Retro industrial architecture style building diorama (1/43 scale)

Intro

Being inspired by some retro industrial architecture pictures I have created this industrial building fragment. This scale model is made completely from scratch by myself, is unique and is not published anywhere else. Idea about making this retro industrial building fragment arose from my passion for cars, interest in architecture and photography. A new hobby that I've discovered during the time of pandemic lock-downs in a form of paper and transitioned to 3D modelling and printing. Please read through the description below in case you decide to print it for yourself.

About the model

Intended scale of this retro industrial building fragment is 1:43, a size that fits 1:43 collectable models and could be a nice decoration of the room (you may also try 1:64). This may also be called diorama from what I've seen on the internet. You may also enhance the scene with the other models I've shared in my profile.

How to make one for yourself

To achieve the result as seen in the pictures besides 3D printing, you will additionally need:

• 2mm thickness organic glass
  • cut 3x rectangular pieces 60x176mm (for the three arch windows)
  • cut 1x rectangular piece 60x120mm (for the roof window)
• 7x 3.0mm diameter screws of 30-40mm length with chamfered head (for attaching walls to the base)
• 5x rounded magnets of 8mm diameter and 5mm height (for the roof attachment to walls). I've used these.

Before printing large parts:

• Please use small TestPrint fragments (suffixed with “Fragment_TestPrint”) files for checking if your print settings are right. This is a large print.
• Printing sliding gates may be tricky because of the part design specifics and adhesion of overhanging bits in the joints (I successfully made it happen in my case though). There is no other way around it with the given part design (I've made it as one). Unless you create your own part design that you can assemble.

Print settings I have used/considered with my Enclosed Snapmaker 2.0:

• Layer height 0.2mm
• Line width 0.4mm (standard nozzle diameter)
• 200ºC for PLA filament
• 60ºC bed temperature for the initial layer and then down to 55ºC afterwards (greater difference may cause warp of the part corners)
• Retraction, print speed and other parameters - whatever works best for your printer & filament
• Make sure horizontal and hole expansion setting is reasonable to allow joining different parts (please use sample parts before going for the full print). I tried to add some extra tolerance for parts in the design too. 
• Model is designed so that no support structure is needed when printing.

Things to consider:

• Height of the walls is above 200mm, you may want to consider wires and/or filament thread not to get caught in between the window gaps in the walls and printing head as the height grows. I have used around 1kg of PLA filament for the walls (this may vary based on your slicing settings, infill density).
• Maintain printing speed and temperature stable throughout the part print to achieve the best result.
• Printing slower makes the bricks pattern nicer.
• Adaptive layers height might improve the details and reduce printing duration.

Building assembly:

• Start from the walls upside down.
• Windows - one arched window needs 3 parts, glass and two grids. You slide it in from the bottom.
• Then slide electric box in and attach the base.
• Place it down the base.
• Insert small gate slides and slide the gate part in. Might take quite a few sliding moves to get it smoother and slide easier.
• Assemble ceiling structure separately from the building, add large sliding gates.
• Put the entire structure into the building and make sure you push the tall slides into the mount holes on the inside wall.
• Push in the rounded magnets into the holes (make sure polarity doesn't conflict and will allow joining the roof to the walls afterwards).

Ideas

Ideas for further development of this model:

• Wiring and USB powered LED lighting with switches inside the building.
• USB powered Arduino mounted between the ceiling cross bars to control lighting and whatever else may come into mind.

Updates 2022-12-28

• Added a strip for 5mm LEDs
• Added ceiling structure for placing wires and soldering board
• Added electric box with switch/button mount

Happy printing, and please share pictures of your result!

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P. S. my inspiration resource

• Google “Lodz industrial architecture”