Solar System Lithophane Planet Lamp Collection - 205mm³

Introduction

After more than two years of designing and prototyping, I am very happy to finally present you the Solar System Planet Lamp Collection. In the course of this, I printed over 50 lamp prototypes and spent more than 20 kg of Filament. Inspired by the original Moon Lamp by moononournation (popularized on Printables by Frank Deschner), I decided that I want to create Lamps for other celestial bodies, too. All of the models below, except for the Death Star Lamp, the Phobos Lamp and the Legacy Lamp Base are original creations, based on NASA image data I made into Lithophane lamps with original python software. The three models mentioned are Remixes of Starwars Death Star Lithophane Lamp by Olivier Popiers, the Phobos Moon Lamp by HuaCook, and the Designer Moon Lamp's Base by Frank Deschner.

The latest update (11.01.205) added the galileian moons Callisto, Europa and Ganymede. The next updates will include upside down versions of all planets, a topographic earth and a map showing the expanding universe. Planned for the future is a 150mm³ version for the Prusa mini and a 300mm³ version for the Prusa XL. 

If you like my work, please consider supporting me. Your support will help me to make more models available for free. https://ko-fi.com/fritzpeppone. If you like to use my models commercially, pease join my Printables club to obtain a commercial license.

Requirements

All Lamps have a size of ~ 205mm x 205mm x 195mm. They should print fine on most printers except for small printers such as the Prusa mini or Bambu A1 Mini. You will need around 300g of Filament (preferably PLA or PLA+) per lamp.
The lamps are mounted to their base with a M75x4 metric thread. The idea for the thread and also the thread dimensions are taken over from the Lithophane Moon Lamp with wide Screw Base by The Quicksilver. This means that his moon lamp as well as his mounting options are compatible with my lamps and bases. I am providing multiple different base options that all use the same thread. Choose the lamp of your liking and match it with any lamp base of your liking. All compatible lamp bases are listed below. You may either need a standard lamp base with a E14 or E27 thread or threaded E14 or E27 sockets. Some Bases also require M3 heat set inserts and M3 BHCS screws. There is additionally the option to use a a Bambu LED Kit as base.

Print Settings

There are only a few settings you should tweak in the slicer to print the lamps. 

• Print in PLA or PLA+
• Recommended layer height: 0.15mm
• Use the Arachne Perimeter Generator for more precise printing with better details
• If you use Arachne, set the minimum line width to 75% to avoid holes!
• Set wall count to 5-6 to obtain a solid lamp
• Set seam position to aligned
• Activate Brim (Outer Brim Only) and set the Brim width to 5-10 mm
• No Support required! The lamps print perfectly fine without support. All lamp bases come with in-built snap off supports (where required).

Be aware, that slicing and printing may take a very long time. The STL files can take up to 10 min. to slice. 

For Bambu Studio users: Bambu Studio seems to struggle with the Arachne Perimeter Generator. If you are unable to slice a lamp with Arachne, use the Classic Perimeter Generator.

Attention: the top section of the earth models (earth, earth bathymetry) and mars are tricky to print due to the low number of top layers and the heavy bridging in the top section. You may encounter holes there.

To avoid ruining a several hour or even several day print in the very end, I recommend printing the earth_dome_test.stl model from the Test Prints section. This is simply the top part of the earth lamp. If it prints well, go for the full lamp. If you encounter issues, reduce print speeds or use smaller layer heights for the top section.

This is not a SpeedBoatRace print! Use conservative print speed settings to avoid artefacts! It's totally fine if your print takes one or two days to finish.

Filament

Filament matters. A lot! Depending on your filament choice, your lamp may have more or less contrast or a warmer or cooler color temperature. You can also change the outcome by choosing light sources with different wattage or color temperature. The picture below illustrates this:

All of the four Panels above were printed with different white PLA/PLA+ filaments but illuminated with the same 1W LED bulb. 

Before starting a multi-day print, I recommend printing the Solar System Lithophane Calibration Panel to test how your print will turn out. You are also by no means limited to white lights and filaments. Check the makes below to get inspired what color and light choices other makers made.

My personal favourite filament and the one I used for all lamps in my photos is Filament PM PLA+ White.

Planet Lamps

The list below contains all (Dwarf)Planets of the solar system and the sun, turned into lithophane lamps. All of the lamps below are original creations. There are eight different options for earth and two different versions for Venus available. For earth, there is a daytime satellite lamp available, a lamp combining daytime satellite data with bathymetry (sea level) data, a political world map lamp and a lamp only containing bathymetry data and larger waterbodies, the Fishworld. Each of those four different versions are available with the north pole facing up and the south pole facing up. If you are from the southern hemisphere or if you want to hang your lamp upside down, you may prefer the south pole facing up version. The pictures below only show the north pole facing up versions. For Venus, there is one version available showing the atmosphere of the planet (as seen through a telescope) and one version showing the surface structure of Venus (obtained by atmosphere penetrating scans).

The Sun
Mercury
Venus Atmosphere
Venus Surface
Earth Satellite (North Pole up) and Earth Satellite (South Pole up)
Earth Satellite Bathymetry (North Pole up) and Earth Satellite Bathymetry (South Pole up)
Earth Fishworld (North Pole up) and Earth Fishworld (South Pole up)
Earth Political (North Pole up) and Earth Political (South Pole up)
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto

Moon Lamps

Unfortunately, there are not as many high quality images of the Solar System's Moons available as there are for its Planets. All moon lamps except for Phobos are original creations. The lamp of the (earth) moon is based on highly edited image data and thus looks quite different from the already existing moon lamps out there. I focused on highlighting edges and increasing contrasts. The result is a moon lamp, where the dark side of the moon is not boring anymore. All the small craters on the surface really stand out now.

The Phobos moon lamp is a remix of HuaCook's design. I simply added threads to make the lamp compatible with my bases. Due to different licenses, I cannot directly add the STL to the collection. Instead, you can find Phobos here.

The Moon
Io
Callisto
Europa
Ganymede
Phobos

Other Lamps

The category "other Lamps" so far only contains the death star lamp which is a direct remix of Olivier Popiers' Starwars deathstar lithophane lamp. Here, I added the M75x4 thread and also indented the Death Star's ray. In the future, I would like to create more lamps in this category, for example of the world of Game of Thrones or of Middle Earth. If you have any ideas or maps that could be turned into Lamps, please send me a PM.

Death Star

Lamp Bases

Printing the Planet or Moon of your choice is only a part of creating your own lamp. You'll also need a Lamp Base to illuminate your Planet or Moon. I am providing several different Lamp Bases, all with a matching M75x4 thread. All of the Bases below will work for all of the Planets and Moons. Except for the Legacy Base and the Bambu Base, these are original creations as well. The Legacy Base is a direct remix of Frank Deschners's base from his Designer Moon Lamp. I only added threads for socket and lamp. The Bambu Base is inspired by Bambu Lab's lamp base for their LED Lamp Kit. Depending on which base you choose, you will need different hardware for assembly. You will find a detailed BOM and assembly instructions below.

Links to shops are only suggestions on where you can find parts. I am not connected to any of the linked vendors and don't endorse them. Links are also supposed to show you how the required parts are called and look like. 

Some lamp bases use snap-off support. The supports look like small ring segments that should be removable with very little force and should leave you with a good surface. They are only tested with PLA/PLA+ filament. Using other filaments may make support removal more difficult.

Bambu Base
While I do not want to endorse BambuLab (since I am a huge Prusa Fan), this still is the recommended Base option since it is the easiest and safest to assemble. No electrical skills or wiring mains voltage required.  You can get the LED Kit either on the BambuLab Shop or (cheaper) on AliExpress. Simply search for LED Lamp Kit 001. This Base is a remix of the LED Lamp 001 Base by Bambu Lab. BOM: 1x LED Lamp Kit 001 - via BambuLab or AliExpress Printed Parts: 1x 04_bambu_base Assembly: Simply get the Bambu LED Kit 001, insert it to the Base and screw the Base into the Lamp of your choice.
Puck Base
This Base uses E14 or E27 lightbulbs, making it easy to maintain and switch out lamps. Additionally, you can use differently colored lightbulbs and even color changing lightbulbs. Some electrical knowledge (crimping ferrules, connecting lamp sockets) required. BOM: 1x E14 or E27 lamp socket with M28x2 thread, no strain relief - available at (european) hardware stores 1x Lamp wire with switch, 2x 0.75mm² - available at hardware stores 8x M3 threaded inserts 8x M3x8 BHCS screws 1x E14 LED Bulb  Printed Parts: 1x 01_puck_base_E14 or 01_puck_base_E27 1x 01_puck_base_lid 1x 01_puck_base_strain_relief Assembly: Install 8 M3 threaded inserts in the puck base. Use a soldering iron, preferrably with a heat set insert tool Screw in the E14 or E27 socket from the top. Secure the socket with the ring or with glue Insert the ferrules of your cable into the two connectors of the socket.  Install the strain relief with 2 M3x8 BHCS screws. Make sure there is no tension on the cables Pull the cable to make sure that the strain relief is seated properly. You should not be able to move the cable Install the bottom lid and fix it with the remaining 6 M3x8 BHCS screws
Rock Base
The Rock Base is inspired by Kristian's Floating Moon Rock Base. In fact, I even started with a Remix of the original moon rock base. Due to unclear licensing terms of the original rock model, I switched to a different source. This lamp base is based on the High Quality Rocks Asset by P_4_N_D_A. For now, this base only supports the LED Lamp Kit 001. Supports for different sockets may be added in the future.  No electrical skills or wiring mains voltage required.  You can get the LED Kit either on the BambuLab Shop or (cheaper) on AliExpress. Simply search for LED Lamp Kit 001. BOM: 1x LED Lamp Kit 001 - via BambuLab or AliExpress Printed Parts: 1x 05_rock_base Assembly: Simply get the Bambu LED Kit 001, insert it to the Base and screw the Base into the Lamp of your choice.
Legacy Base
This Base is a remix of the Designer Moon Lamp's Base by Frank Deschner. For this base, you will need a pre-wired, threaded E14 socket with strain relief. No electrical knowledge required. Here too, you can easily switch out light bulbs.  BOM: 1x E14 lamp socket with M28x2 thread and strain relief - available at (european) hardware stores or for example from Ikea 1x E14 LED Bulb  Printed Parts: 1x 02_legacy_base_threaded or 02_legacy_base_no_threads if your printer is well tuned, I recommend the threaded version Assembly: Screw the E14 Socket into the Base or secure it with the nut that should come with the socket
E14 / E27 Adapter
This is a set of simple, yet effective adapters, allowing you to mount the lamps to any lamp base that uses E14 or E27 sockets. The possibilities are endless.  BOM: 1x Lamp with threaded E14 or E27 socket - some Ikea examples: a ceiling mount, a metal lamp base, a large lamp base and this pretty cheap base. The adapter is by no means limited to Ikea lamps. They just happen to be the lamps that I have at home and I could test the Adapter with. Just make sure that the thread diameter of your lamp is either ~28mm (E14) or ~40mm (E27) and you should be good. 1x E14 or E27 LED Bulb  Printed Parts: 1x 03_E14_adapter_no_thread or 03_E27_adapter_no_thread or E14_adapter_threaded or 03_E27_adapter_threaded if your printer is well tuned, I recommend the threaded version Assembly: Screw the adapter on the E14 or E27 socket and secure it with a nut

Other Models

There is also a smaller version of this Lamp Collection available: the Solar System Lithophane Planet Lamp Collection - 75mm³. The smaller version also comes with multiple different Illumination options and can be used for fairy lights, Christmas Baubles, night lights, baby mobiles and more. Check it out!

Acknowledgements

A big shoutout and thanks to:

• moonournation: to my knowledge, the Lithophane Moon Lamp OP, the original creator who came up with the idea.
• The QuickSilver: to my knowledge, the first person to add a thread to the moon lamp (I used the same diameter).
• Olivier Popiers: The creator of the Death Star Lamp I remixed.
• HuaCook: the creator of the Phobos Lamp I remixed.
• Frank Deschner: the person to popularize the Lithophane Moon Lamp and creator of the lamp base I remixed to create the Legacy Base.
• P_4_N_D_A: creator of the high quality rock asset I used to create the rock base

Changelog

• 06.12.2024: initial upload
• 07.12.2024: removed simplified mesh files with lower vertex count due to inconsistencies. For now, only high quality files are available
• 08.12.2024: corrected orientation for all base STL files
• 08.12.2024: STEP files for all bases online
• 10.12.2024: added links to the Christmas Bauble collection
• 16.12.2024: fixed an issue with the threaded E14 adapter 
• 20.12.2024: added Phobos to the collection
• 29.12.2024: fixed lamps without chamfer between sphere and thread
• 29.12.2024: added information regarding print speed, snap-off supports and Bambu Studio
• 30.12.2024: corrected an issue with the fish world maps where rivers would not end in the ocean
• 11.01.2024: corrected an issue with ripples on the surface of the venus_atmosphere mesh
• 11.01.2024: added models of the galileian moons callisto, europa and ganymede and the rock base
• 19.01.2024: added a test print for the top section of earth and a link to the lithophane calibration panel

All files of the here uploaded files, except for the death star lithophane and the legacy lamp base are original creations. The remixes include the following changes:

Legacy Base: direct remix of Frank Deschner's lamp base. I removed the bayonet lock mechanism and replaced it with a thread. I also added a thread for the E14 socket.

Death Star: direct remix of Olivier Popiers' lithophane death star. I added threads to the lamp base and created an indentation for the laser.

The Phobos lamp is a remix, too. Due to conflicting licenses, the files for the Phobos lamp are not part of the collection but only linked.