Cardassian Shuttlepod 3D Print 1/48 Scale

[R.W.]

Hi all,

It's been a LOOOONG time since I made any trek designs, let alone showed them online, but I recently finished a 3D model that I thought you guys might like. I designed this Cardassian shuttlepod schematic way back in 1998:



Then in 2015 I started using Rhino 3D to design military model parts for 3D printing. After a few years I decided to give the pod a go in 3D during a bout of sci fi inspiration. It quickly evolved away from the original design. As you can tell, I never did learn how to do textures properly. Also, Rhino's built-in renderer is a bit ropey. I never invested time in learning more because it's just not necessary for 3D printing: it's the physical prints that count for me!






When I felt it was done, I sent the file off to my brother the 3D printing wizard (well, in my book he is), who printed it in 1/48 scale using his Phrozen mini 8k printer. It came out looking pretty smooth:








I've since removed the scars from the printing support struts on the rear of the model and done some sanding to remove the most obvious printing lines. Now all it needs is some filler here and there and it should be ready for painting..

I hope you enjoy!

RW

 

[publiusr]

Jaw-dropping

Collect those printing support struts.

Enough of them and you can make an erstwhile Cygnus

 

[Tosk]

Aye, cute little bugger. Reminds me of the critters from *Batteries Not Included.

 

[Mage]

Man, I know everyone will love that physical model. I mean, I do and I want one! But your mesh well done mate!! Great work!

 

[Cyfa]

Wow! That's fantastic! And unmistakably Cardassian

 

[Bernard Guignard]

Very nice work there.

 

[R.W.]

Thanks for the comments everyone! I've done some filling and sanding, one more round of that and it should be ready for some paint. I'll ask my brother if he's interested in printing it for customers. I'll detail the bottom some more in case anyone wants to put it on a standard. I didn't bother with that for my own print as I'm planning on sticking it on a base.

RW

 

[Michael]

Outstanding job! The 3D printed version looks flawless.

Design-wise this somehow strikes me as something that would have shown up during Enterprise's run, when they had much more freedom to include one off ships as digital models.

 

[DrNicket]

Beautiful design! Are you sharing the file for others to print by chance?

 

[Finn]

Yeah, cute. Where's the door/hatch?

 

[Michael]

Yeah, cute. Where's the door/hatch?

I could be totally wrong, but my guess would be it opens up like this (plus, there's what appears to be an airlock on top of it) …

 

[Finn]

That was my guess

 

[R.W.]

Hi everyone,

it's been over a year, and not a good year, but I finally managed to upload the model to cults3d. I can't post a link here or I'll break board rules, but you should be able to find it easily or else send me a PM. Michael: you were correct about the doors . Thanks for the feedback guys!

RW