Polysmooth Figures

In one of our 3D Printing classes, we use the making of a multi-coloured figure to illustrate slicing of a 3D model, which is a useful skill in 3D printing. Here are the steps.

Step 1, click the following link to download this .stl file.

https://bit.ly/pigstl

Step 2, open Tinkercad and start creating a new 3D design.

Step 3. Import the Pig.stl you have just downloaded. You do not need to scale the model.

You do not need to scale the model.

Step 4. Add a "Box Hole" at the back of the pig. (Note the orientation of the Workplane in the illustrations below)

Adjust the width to 80 and the height to 50.

Drag the right back square to the right so the box cover about a third of the pig.

Step 5. Use the Duplicate and Repeat function (Ctrl+D) to duplicate the box, at the position of the original box.

Step 6. Drag the duplicated black box to the right to form the middle box. The left side of this middle box should just pass and touch the right side of the left box. Adjust the right side of the middle box as appropriate to cover a desired middle portion of the pig.

Now you have two boxes right next to each other. (see below)

Step 7. Repeat Steps 5 and 6 with the middle box.

Step 8. Press Ctrl+A to select everything and Ctrl+D to dupliacte.

Drag the duplicated objects to the side so that they don't overlap with the group of original objects.

Repeat so you have three groups.

Step 9. Delete the left box of the first group, by selecting it and press Delete.

Delete the middle box of the second group.

Delete the right box of the third group.

Step 10. Select the objects of group 1 by dragging a box to include them with your mouse.

Press Group (Ctrl+G).

You should be left with the left end of the pig.

Repeat with the second group to get the middle portion.

Repeat with the third group to get the right portion.

Finally, you can select one of the three objects and then press Export

Step 11. Export each section to an .stl file by selecting the desired object , one at a time. These can be sent to a 3D printer for printing individually in different colours.

Repeat for the other two objects.