Hey steampunk fans, if you have a 3D printer then 3D designer and artist Don Foley just posted a great Steampunk Picture Frame 3D printing project that is ideal for new or experienced hobbyists alike.
If you’re unfamiliar with Steampunk, it’s a genre of science fiction that melds Victorian sensibilities and style with fantasy steam driven technology. The picture frame project has a bunch of great ‘steampunky’ details that really stand out. Most DIY steampunk projects tend to just glue a bunch of gears onto anything and call it a day. While that may be fine for beginning cosplay it usually comes off as cheap or tacky upon closer examination, so it’s nice to see a steampunk object that looks like it’s been thought out. Granted, realism isn’t really all that important in Steampunk, but you at least want it to look like it makes sense. Yes, this picture frame has gears on it, but they look like they almost have a purpose and the entire thing is really well designed.
If you have your own 3D printer with a print bed of at least 6in x 8in then you can easily print this picture frame yourself. The build was optimised for printing with PLA and requires no rafts and no support material. Foley suggests a print head temp of 205 degrees and there is no heated bed required. He used his Wanhao Duplicator 4, but the build seems simple enough for any basic desktop 3D printer.
The build will require two prints. The main print, which should take about eight hours on a standard desktop printer and a very brief second print for two small pipe pieces that would not fit within the print envelope. And that’s the hardest part of the build, you simply need to clean the parts and paint your picture frame any way that you want. Foley also includes some 2D printable decals for the gauges, or you can simply paint your own on.
The digital model of the picture frame – as well as several other great 3D printable models – is available on Don Foley’s 3D Print Store for only $10.00.
And for those who may be interested in customizing the picture frame or the parts that go onto it, Foley also talks in detail about how he created the 3D model using a combination of Adobe illustrator with Lightwave 3D to create many of the custom shapes. If you’re reasonably familiar with those programs he gives some pretty basic instructions for creating your own steampunk parts or reconfiguring the build to your own specifications. Naturally, he only verifies that the original unedited model will print correctly, but if you’re a regular 3D modeller this seems to be an extremely simple model to play around with.
