New Starwars film out and nearly Christmas, recently bought a 3D printer so thought I'd have a bash at 3D printing a few Starwars themed baubles for my tree.

Step 1: MATERIALS and TOOLS

PC or MAC

Adobe Illustrator (or any equivalent software package)

Autodesk 123D Design

3D Printer (I used a Print-Rite 3D printer)

PLA Filament 1.75 (any colour)

Craft knife

Bauble string

Step 2: DRAWING the BAUBLE RING SHAPE

Open Adobe llustrator and create a new A4 document

Draw 2 circles:

Circle 1 diameter = 65 mm
Circle 2 diameter = 61 mm

Select both circles and align them both horizontally and vertically.

While the circles are both selected click on the Exclude shape in the Pathfinder tab.

Draw a further 2 circles

Circle 1 diameter = 5 mm
Circle 2 diameter = 2 mm

Select both circles and align them both horizontally and vertically.

While the circles are both selected click on the Exclude shape in the Pathfinder tab.

Select all and align everything horizontally then in the Pathfinder tab click Unite.

Step 3: DRAWING the MILLENNIUM FALCON

Search the internet for a plan view of the Millennium Falcon.

Copy the image.

Paste the image into Adobe Illustrator.

Using the Pen tool click and trace around the image.

Scale the image down to 50 mm wide.

Step 4: DRAWING the TABS & SCALING

Rotate the Millennium Falcon and scale it down further to fit if necessary.

Draw 2 oblong shapes:

Oblong 1 top tab = 1.5 mm (wide) x 8 mm (high)
Oblong 2 bottom tab = 1.5 mm (wide) x 16 mm (high)

Select all and align centre horizontally.

Draw a further 2 oblong shapes:

Oblong 1 top tab = 1.5 mm (wide) x 5 mm (high)
Oblong 2 bottom tab = 1.5 mm (wide) x 8 mm (high)

Select all and align centre horizontally.

We now have to select both sets of oblongs just drawn and move them off center horizontally by 1.5 mm to the right.

Now draw a box 73 mm x 73 mm around the bauble (this box is going help us keep the parts aligned in autodesk 123D Design)

We also have to scale everything so that Autodesk 123D Design can Import the individual SVG files we save from Adobe Illustrator.

The scale factor is:
*0.35278346
Copy this figure then select all the parts of your bauble and paste the number into the Width of the Transform tab.

Select all and position the Bauble to the top left hand corner x:0 y:0.

Step 5: SAVING AS...SVG Files

Delete everything apart from the outer box and the bauble ring shape.

Click Save As and select SVG and name the file Ring.

Edit menu click Undo Clear this will bring back the previously deleted parts.

Select the falcon shape and the longer tabs and the ring shape and hit delete and Save As SVG name it Tab Hole.

Edit menu click Undo Clear.

Select the falcon shape and the shorter tabs and the ring shape and hit delete and Save As SVG name it Tabs.

Edit menu click Undo Clear.

Select everything apart from the falcon shape and outer box hit delete and Save As SVG name it Falcon.

Step 6: EXTRUDING and SAVING STL File

Boot up Autodesk 123D Design

Create and new document.

The Ring part

Import SVG as Sketch and select the Ring.svg file click on the outer box one line at a time and hit delete just leaving the Ring shape.

Click on the Ring shape and select Extrude and vertically extrude it by 3 mm.

The Falcon part

Import SVG as Sketch and select the Falcon.svg file click on the outer box one line at a time and hit delete just leaving the Falcon shape. Click on the Falcon shape and select Extrude and vertically extrude it by 5 mm.

Click on the Falcon image again and this time move it vertically by -2.5 mm.

The Tab Hole part

Import SVG as Sketch and select the Tab Hole.svg file click on the outer box one line at a time and hit delete just leaving the Tab Hole shape.

Click on the Tab Hole image and move it vertically by 1.5 mm.

Now we are going to create two holes in the Falcon shape using the Revolve option. Click on the top Tab Hole image and select Revolve, then click on Axis then click on the left hand edge of the Tab Hole image and type in 360, this will cut a hole out of the Falcon shape. Do the same with the bottom Tab Hole image.

The Tabs part

Import SVG as Sketch and select the Tabs.svg file click on the outer box one line at a time and hit delete just leaving the Tabs shape.

Click on the Tabs image and move it vertically by 1.5 mm.

Now we are going to create two tabs in the Ring shape using the Revolve option. Click on the top Tabs image and select Revolve, then click on Axis then click on the left hand edge of the Tab Hole image and type in 360, this will cut a hole out of the Ring shape. If you do the same action again it will draw in the tab. Do the same with the bottom Tab image.

Moving the parts

We need to move the falcon part and slide it out of the ring and lift it vertically by 1.5 mm and then we can save the file as an STL prior to 3D printing.

Step 7: 3D PRINTING the .STL FILE

Boot up Print-Rite Repetier-Host software.

Click on Load and select the previously saved STL file.

Click on the Slic3r tab over too the right then click on the Slice with Slic3r button to generate the G-Code.

Connect to printer and click Run Job.

It took about 40 mins and I used the default Standard setting in Slic3r.

Step 8: 3D PRINTED JOB

Ok if you followed the previous steps ok then you should have something that looks very similar to the two images, you may need to take your craft knife and tidy it up a little.

Best regards and Happy Christmas

BlanTheGenius