Note - I did not design this geodesic dome. I found the design on Thingiverse and I am very thankful that designers like Abby575 publish great designs like this allowing all of us to use them. So a big shout out and thanks to Abby575

You can find information and the STL files here:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4817590

Supplies

You will need a 3D printer and nearly 2kg (2 rolls) of PLA filament. Also plenty of zip ties. Also long nose pliers and a pair of side cutters

I found 4mm x100mm zip ties on Amazon and also 4mm x 150mm zip ties at my local dollar store. Neither were long enough to be able to use a single zip tie to tie the pieces together, so used 2 per when zipping the pieces together. If you can find 4mm x 200mm they would be better.

Printing each piece takes between 1 and 1.5 hours to print depending on your printer speed and the layer height used. I used a self built Prusa i3 clone printing at either 45 or 50 mm/sec and a .15mm layer height, though with this design you don't see the side of the layers except where the opening is, so a 2mm or 3 mm may work for you and also reduce the print time.

There are 129 pieces (panels) in total and you find the number of each panel needed on the thingiverse page.

Step 1: Print the Pieces

Get printing - there are 129 panels and you will use over 1.5 kg of filament!

The first geodesic dome I printed, I used a multiple of different colours in both solid and transparent. Since the outer face of the panel is printed face down on the bed I think using transparent or translucent filament looks better as you see less lines or "sins" from the first layer. The second dome I printed was natural transparent and a translucent yellow. This is what I will use for the pictures on how to assemble the dome.

Step 2: Assembly of the Panel 1's

Panel 1 pieces become hexagons. Tale 6 pieces of Panel 1 and arrange them so that the faces marked A are next to each other and the faces marked B are on the outside. Start the zip tie inside the triangle. I could only find short (100mm) zip ties, so I used 2 per hexagon. See the attached pictures. A pair of long nose pliers will help you push the zip tie through the holes and into the zipper part of the tie. I then gripped and twisted the pliers to tighten the zip tie. When the zip ties are tightened, the hexagon will start to form a curved shape.

Make 9 of these hexagons. There will be 15 pieces of panel 1 left over for the bottom of the dome.

Step 3: Assembly of the Panel 2's

Panel 2 pieces become pentagons. Take 5 pieces of panel 2 and arrange them so the faces marked C are next to each other and the face marked B is facing out. The paws should face inward. Zip tie them together like you did with the panel 1's. Make 6 of these hexagons.

Step 4: Start to Build the Dome

Take one of the panel 2 "paws" and use as the starting point. Around this you need to attach 5 of the panel 1's.

Take 2 of the panel 1's and lay then next to each other and the panel 2 (see the picture), then zip tie them making sure the head of the zip tie is inside of a panel 1 so it's less obvious from the outside. Then continue on with the remaining 3 panel 1's until you have one of the "paws" panel completely surrounded by panel 1's.

All the faces should be marked with a B in this step.

Step 5: Continue With the Next Layer

Next take the remaining panel 2's that you made in step 3 and zip tie them between the panel 1's

Check the picture to see what it will look like after this step. Again it will all be faces marked with a B

Step 6: And the Layer After That

It should really start to look like a dome at this point and be symmetrical. There will be 4 remaining panel 1 hexagons you made in step 2.

These 4 remaining panel 1 hexagons are next zip tied between the panel 2's "paws" pentagons. There are 5 places and only 4 panels since the remaining gap will become the door for the cat to enter and leave the dome.

Zip tie as you have done to this point and the dome will really be taking shape.

Again in this step they will all be faces marked with a B

Step 7: Bottom 2 Layers - Part 1

This is where it get's tricky...

We are going to make 5 hexagons from 3 panel 1's, 1 panel 3, 1 panel 4 and 1 panel 5.

Lay the 3 panel 1" at the top of your work space. The middle panel will have B facing the top and the A's on each side.

On each side of this panel 1, place the other panel 1's, A sides facing in and at the bottom, and the B side facing out.

Take a panel 3 and lay it at the bottom with the E side to the right and the F side to the left. The bottom will be blank as this is the bottom of the dome. See the pictures - I have put labels on how the panels and sides face.

Make 5 of these. That should use all the remaining panel 1's, 3's, 4's and 5's

Start at the panel 2 "paw" opposite where the opening will be and zip tie the hexagon into the space. All B sides should match and the blank part of panel 3 will be on the outside, which when the dome is flipped over, will be the bottom.

Then do the space either side of this. You will zip tie in 2 places where the panel 1's go against the panel 2 "paws"

The remaining 2 hexagons will be a part of the opening. Where the panel 1's and 2's meet at the opening, I opted to use 3 zip ties rather than have a zip tie visible from the opening - check the picture to see what I mean.

When all 5 panels are zip tied in place, you should be able to flip it over and get an idea of how it's going to look

Step 8: Bottom Layer - Part 2

You should have 5 panel 2's, 6's and 7's - these make up the final parts of the bottom layer.

Place a panel 2 piece with the B side facing down, then place a panel 6 on the right and a panel 7 on the left. The blank side faces the top. Then loosely zip tie then together as in the picture. Don't tighten this zip tie until the 2 panels are zip ties to the dome. Do this for the remaining panel 3's, 6's and 7's

You should see where the five of these 3 piece panels fit into the dome. Zip tie around the panel 2 "paw" first, then use a zip tie on either side of the panel where it fits to the bottom row of panels. In this case I looped the zip tie across the bottom, as this will end up on the bottom and will not be seen. If you do the panel that fits across the opening last, you'll have a good idea how to zip tie this in without making the ties too visible.