Possibly the most advanced 3D Print ever to hit Shapeways from browser based 3D modeling software Tinkercad is the Brewster Station by emmyceru AKA Emily AKA Cat Girl.... Simply amazing... And yes, this is a photograph....

Emily based her 3D Model on a photograph from the 1930's of Brewster station from a postcard from the collection of Steve Swirsky and also visited the site to get more of the details.

In what must have been an epic feat of 3D modeling endurance (especially for a first 3D modeling project) Emily assembled the model brick by brick in Tinkercad with amazing precision and stunning results.

Congratulations to Emily on what is a fantastic first effort at 3D modeling, we hope it inspires others to play with Tinkercad and other free 3D modeling tools and start 3D Printing their designs for real.  You can see more images and get more info on her blog, I Ride the Harlem Line....

If you want to learn to Design for 3D Printing and you are in NYC then we have a range of classes to get you started over the next couple of weeks. Come along and try your hand at making your ideas for real with 3D printing in a relaxed, friendly environment..

Squishy Football 3D-Printing Workshop for Beginners

7:00 pm

Modeling for 3D Printing with Shapeways

Frisbee 3D-Printing Workshop for Beginners

Intro to Design for 3D Printing with Shapeways

We had a great time at the Solidworks User Group NYC thanks to Matt Rohr for inviting us to come along, drink beer, eat pizza and talk 3D modeling with engineers, artists and experts at the VERY cool Kingsland Design & Engineering Lab.. We talked a little about how good Solidworks is for outputting 3D models for 3D Printing with Shapeways.  Some had already used Shapeways in the past such as Mary Wallis for her sculptural lighting works...

If you have a group you would like us to come and talk to please let us know, we are always happy to meet more people interested in making their ideas real with 3D Printing.

So you love Solidworks (so do we), you love 3D Printing (so do we) you want to talk about how you can make the second happen with the first (so do we), then join us at the Solidworks User Group NYC TONIGHT!!

AXN-RXN Engineering
78 Kingsland Ave

Brooklyn NY 11222

 RSVP via SWUGNYC.ORG

We have seen 3D Printed experiments in variable structures in concrete and the potential it has for creating intelligent structures for architecture.  Netfabb have recently uploaded a really simple, interesting video of the capillary effects of 3D Printed structures.  

There is massive unrealized potential with 3D Printing to make the materials function in much more intelligent ways than they are currently being used.  There are two main factors that contribute to the current underuse of the materials and processes.  

The first is the capacity of the human mind to understand the true potential of a new material. When we are given a new material we often use it in the same way, or as a direct replacement for an existing material. As we did with Bakelite to plastics and now with 3D Printing. As we begin to better understand the materials and processes we start to use them in more sophisticated ways until we make the most of their potential, using them for their unique material properties.

The second is the tools we use to design and fabricate the materials.  From hand tools to power tools and now the 3D modeling tools, we are limited by the forms that the software will allow us to create.  With tools within 3D modeling software like Grasshopper, Netfabb or those being developed and used by Nervous System we are starting to see the very tip of the iceberg of intelligent tools to design for digital fabrication.  

We will start to see 3D printed forms being innovative not just in the external forms as we currently see in the Shapeways galleries but also in their internal structure.  The structure of the materials will start to be optimized for strength, weight, porosity, flexibility, impact, abrasiveness, friction and many more factors through data input, not just manual crunching of CAD.  We have seen it start to happen in the arts with form such as Joris Laarman's Bone Chair and Bridge Table and in medicine with porous ceramic structures used to aid in bone grafts but it will eventually be a standard practice in design to enter requirements to define both material structure and form for digital fabrication.

Hopefully Netfabb's simple video will act as inspiration for us all to start think of digital fabrication in this way. 

You can now 3D Print your designs with Shapeways from models created in Autodesk's 123D range of free 3D applications including 123D, 123D Catch and 123D Sculpt.

Autodesk have been making 3D modeling accessible with a range of fantastic free tools to help you make your ideas for real.. Once you have created your 3D file in 123D, 123D Catch or 123D Sculpt you will need to create an account or log in to save it to 'My Corner' of Autodesk's www.123dapp.com.

Once your designs are stored in the Autodesk cloud you can head on over to the fabricate page:

• Start a 3D Printing project
• Choose your design from 'My Corner'
• Specify unit of measurements and scale
• Choose a 3D Printing service (hint: Shapeways)
• Log in with your Shapeways account (or register for a new one)
• Your 123D App produce model will now upload to Shapeways so you can 3D print in any of our materials.