I have been busy with the 3D printer since posting my original thread on the subject, (link below).

3D Printed WW2 Replicas & Models

Since then I have trawled the net looking for decent files to print further models and replicas. The problem I found was that many of the files I found were of a scale that was just too small, in the order of 1/35th and such like. I did find a few 1/6th scale models, but even these were either poor quality, or still too small. The ones I did find of high quality usually turned out to be files that were 1:1 files for WW2 weapons. These were multiple print files, which contained individual component parts and, as I pointed out in my first post on this subject, would be illegal to print under UK Firearms legislation, so I steered WELL clear, to the extent I didn’t even download any such files, let alone print them!

Of the files I found of decent quality, I was limited in the amount I could enlarge them, purely because of the size of my print bed. I then discovered a piece of software that allowed me to ‘chop’ STL 3D files in to chunks. I am still a way off being able to construct my own 3D files accurately, so this had to suffice for now. Basically, I took high quality files for a 1/35th or 1/6th model and chopped it in to 3 or 4 chunks. This then meant, when I rendered the 3D print file itself, I could enlarge each piece to a greater scale than I could if I tried to do the same with a ‘complete’ replica/model. The limiting step here is the size of the print bed, so printing things in chunks allowed me to enlarge them greater than I could the complete model.

As they had no moving parts at all, (basically a solid chunk of plastic), but were still scale models of original weapons, there is no issue with the firearms act. After all, they are just models, and nothing else, and still far from 1:1 scale.

Further down this thread you can also see some 1:1 files I did find of various WW2 grenades, again with no moving parts and obviously completely inert and just ‘toys’, albeit realistic ones once I painted them up.

Anyway……here is what I’ve been printing and painting up….

All in all, some decent models and files available out there, but not always of the right scale. Chopping the file in to bits allows you to enlarge the pieces to give you a bigger scale model and well worth it!