I have found a model that I really want to print, but unfortunately, it is an .stl or .wrl file with a gap between the canopy and the body of the ship. I tried converting it to a .sldprt file for SolidWorks 2012, but can’t modify it as it could only import it as a surface.
Is there any chance that someone could tell me what software I could edit this in to make the canopy and the body two separate files, or to combine them together into one solid?
Or, perhaps a saint who would make that change for me? I would be in your debt!
Thank you for any tips, assistance, help
The file is attached, and I can attach any other file types available from GrabCAD here if someone was interested in helping but needed a different file type. You can see the available file types here (free to download, but you have to register to do so):
Note that the attached files are all the same model, just in different formats. The .stl and the .sldprt look better than the .wrl file, so it’d be better to work with one of the first two if possible.
i tried to edit this file in solidworks and my version is 2010 so it will not open. When i try to open the STL file i get a VRML graphic import. I cant even select any of the faces. If you can import it as a surface you should be able to knit the surfaces together. There is also a untrim surface/fill surface/boundary surface command to fill gaps between surfaces. When you have a full enclosed body use the “try to form a solid” in the “knit surface” command, and it should create a solid.
Just a thought, after you get the whole model to be a solid, you might want to offset the main fuselage with a offset surface, and then form a solid from that new offset. Then use the “combine” command in solidworks with the “subtract” ticked, where the main fuselage and the offset surface body are selected. This will save print time and material on the main body. Remember the offset used will be the end thickness of the model after subtracting the two entities.
If you don’t quite understand the hollowing process that i tried to described, try the surfacing correction to get the canopy attached.
i tried to edit this file in solidworks and my version is 2010 so it will not open. When i try to open the STL file i get a VRML graphic import. I cant even select any of the faces. If you can import it as a surface you should be able to knit the surfaces together. There is also a untrim surface/fill surface/boundary surface command to fill gaps between surfaces. When you have a full enclosed body use the “try to form a solid” in the “knit surface” command, and it should create a solid.
Just a thought, after you get the whole model to be a solid, you might want to offset the main fuselage with a offset surface, and then form a solid from that new offset. Then use the “combine” command in solidworks with the “subtract” ticked, where the main fuselage and the offset surface body are selected. This will save print time and material on the main body. Remember the offset used will be the end thickness of the model after subtracting the two entities.
If you don’t quite understand the hollowing process that i tried to described, try the surfacing correction to get the canopy attached.
Ah, I should have thought of uploading an older SW version, as that happens to us all the time too (or did until recently when we upgraded!). Here is a version that is an imported surface in Solidworks 2008 (attached at the bottom of this post). Do you think you could try opening it and seeing if it will work for you?
I have heard of a few of the functions you mentioned, but haven’t been able to figure out how to use them in playing around with this so far… also, I am not worried about this being a solid piece, I think I might actually prefer it that way (rather than shelled) just so that it is more robust and easier to print.
Stephen – are you using the latest version of our software? I tried loading the STL in PreForm (including the repair), and didn’t have any problems. Would you mind opening up a support ticket with us, so we can try and repeat the issue?
Additionally, as others have mentioned, I highly recommend that you try to shell the piece. A large solid model like that, in addition to having a significant build time, can be challenging to print.
Sam – There are no problems inserting this model into the form 1 software, it does repair, but if you look between the fuselage and the canopy there is about a 3mm gap where the model does not connect. The gap might be too large for the software to be able to correct.
Stephen – i tried to open the file you have posted… As soon as i try and section view the model my solidworks also crashes hard! It seems like there are too many polygons for my system to handle. I will try opening it in 3ds max, or netfab to see if i can help you further.
Andrew- Ah, here is a 3ds max version of the file for you! Thank you so much for all your help- I am such a noob to non-SW software. I did download Meshlab and will be learning it, but the world of meshes is all new to me.
Sam- As Andrew says, I can open this with PreForm, although if I remember right I cannot ask it to repair the model. In Meshlab, there were a lot of holes and the like that it wanted to fill, but again as a new user I couldn’t figure out how to close the gap between the canopy and the body. I saw the demo of PreForm fixing all the punched holes in the car, but I think this model was too much for it (I’ll verify when I get home and have access to the PreForm software again). But it does open and can be viewed as-is just fine.
Yes, that was why I was hesitant to shell- I think most of the model would come out, but without adding a honecomb in the center, I’m not totally sure.
This was actually a nice feature on my old Thing-O-Matic (which I sold to fund my Form 1 purchase :)) that you could specify a “percent solid” for the bulk of the part, and it would make a honeycomb pattern. However, I’m not sure if this is as feasible with a liquid resin printer. So to be on the safe side I was thinking to print this as a solid (I would scale the part down to be no more than 3 or at most 4 inches long).
I’m still hoping that Formlabs might be able to incorporate another suggestion that I made a while ago too, that of part cured support tips. I’m probably missing something but I guess it wouldn’t be impossible to modify the laser cure time of the final part of the support tip so that it remained softer and easier to break away. Perhaps this is just a fantacy but it would certainly accelerate Preform and the Form1 up to the top of the must have printer league.
I’m a preorder so I won’t be trying this out myself any time soon!
I have only had mine for a week, Alan, but removing supports is thus far my biggest hurdle. I think that the very best-looking parts will have to be ones that have a clear “bottom” that the supports can attach to, and thus where they’re removed and sanded will not be as visible. They still break off quite easily, it’s just getting a good finish where they were that’s hard!
Coincidentally, this model that I would like to print is one such model with a clear bottom surface that I would like to use to show off what my printer can do! But that gap between the canopy and body has to be dealt with first… I’ll be playing around with it in Meshlab tonight, too, although I’m hoping Andrew will save the day for me
Wow, the community / support on the web for newbies to 3D printing is amazing! A user over at Soliforum (where I had first posted the question before thinking to do so here!) modified the file to bring the canopy down a few mm and in contact with the body. That file is attached, and I will be trying to print it overnight tonight. Will post pictures if the results are good (if they’re not, I’ll try again and post pics when they are!)
I’ve heard that, but there isn’t a price listed for the software on their website. Is it affordable for personal use? The only way I’m able to use SolidWorks is either through my work computer on off hours, or through an educational version of the software (as my wife is in academia). If I had to pay for the full price of a professional SolidWorks license, it would be out of my reach (a few thousand just for a year’s use).
I’m currently evaluating a trial copy of the software for work which will probably pay for it, but no the software is not affordable for personal use. It’d be similar price to a copy of Solidworks. I believe academic/educational copies are available, but no idea on the impact of the price point.
One thing to note is that in the last image, you can see that the supports are generating differently underneath the gun barrels on the two sides of the ship- on the far side, they have 3 supports under the barrel, and on the near side only 1. I need to figure out why that is… on this print, I cut off the middle 2 barrels as one didn’t really cure where it was highlighted in red, and one I accidentally broke ;). I’m printing it at twice the size during the day today.
But this leads me to 2 questions:
Can anyone tell me why the supports would generate so differently for the gun barrels on the 2 sides of the ship, or how to adjust this?
If a barrel is still a little wobbly / not fully cured when it comes out, will putting it in the window to let the sun shine on it help? I read this and tried it even with the one that came out this morning, just in case it helps. The next print should be stronger since it will be at twice the size (this one I scaled to 0.25, the one printing now is scaled to 0.5).
looks good there Stephen! The only option you have now to increase the support density. This will pack more support points on the model. There are no features to manually add supports yet. Im hoping that this will be an option in the future! You can also change the support thickness, but i think that support density is you option!
Man, it does look like your having a lot of fun with you new machine! I hope i get mine soon! Keep us posted with you progress!
