15cm s.F.H 18 - 3D printed

[EPOCH3]

When I started into 3D modeling many years ago, there were several 15cm SFH kits out there such as the ones from Hinchcliffe and Gunze etc. but nothing in plastic. Theses white metal kits were not quite up the level of detail that an injection molded version would have had.

The 15cm SFH 18 was the first 3D model I actually made and had meant to print it out but the printers at that time were not yet good enough (or available to general hobbyist). Along came trumpeter and dragon with good kits so I put the project on the shelf.

Over the weekend I decided to print out the model I had made years ago to see what it would look like physically and also just to have one that I had designed and made myself.

The attached pictures show first printing of my 15cm SFH. There were a couple of areas that need to be modified but overall it looks pretty nice.
I still need to do the brake assemblies and the spades.

I will also do a 10cm K18 barrel for it and the protze.

For anyone interested, the resin material cost was as follows for parts shown.
(doesn't include spades and brakes yet)
Actual model parts: $3.70
Supports: $3.44


Happy Modeling history

Regards

[sitalkes]

Amazing! The future is now! How difficult is it to draw the plans in 3D? I can't begin to understand the complexity of such a task in such detail!

[EPOCH3]

Thanks - I use Rhino 3D software which for me was one of the easiest CAD programs to learn. If you sat down with someone that knows Rhino well and just had them show you how to do simple shapes, you'd say I can do that - it's really not all that hard or technical at the level I model at. At the base of it, you simply draw lines, circles, boxes, spheres and cylinders to construct shapes. You then add or subtract them to make other shapes. There is usually lots of symmetry in objects as well so you use that to your advantage to save time (like you would only draw 1 car tire and then copy/mirror it to do the other 3).

There are many rhino tutorials on you-tube that you can check out but the easiest way to familiarize yourself with the program is to get 30 minutes of time from someone who knows the program.

For me, the bigger issue is finding accurate data - often you simply take scanned drawings or photo images and put them in the background and then trace over them to start with. You then just add progressive levels of detail depending on how good and/or plentiful the data is on the subject you are modeling. I have always tried to make my models historically accurate so I use real manuals and drawings as the basis for them. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of the process if you have a dimensioned drawing etc. to start with.

I attached a few screen captures of the actual 3D CAD model that I am printing for reference.
Take care and regards

[EPOCH3]

Hi - just posting a few additional pics of my 3d printed 15cm SFh 18 project.

The spades turned out rather nice I think - I made them detachable so that they can be
properly stowed on the legs if I want to show the piece in transport position.

The carriage axle base is a very complicated part - I printed the brakes separately at first since I was unsure
whether they would print well. Some pictures look a bit soft since they are still wet with alcohol. Once
they dry, they look lighter in color and the detail will show up better. I also made a version that integrated
the brake/locking assy onto the base. I liked that idea enough that I then added the hydraulic lines which
actually printed.

Regards
Greg

[EPOCH3]

Hi - I liked my 3.7cm Krupp machine cannon that I did in 1/15th scale so I decided to
reprint the 15cm SFh 18 project in 1/15th as well. I was looking on ebay and the Verlinden
1/15th scale resin kit goes for like $450 (wow)! My printed version will cost about $90.

Some pics show the 1/15th scale part sitting next to the 1/35th scale part -

This thing will be huge -

[EPOCH3]

For the 1/15th scale version I printed the brake/locking assys separately.
That was primarily so that I could lay the parts in flat position so as to
put/hide most of the supports on the backside/inside surfaces.

Happy Modeling

[EPOCH3]

Hi - in 1/15th scale the barrel rifling even showed up....
Regards

[EPOCH3]

Hi - a couple of parts I built overnight for the 1/15th scale version.

* The Ausgleicher set (the cylindrical looking parts)

* The Gelenkkopf (the base) with Auhsfelderung (axle and spring assy) and Achsverriegelung (the translating axle)

* The Erdsporn (spades)

Some parts shown with the supports as built and then
also after supports have been snapped off (no detailed cleanup yet)

Happy Modeling

[EPOCH3]

* The Erdsporn (spades)

[Andrzej Ditrich]

Very well done
1/36, 1/15 - I'd like very much to see 1/72

[EPOCH3]

Hi - First 1/15th scale wheel just off the printer.
Took about 6 hours to make. Material cost was $9.42
which could have been reduced a bit if I had hollowed
it out.

Regards

[EPOCH3]

Hi - I tried to print both legs in a single print which would have taken 19 hours
to print. It stopped for some reason after 11 hours with no explanations -
I then decided to print the left and right side legs separately to reduce waste
if it stopped in the middle of the build again.

I had to split the legs into two parts each to fit within the build envelope
of the printer (just over 12"/305mm long).

Build time the first leg was 8 hours 10 minutes and material cost was
approx. $10.89 total ( $5.94 for the actual part and $4.95 for the supports)

These parts are all being printed using the Medium resolution setting.

Happy Modeling

[EPOCH3]

Hi - just a quick update picture showing how big the split trail/legs are -

Most of the time the supports need to be removed very carefully to avoid damage
to details. The resin is a bit soft just after the part has been printed and it dries out
after a few days (or you can use a UV light and speed up the curing time). On larger parts
that have little detail to worry about, you can get a bit rough and just break the supports
off in bulk while the part is still "wet" and hasn't had time to fully dry out yet.
I uploaded a picture to show the supports that were removed from one of the wheels
in just such a way.

Regards

[EPOCH3]

Hi - a few more pictures of work in progress and how things are coming together.

For anyone interested, I added up the amount of resin used for the parts shown just to
get an approximation on total parts cost for the model - cost for parts only came up to
$60.12 (supports not included).

Regards

[EPOCH3]

Just printed the sight mechanism - took about 3 hours to print two of them.
Even though this is the medium resolution, they look pretty good.