3D Printing

3D print your own little piece of Norway with Terrafab

3D print your own little piece of Norway with Terrafab
Terrafab generates 3D-printable models from geographical data
Terrafab generates 3D-printable models from geographical data
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We reckon smaller areas and geographic details make prettier models
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We reckon smaller areas and geographic details make prettier models
Users can select their own little piece of Norway with the map interface
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Users can select their own little piece of Norway with the map interface
Terrafab generates 3D-printable models from geographical data
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Terrafab generates 3D-printable models from geographical data
Terrafab generates 3D-printable models from geographical data
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Terrafab generates 3D-printable models from geographical data
View gallery - 4 images

Here's a bit of fun. Terrafab is a web app that uses a simple, familiar map interface with which visitors can select their favorite piece of Norway to 3D print at home (or order a print of, if they're yet to take the home-3D printing plunge).

There's a relief

3D printing DIY enthusiasts are able to download a 3D mesh of their chosen topography, but for the rest of us a 10 x 10 cm (4 x 4 in) block of colored sandstone can be ordered for about US$100 courtesy of Shapeways.

Terrafab is that rarest of middlemen: a useful one, pulling in openly available geographical data and providing the code and number crunching to create the 3D mesh, before making that model available in a 3D printable file. And of course, with the 3D model freely downloadable, you could also shop around other 3D printing services if you can't af-fjord the $100.

A tip when selecting your model: smaller more localized areas tend to work better as the height of any features will print taller relative to the size of the base.

Terrafab was built by the clever people at Bengler, who, according the the website, "invent unlikely and interesting uses for technology." Below you can see company's video about Terrafab.

Source: Terrafab

Terrafab

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2 comments
2 comments
Slowburn
This might be great for setting up a model RR.
Martin Rayner
If this was available worldwide it would be a very useful tool to make 3D maps.