Star Grid Trophy

myminifactory

Here is one of my trophy entries for the 3D Printing Industry Awards 2020. The central sculpture is made solely of overlapping straight tubes, yet it gives the effect of curved surfaces. It is a bit similar to how increasing the resolution or detail results in smoother curves. It would be very difficult to get support structures for this piece so SLS or MJF should be used for it. The central structure which looks a bit like a star with a complicated lattice structure can be removed from the base to get a better view or can be glued into place with the aligning features. The aligning features also match up with internal hollow channels on the base. In keeping with the theme, those hollow channels are also composed entirely of straight tubes but give the impression of being curved. To see these internal channels, a clear resin should be used on an SLA printer. The base is available in both a simple version and a scalloped version. The scalloped version looks a bit like a crown (with a few points/tips and rounded base) but upside down. This would represent a crowning achievement in the world of 3D printing. A plaque can be applied to the outside surface of the base if wanted. Alternatively, there are models of the bases which say 3D Printing Industry Awards 2020 on them.