Modular Festive Foliage - Adventures in Scaling! (Patreon)

I like the idea of models that are built up by successively larger parts.  In fact, I've made models like that before - the Fractal Tree comes to mind!  But in that model there were a series of models involved, each at a particular scale.  What I wondered, though, was: could I construct a model that could be attached to larger and smaller scaled versions of itself?

Obviously, the answer was yes, or else you'd be reading about a different model right now!  This tree is built up of a single element designed so that a version 1.5 times larger will thread into the bottom.  That figure, 1.5 times, or 150%, is entirely arbitrary, and was really just chosen based on the kind of shape I wanted to give the tree.

Of course, there is also a tree topper and a base, but both of those are scalable, too!  The topper should be scaled the same as the top part of the tree, and the base should be scaled the same as the bottom.  But on the subject of scale, let's look at what all this actually means!

Each component needs to be 1.5x the size of the previous one, so that means if you start with 100% scale you'll have:

* 100%

* 150% (which is 100 x 1.5)

* 225% (which is 100 x 1.5 x 1.5) 

* 337.5% (which is 100 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5) (this is the largest scale in the photos)

* 506.25% (which is 100 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5)

* 759.375% (which is 100 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5)

The topper on mine is sized at 100%, and the base was printed at 337.5% to match the largest tree component I'd printed.

You can keep on printing larger components, but at some point you're going to run out of printer volume! :D

Print Description

These are regular mode prints that connect via screw threads, so take care to make sure those threads are nice and neat.

Print Dimensions

Given that this model is designed to be scaled arbitrarily large, the size of the print is going to depend on how large you go!  Here's a guide to the size of the main tree segment at various scales:

100% - 43mm across, 17mm tall

150% - 63mm across, 26mm tall

225% - 95mm across, 38mm tall

337.5% - 143mm across, 57mm tall (this is the largest scale in the photos)

506.25% - 209mm across, 86mm tall

759.375% - 322mm across, 129mm tall

Supports Needed?

Not at all!  Designed for straightforward printing!

Scalability

That's what this one is all about!

Print Orientation

Each part prints right-way-up!

File Location

You'll find this one at at 539 Modular Festive Foliage

Link to dropbox post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31697592

Further Thoughts

I forgot to mention that this tree is also essentially a container!  The centre of each piece is hollow, so it could reasonably be used for storing other, holiday-oriented things! :)

Happy printing!

xoxo

Sven.