1

Hello there!

I’m new to this, hope someone out there can help. :slight_smile:

I would like to print a 3D map of a specific area of the country - on a detail level, what matters the most, for effect/communication purposes, is the altitude and the slope of the area.

Is it possible? How/Which is the fastest way? Which material should I use for this? and what’s the recomended dimension?

Thanks a lot!

V.

2

Hey Veronica_Silva,

I’ve never heard of someone trying to do this so I wouldn’t be sure of the level of success, however it should definitely be possible.

First things first, the modelling. If it’s just the gradient of the ground that your after then you should be able to get the correct slopes and shape by using maps/ google maps. By using the contour line for reference you could create a shape that correctly resemble peaks and troughs in the landscape. However if your looking to add building it would involve more work into finding their correct scales and features of the structures.

Do you have any modelling experience? If so I could guide you, but if not I could always give it a go.

When deciding what material you should first think of the purpose and requirements. Do you need flexibility, must it be rigid or what textures or colours do you need. Y having a basic idea if this you can better search for the material for the job.

Finally the dimensions. If you have a small design there may be less detail, but will cost less and large prints will cost more but usually obtain more detail. The correct dimensions really depends on the size of what your scaling down. Ideally it should be big enough to show details and clearly show the area of land, it should not be too big however as it will cost more and may result in warping (raising of material usually at the edges)

I hope this helps you with your work. If you have any further questions just ask. I’d be happy to help you with your work if your struggling with any modelling or ideas.

3

Hello Veronica,

I was curious to learn how to do this after reading your post and I found this video from 2013. - YouTube

From that video I’ve learned that:

  1. Yes it’s possible and…
  2. Google limits you to download 1 km^2 per download
  3. Can be done with Sketchup (Some 3D modelling program)
  4. Can be exported in STL format so it’s printable (STL is the format that most 3D printer software recognises)

If anyone has some relevant/ up-to-date information I would also be interested to learn. Might be handy some day.

Which material? PLA is known to be cheaper per kilo for modelling and since it doesn’t carry any load or function it’s the best material for this application. If you have a higher budget, you could go for full colour printing but that requires more work in prepping the data to do so. You need some way to tell the printer what colour goes where.

Recommended dimension… Well for me it would depend on a few factors:

  1. How big do I want this thing to be? Fit in my palm? Fit on my table? 30 cm x 30 cm? You need a basic dimension first.
  2. How many square kilometres do I want to cover?
  3. What is the resolution of the terrain map that Google supplies? High enough resolution then no problem, too low then I might have to stitch a couple of squared kilometres together.

Solve each issue on the way and you will have your model in your hands in no time.

1 Like
4

Hello!

Thanks a lot for your help. It sure gave me a ‘jump start’. I’ll keep in touch to share the experience, but I’ll just accompany the project - we will contact people with experience on the subject to do the modelling and the printing. I’ll gather as much info as I can to share after. :slight_smile:

Really grateful for your help!

V.

5

Hi!

Thank you for your help. It was enlightening and combined with the answer above I know have ‘guide’, in no time. :slight_smile: As I replied to 3D Muse: I’ll just accompany the project - we will contact people with experience on the subject to do the modelling and the printing. I was looking for more info so I know what to ask/look for and to learn how it’s done, hoping it will make a difference in the outcome.

I don’t have experience in modelling (althought I would like too. Trying to make the time to learn more afterhours), and I’ll probably ask more questions along the process, so thank you for your availability. :slight_smile:

Thank you a lot,

V.

.

6

I’m happy this helped you. If your starting out with modelling I’d suggest using a simple CAD software like Google Sketchup. It’s great to begin with as I used it myself. It’s difficult to do intricate designs though, but once your ready and up to that stage you will be able to upgrade. One thing that I’ve learnt when moving into more complex packages is to learn the basic features first then as you need more just look it up online. Otherwise you’ll just be overwhelmed with details and struggle using it.

Just take your time and you’ll soon know everything about modelling.