Week Seven Outside Lab

After many weeks of trying to secure a slot to 3D print in the studio, I was finally able to begin printing. The model itself was hollow on the inside and had a extrusion of 0.3 millimeters (Figure 1). We chose the white filament so that it would be easier to paint and add details. We also decided to print not just the model of the pedestrian bridge, but also the surrounding buildings in one run.

Figure 1: 3D Model of the Skyway over Chestnut Street

The printer ran into trouble when creating the tops of the buildings because it could not get the filament to stay in place and stay firm on the edges of the buildings' walls, so many of the buildings have holes in the roofs. We decided that we would add some white cardstock or construction paper to the roofs to cover the holes. Then we plan to add more details in terms of color and bridge finishing touches.

Because the bridge is truly quite small, we are in the process of building a section of the skyway that showcases the rooftop garden, the overhead lights, and the material of the walkway. We also contacted the head of the 3D printers too see if we can use the largest 3D printer to create a bigger scale model of the bridge while also utilizing the dissolvable filament supports. Hopefully we will hear from him soon. 

Week 8 will consist of more 3D printing (if we are granted access to the larger printer), working on and adding detail to the existing 3D model, finishing up the larger section of the skyway, and revising the final report.