3D printing a paper model of the entire country of Bahrain, via 3ders.org:
Micro CADD Services (MCS), a full-service engineering firm in the Middle East, has 3D printed one of the world’s largest models of an entire country, Bahrain. The 1:10,000-scale model, 5.4 meters long by 2.2 meters wide, has captivated the attention of the country’s national and local leaders, who primarily use the map for master planning.
To create the enormous model, MCS used Mcor’s SliceIT software to separate the digital map model into smaller tiles they could then print on an Mcor paper-based 3D printer and subsequently glue together. The software works extremely well, with edges lining up precisely, allowing them to bond consecutive tiles together to form a model of virtually any size….
Ian Best, managing director for MCS said, “A 3D printed map has so much more informative than a piece of paper, a flat map or a computer screen. It’s really captured people’s imaginations and is an incredible sales tool for us, demonstrating our capabilities in a novel way.” …
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!
The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! We also offer the LulzBot TAZ – Open source 3D Printer and the Printrbot Simple Metal 3D Printer in our store. If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!