Shuttle Tank Cutaway LITE (Space Shuttle style)

NOT TEST PRINTED. I have not printed this one yet. It passes my software checks (watertight, one body per file, flat on the bed, fits a 220 x 220 mm bed, no supports, parts fit together) and the picture is a render, not a photo.

Full version: the full model with all parts is on Cults: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/space-shuttle-stack-cutaway-desk-model-space-shuttle-style

A free sample of a cutaway desk model. This is the external tank hydrogen section of my paid Space Shuttle Stack Cutaway Desk Model (Space Shuttle style), at the same full size as the paid parts. The orange tank shell has a window down the front with the feed line and the orbiter rail moulded on, and the hydrogen tank core inside it shows the tank and its domes in a contrasting colour. They stand on a small round plinth with my embossed roundel and the word LITE.

It is a display model only, not a toy. It is a generic model in the style of the original, not a licensed replica, and it carries no logos, flags, names or trademarks.

How it goes together

The tank slides down over a keyed D shaped post on the plinth, the same post as on the full stand, and sits on the cone at its top, about 1 mm above the plinth. The flat of the D lines the window up with the front. The core drops into the shell from the top and sits on the bore floor.

What you get

• 01_lite_plinth.stl: round plinth, 72 mm across, with the keyed tank post, the roundel and LITE, about 16 g

• 02_et_hydrogen_tank_shell.stl: hydrogen tank shell with the cutaway window, 118 mm tall, about 33 g

• 03_et_hydrogen_tank_core.stl: hydrogen tank core, drops into the shell, about 21 g

What you need

• About 70 g of filament in total (estimate), in two or three colours if you like

• About 4.9 hours of printing in total (estimate, not slicer output)

• No supports. Each part prints standing the way it is shown, and everything fits a 220 x 220 mm bed.

Full version

The full model with all parts is on Cults: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/space-shuttle-stack-cutaway-desk-model-space-shuttle-style

The full Space Shuttle Stack Cutaway Desk Model is about 240 mm tall in 13 pieces: the whole external tank with the intertank, the oxygen tank core and the nose, both solid boosters, the orbiter on its dovetail rail with an open payload bay and a payload inside, a separate engine block, and a display stand with a launch deck.

Honest notes

• Not test printed yet. Fits are checked in software only, with 0.25 mm to 0.3 mm clearances. If your printer runs tight, scale the core or insert down by 1 percent.

• In the full model the intertank above traps the core. Here nothing sits on top, so the core simply lifts out.

• The orbiter rail on the back of the tank has nothing to hold in the lite. It is there because it is the real paid part.

• The tank is tall for its footprint. Use a brim or glue stick if your bed is not grippy.

• Grams and hours are my estimates, not slicer output.

Licence: Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY NC 4.0). You may print, share and remix it with credit, but not for commercial use.

If you print one, I'd love to see it. Post a make with a photo, good or bad, and it helps me improve the next version.

Happy to tweak the design on request.