Minuteman III Missile Model

thingiverse

This is a 3D Model of the Minuteman III Missile currently used by the US Air Force. The model is designed to snap together and come apart to show missile operations. Printing the missile to fit tightly together requires quite a bit of tuning as all printers are a little different and settings that work on one my not work on another. The model is designed to be printed using a 0.4 mm nozzle with 0.4 mm extrusion width. The stage body pieces have a funnel shape on one end, this is printed against the build surface and the top (or bottom in the case of the 3rd stage) fit in like a cork in a bottle - and are glued in place - place the glue on the inside edge towards the top of the funnel. Keep the settings the same for all stage bodies, as it will affect how the interstages fit. The interstage piece stl files are solid so they are more adjustable. Print them with 0% infill and no top or bottom with 2 layer walls. Adjust the extrusion width and extrusion multiplier to make them fit perfectly to the stages. The PBCS is printed in 3 pieces, the shell and the middle top and bottom. There is a PBCS "jig" stl file, this makes it easier to assemble the PBCS. You will notice that there is an indentation in the shell and one part is bigger, this is the bottom. Put the shell over the jig with the bigger portion on bottom. Put the MGS top portion into the shell, it should fit snugly in place. Then put glue on the back of the MGS piece and PBCS shell and then put the PSRE middle piece in place. The platform pieces have a glue gap, this keeps the glue from seeping out. Put glue on the middle innermost flat surface and glue the two pieces together. Print with the glue gap against the build plate. The RV's are the hardest part to fit to the platform. I made 4 sizes with different sized holes, you should be able to find a size that fits, fit can be perfected with extrusion multiplier. The Shroud file is also solid. I printed it with the 1st 4 layers printed with 2 layer walls, 0.4 mm extrusion width, 0% infill no top or bottom. The rest was printed corkscrew with 0.48 mm walls. The raceway is then glued down the z-seam and cut for each stage and interstage. The stl files are oriented as they are assembled, they will need to be re-oriented for printing. The Fusion 360 files have also been included.