are 0.4mm wide, 0.2mm high and long enough to go right across from one side of the frame to the other. The holes for the strands are the same height as the strand (0.2mm) but are 0.2mm (0.1mm either side) wider and about 2mm longer (1mm either end). If you have a larger nozzle you might need to edit the SCAD file to produce a different size of strand.

Printing

The holes for the strands took some tuning but the figures as above worked for me in Prusa slicer with a 0.2mm layer height with a 0.2mm first layer. You need to ensure that you use only 0.2mm layers or the bridges will not line up. You might need to change some settings to ensure that your slicer detects the bridges.