Category: Design

Design tips for creating 3D digital models for printing on a MakerBot

Preparing to paint

Here’s what I did to get ready to paint:

  • Gathered a lot of cardboard boxes, opened up and laid flat
  • Taped said cardboard into large overlapped sheets, taped up any holes
  • Bought primer, dark gray
  • Opened the garage for ventilation
  • Changed into clothes I didn’t mind getting dirty
  • Looked carefully at the various diagrams to make sure I’m going to paint certain parts the colors I want

Mission critical decisions

Such as:  Should I paint?  What color(s)?

I’m thinking I should paint.  I figure it will help the robot body stand up to a little extra wear and tear while looking cool.

Not white or black.  That’s SOooo October 2009.  I’m liking gray/gunmetal/silver.  I’ve only seen pictures of one silver MakerBot and I rather liked it.  (Thank you to RDon Ebben/Robostang 548 for posting pics of his MakerBot 347.)  The picture is a little dark, so I don’t think I can see it to its full effect.

Just the other day a user named unrepentantgeek posted a Google Sketchup version of a MakerBot, to make it easy to test out paint/color schemes.  URG – you’re the best!  Thanks to you, I got to test out this color scheme:

Roughly a 50% gray on the outside, silver on the inside.  (I figure I can’t rightfully name the machine Bender unless it has a shiny metal assplate, right?)