If you’re a Simpsons fanatic but don’t quite have the means to construct your own life-size replica of the yellow house, you can settle for 3D printing your own version courtesy of Cults3D. The online design platform and marketplace is also a social network of sorts, with a large community of designers, makers, and general fans of 3D printing. Designers share their creations to be downloaded either free of charge or for a small fee. They offer a variety of designs, including a lot of seriously cool skulls, a tricky toy puzzle for dogs, and much more.
One of the site’s newest offerings is from Brazilian designer Paulo Bubolz, who carefully designed a faithful replica of the Simpsons’ house and uploaded it to Cults3D. You can make your own for a mere $2.13, with a level of detail no LEGO replica has ever offered.
He designed the house using SketchUp, and printed it with a Protobot 3D printer, which he carefully calibrated to be able to print the smallest parts with the proper detail. The minimum bed size required for the print, he says, is 20 x 20 x 10, with a maximum nozzle diameter of 0.4mm. Supports, which are required for the windows and door frames, are incorporated in STL, so no outside software supports are necessary.
“You can print all windows together, but will get better results if you print each one individually,” Bubolz suggests. “Print necessarily all small parts with a layer height of 0.18 mm (no more or less) to ensure the removal of the supports easily.”