Something missing?

Hi,
In the screenshot in 'my designs' it looks like some parts of the model are missing.
Can I be sure that this will not be the case in the real 3d printed model?

regards,
Mavos

Missing parts is a common occurance, usually the fault is with the software used to create the model, sometimes the fault is the way the the model is put together to form one mesh at upload time.

Your best bet is to grab yourself a copy of AccuTrans 3D and have a look at what is going on with your meshes. NetFabb Studio Basic is also a great piece of software for analysing and repairing your models... the NetFabb people also have an online service Netfabb Cloud for analysis and repair.

and if it is looking okay in Accutrans, does that then mean that is will be okay when fabricating or not? Because in Accutrans nothing was missing...

Did you use the 'Align Normals' feature (lower area of the 'Layers' pane)? - mis-aligned normals show as red

You can always download the .stl and check it in your 3D Software.

Cheers,

Jack

I think I know what the problem is.
In our Cad system all elements that we need are choosen from a catalog. We design pipelines, and all elements are standard items. But that means that in fact the model is not one closed shape, but a lot of closed shapes together. Now sometimes the circular face of an item is shared with that of the item next to it. And this confuses the system that much that it doesn't see some of the items anymore.
Problem is that I am not designing for 3D printing, but have to convert a system 'as it is' to a model that can be read into the shapeways system.
Second problem is that the model I want to print is already quit complex, so I will always be in doubt if I really have fixed everything.
But if I get it working in a relative simple way, it would be very promising for future models to be 3d printed.
I am working in the Process Industry, and sometimes clients really want to see what we design.
We have 3D viewers, but keeping it into your hands really adds value to it!

as far as i know, the STL file on shapeways that you can download, is not the file that has been fixed
it''s just the plain version you've uploaded!

the reason was (if i'm correct) that people wouldn't start using shapeways just for fixing the file