Thunderbird 1

thingiverse

There are already a few Thunderbird 1 models on Thingiverse, but none of them suited my needs. So I created a new one divided into parts in such a way it could be printed in the original coloring. I also added dowels to make gluing the model together is very precise and easy. The dowel is 0,2 mm smaller than the holes they go in, so they should fit easily. The names of the STL files contain the color and the amount to print. All parts that slide in or over each other are made with 0.2 mm clearance. That should be enough to make them fit around each other smoothly. You can use a small drill or some grinding paper if it's too tight, but if your printer's calibration is good enough things should fit nicely. The model's main parts can print without supports exept for the wings and the rocket engine. I used a SLA (resin) printer for these two because a SLA printer leaves less marks on supported surfaces. The rest is printed with a FDM (filament) printer (Tip: Also put the rocket engine upside down, then the wing tips need no supports.) I used an SLA printer (Creality LD-001) for small detailed parts, and a FDM printer (Creality CR-6 SE, with lots of modifications) for the rest.