I 3D Printed a 1:200 Architectural Scale Model

Our group just finished our project for architecture school and I wanted to share the 3D print work I did for our group and the completed scale model.

All of the white elements are 3D printed except for the roof mesh, since I thought it would look better to use an actual mesh instead of 3D printing it. The base was a combination of laser-cut MDF and hand cut chipboard. The water element was made of melted silicone gel wax.

We did the digital model in Sketchup and used a couple of elements from 3Dwarehouse. It took me a day or two to remodel the original model for it to be ready for 3D printing.

It took around 113 hours to print, not including test printing and the times I had to reprint some pieces. I used around 2 Kg of white eSUN PLA+ on a Neptune 4 Pro.

This was my second time doing an architectural scale model using a 3D printer and this is my most elaborate 3D printing project yet. I think the hardest part of this project was printing the space framing for the roof since the space framing tubes were only 1.5mm in diameter. It was a pain in the ass to remove the supports for the framing since the pieces were really delicate due to the small diameter.

I'm proud of how the prints came out. This was a fun project since we got to combine manual scale modelling techniques with 3D printing to achieve the model we envisioned.

I included some pictures of Orca Slicer containing the parts I printed for the model as well as the modified 3D model in Sketchup. I also included some behind the scenes pictures. The last two pictures are the architectural boards of our project.