Imagine the required size of the model is much bigger than the build size of the 3D printer. The solution is to divide the 3D model into parts and print them separately. The printing accuracy of our printer allows us to precisely assemble the whole model out of these parts without any significant gaps.
And as you already know, 3D printing itself often isn’t the last stage of the production line. Very often it needs much more than just the standard finishing process. To accomplish this, quite a lot of sandpapers, brushes, paints, glues, epoxies, binders, sprays need to be used. This is the part we love the most as it is exactly the point where art comes in.
Following are the steps of the process we used when creating one such “too big” model for the Slovak Monuments Institute – the model of Bojná area.
STEPS OF PRODUCTION
1. The digital 3D model is divided into parts and these are 3D printed in fullcolor sandstone.
2. The parts are glued together and the whole model is strengthened with polyurethan foam.
3. The contact edges are sealed with a transparent binder and sanded for smooth finish.
4. The repaired bonds are then painted with high-coverage watercolour.
For the sides of the model we used cut-outs of balsa wood to match exactly the curvature of the model, which we then painted in matt white to give the model a clean look and underline the colours of the printed model.
Even though the postproduction was complicated, the whole process ran smoothly.
PRODUCTION SPECIFICATION
