what is the best place to have a transparent model airplane canopy printed?

[mike5147]

what is the best place to have a transparent model airplane canopy printed? i would like it to look like the traditional plastic model canopy one would find in a model kit. i know those are injection molded but that seems like too much trouble. im modeling the plane in shapeways but their transparency is not very transparent.

[richardphat]

You probably want to look for translucide resin from SLA/DLP, we used to have our 3D printing supplier at axisproto.
However, since I dont know where you actually live, I can't really answer to your question.

However, keep in mind that the more transparent they are, they more expansive they can become.

[mike5147]

i live in upstate New York.

i guess expense is not much problem if it bypasses the trouble of injection molding.

[awerby]

See if you can locate someone with a Formlabs Form1+ who's willing to take on odd jobs. You might try 3DHubs.com . That SLA printer uses a resin that's pretty clear, although it yellows a bit with exposure to sunlight. But it won't show the lamination lines that a FDM-type printer produces.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[Starlord]

Have you considered vacuum forming? Not sure if PLA or ABS would hold up to that.

[mike5147]

Have you considered vacuum forming? Not sure if PLA or ABS would hold up to that.

amazon.com has a vacuform machine for 100 dollars but in order to do that i would first have to order the canopy shape in solid form from say shapeways to use as the vacuform mold, possibly have to sand it with finer and finer grade sandpapers to make smooth, i was hoping there was a way 3D printing would save me all that trouble.

See if you can locate someone with a Formlabs Form1+ who's willing to take on odd jobs

3D printing a transparent model plane canopy requires odd jobs? i thought 3D printing was really advanced like eyeglasses and stuff?

[Marm]

Depending on the method you use to print, the finished product would have way too many aberrations in it for eyeglasses.

I really think vacuum forming might be your best bet. You can build a small rig with some scrap wood, pegboard, nuts and bolts, a heat lamp/gun, and a shopvac. Something like this: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:35402 You can make your own original by cutting out layers of stiff foam, and gluing them together to create the shape you want, then sanding them down to create the finished shape.

[richardphat]

I never thought about using the vac shop would work, I was skeptical and went for a modded fridge compressor.
We have a 5 HP shop vac in our labs, I guess it's time for messing around!

[richardphat]

Back to topic, it might gives you idea....

http://3dprint.com/16561/formlabs-3d-printed-lens/

http://forum.formlabs.com/t/my-first...the-form1/3393

[mike5147]

Depending on the method you use to print, the finished product would have way too many aberrations in it for eyeglasses.

i think this canopy is somewhat high resolution (?) here is front and main canopy files attached in STL format, size is in inches not metric.

i was thinking that in this day and age a person shouldnt have to go through the trouble of vacuforming, i was hoping i could just order it from somewhere.