Friday, May 12, 2017

Slide of the Month May - Project Gemini


May 2017

Time to design: 2 hours
Time to print: 2 hours (your times may vary Finishing: 1 hour
Original design: autocad123
Original designer: unknown
Try it yourself: Gemini capsule slide

 
Another slide you can 3D print and paint! Fascinated by the space race as a kid, I watched every launch I could. Project Gemini was a test platform for testing many of the things and maneuvers, like docking,  that would be needed in our quest to land a man on the moon.  It was nicknamed the "Gusmobile"  by fellow astronauts because of Gus Grissom  deep involvement in its design. The design was so versatile and dependable there was going to be a Gemini-B and Big G versions.  The  Gemini-B version that was going to be used by the Air Force for a planned a Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). (Great documentary on it called Astrospies on PBS)




The Big G was to be an extended version of the Gemini-B that would carry 9 man missions

I believe I found the original out at autocad123 and I brought it into tinkercad to scale and modify. (Note: The ring is kind of thin and you might want to enlarge the thickness a bit.) When done with my modifications, the project was imported into Cura to convert it into a printable file with the Ultramaker 2 printer at my local library,  Berkshire Athenaeum, to print. When done priniting, I cleaned up the model with a sharp knife and sandpaper. I painted the model with some white and black spray paint and detailed the windows with paint pens. The lettering and flag where done using water slide paper and a printer.