Could this be a new type of map?

[Mortar Art]

After some thought, and some difficulties visualising landmarks on a topographical map, I decided to have a go at making some scale models of terrain that I've hiked over. Somehow, I managed to not only pull it off, but do a pretty decent job. Of the first 2 areas that I've reproduced, Mt. Feathertop (including Harrietville & Razorback) turned out the best, largely thanks to the beautiful terrain in the area:







Lake St. Clair wasn't terrible, but the reduced amount of variation in elevation, and the wider area led to a flatter appearance:





I also hadn't dialled in the printer settings properly at this stage, but for those curious, here's a shot of the print-head whirring past:



I used a Maker Tool Works Mendel Max 3 printer to manufacture the terrain prototypes. I printed in PLA plastic, which is the same material used in take away coffee lids. It's light and quite stiff, but sensitive to extreme heat. It's also possible to get them manufactured in Nylon plastic via a service like Shapeways, or in fact, just about anything, from Stainless steel through to ceramics!

Anyway, the point of bringing these up here, is I'm trying to figure out some applications for them. Are they likely to just be straight up souvenirs, or do you think they might be a useful navigational aid, especially if there's colour information on the terrain?

Is there any particular part of Australia or New Zealand that you'd love to see in this way? I can potentially do other parts of the world too, but the data I have access to is local for the time being.

[Mortar Art]

Full colour; Wilson's Promontory.

[GBW]

Wow.

[Joomy]

Rad!

[Orion]

Anyway, the point of bringing these up here, is I'm trying to figure out some applications for them.

That was my first thought: A cool idea in search of an application.
They look like they'd be attractive ash trays or maybe something to hang on the wall but I can't imagine cluttering my pack with them.

Maybe you could market them as maps for the blind?

[north-north-west]

Don't know about practical uses, but they would be brilliant souvenirs, especially for your OT tourist type 'walkers'.

[MickyB]

Don't know about practical uses, but they would be brilliant souvenirs, especially for your OT tourist type 'walkers'.

I thought exactly the same thing NNW

[pastavore]

That is fantastic.

Yet no idea what you would do with it.


I still want one.

[GPSGuided]

NP can use them as exhibits in huts and at trailheads.

[GBW]

I've seen something like this before. May have been at Halls Gap showing a 3D view of the Grampians but I think it was sculptured by hand.

[Mortar Art]

GBW; yeah, since asking about this on a Facebook group, I've been told that US Park Rangers have Brass versions of many of their parks. I can't even begin to imagine how expensive they are to produce.

I've wondered about asking the National Parks or Information Centres if they'd want something like this. I can also produce them in Sandstone, which would look quite cool as a display piece I think ... although it wouldn't be very portable!

Does anyone have any particular areas in mind, that they think might look as unique, or as impressive as Feathertop? Lake St. Clair didn't turn out nearly as well in my opinion, but I'm having some success with Wilson's Promontory, because of it's uniquely recognisable shape!

[Orion]

We have some of those metal ones in our parks as well, like Yosemite.

Assuming you want to maintain an accurate vertical/horizontal aspect I think part of the success would be choosing an appropriate scale. For example, there's a very dramatic peak just off shore of Lk. St. Clair (I can't remember the name of it) which just has to look cool as a sculpture -- but only if the scale of the piece is appropriate for it. Unfortunately, mapping data probably doesn't exist at the scale required for that.

How much do you imagine one of these would cost? Would they each be a custom job?

[Strider]

This would also be very very useful for mapping bathymetry.

[GBW]

Can you do one of Crosscut Saw/Viking/Razor area. That would look pretty cool.

[gayet]

Don't know about practical uses, but they would be brilliant souvenirs, especially for your OT tourist type 'walkers'.

And if it was possible to mark the route on it (in red maybe?) even better.....

If it was possible to produce them with the tracks marked it could be of more use to PWS at visitor centres etc. People can actually see where the walk takes them and some indication of what the climbs and descents are like?

[Zone-5]

Use a reverse image of your 3D print as a form cast for sheet silicone so it can be rolled up like a paper map for tube storage...
...and then unrolled into it's 3d memory shape with perhaps a screen printed grid colour topo map on it for map referencing...



Make it act like a paper map but in pop-up 3D silicone sheet. New ways to increase the finer details for silicone casting can include PTM (polynomial texture mapping) and laser scanning.



I suggest silicone mold casts because it can be formed to very fine detail, it's durable, soft to touch, printable, flexible, has memory, tactile and is inexpensive.



refs: http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~jog/parm.html
http://ewic.bcs.org/upload/pdf/ewic_ev12_s9paper1.pdf

[north-north-west]

Does anyone have any particular areas in mind, that they think might look as unique, or as impressive as Feathertop? Lake St. Clair didn't turn out nearly as well in my opinion, but I'm having some success with Wilson's Promontory, because of it's uniquely recognisable shape!

Mount Roland and the Fosseys. Murchison. Eldon Range. DuCanes. Western Arthurs. Southern Range, from Lune River to PB. The Frenchmans area - flattish near the road but once you start climbing it gets pretty dramatic, and if you include everything from Agamemnon to Clytemnestra and the Irenabyss it'd be stunning.
The Main Range. Karijini. The West MacDonnells.

NP can use them as exhibits in huts and at trailheads.

Oh, yes. Be great for walkers to get an idea of the terrain. Flat maps don't translate that well (unless you're eggs).

[Strider]

Cape Pillar/Tasman Island would look great too.

[MrWalker]

I probably wouldn't take one on a walk, unless it was flexible and could be rolled up. But it would be great for planning a trip. I keep a relief map of Tasmania on my wall for general planning and discussion with visitors, but a map of an area I planned to walk would be ideal.

[Tortoise]

Brilliant for that, I reckon.

[icefest]

Mt Geryon or Frenchman's Cap would look pretty cool IMHO.

Use tasmaps free 10m contours or DEM for best quality.

[Mortar Art]

There's so much to respond to. Thanks for the amazing response!

We have some of those metal ones in our parks as well, like Yosemite.

Assuming you want to maintain an accurate vertical/horizontal aspect I think part of the success would be choosing an appropriate scale. For example, there's a very dramatic peak just off shore of Lk. St. Clair (I can't remember the name of it) which just has to look cool as a sculpture -- but only if the scale of the piece is appropriate for it. Unfortunately, mapping data probably doesn't exist at the scale required for that.

How much do you imagine one of these would cost? Would they each be a custom job?

Yes, scale is hugely important. I've done some more experimenting, with Mt. Taranaki in New Zealand and Wilson's Promontory in Victoria, and I've found that it's possible to make flatter terrain look good, if the whole object is wider and flatter. I'll post photos soon.

Also, the mountain that you're thinking of, if I'm not wrong, is Mt. Olympus. It's the one that you can see from near Narcissus hut, and it really is a spectacular feature on my Lake St. Clair print. Unfortunately, the data I have for it isn't high enough resolution to do just it.

At the moment, each new map requires some time to produce. However, there are ways to improve my efficiency if I get a lot of requests.

As for cost, I already have a few up on my drop-shipping site; https://www.shapeways.com/shops/Mortar_Art?section=Maps for reference on pricing. The overheads accounts for more than 2/3's of the cost, but again, if demand goes up, it won't be impossible to improve efficiency. So far, all of the models on Shapeways are there as tests, and have not been optimised for cost or efficiency of manufacturing.

I can also print at home in PLA plastic for the costs you see there, although no larger than 315x250mm. Prices at home will differ from Shapeways. For example, the WIlson's Promontory piece is $90 usd there, but I can already afford to make that for $60aud, despite it's large size.

Mount Roland and the Fosseys. Murchison. Eldon Range. DuCanes. Western Arthurs. Southern Range, from Lune River to PB. The Frenchmans area - flattish near the road but once you start climbing it gets pretty dramatic, and if you include everything from Agamemnon to Clytemnestra and the Irenabyss it'd be stunning.
The Main Range. Karijini. The West MacDonnells.

That's a lot of suggestions. I'm going to have to start gathering a lot of data!

Can you do one of Crosscut Saw/Viking/Razor area. That would look pretty cool.

You know, I think this will be the next one I make, because I've been meaning to hike there myself, and it might help me plan the trip.

Use a reverse image of your 3D print as a form cast for sheet silicone so it can be rolled up like a paper map for tube storage...
...and then unrolled into it's 3d memory shape with perhaps a screen printed grid colour topo map on it for map referencing...

IMG REMOVED

Make it act like a paper map but in pop-up 3D silicone sheet. New ways to increase the finer details for silicone casting can include PTM (polynomial texture mapping) and laser scanning.

IMG REMOVED

I suggest silicone mold casts because it can be formed to very fine detail, it's durable, soft to touch, printable, flexible, has memory, tactile and is inexpensive.

IMG REMOVED

refs: http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~jog/parm.html
http://ewic.bcs.org/upload/pdf/ewic_ev12_s9paper1.pdf

!!!

This is a brilliant idea. I have a friend who is an expert molder, and I can print inverse pieces to start out with anyway. After I've made a few more prints, I think this will be the next major branch of the project.

Don't know about practical uses, but they would be brilliant souvenirs, especially for your OT tourist type 'walkers'.

And if it was possible to mark the route on it (in red maybe?) even better.....

If it was possible to produce them with the tracks marked it could be of more use to PWS at visitor centres etc. People can actually see where the walk takes them and some indication of what the climbs and descents are like?

There's a few options for colour information on these maps. The first is to print at home with a dual extruding printer. That would allow marked paths, and coloured icons for features like huts.

The second is to print in full colour sandstone, like the Wilson's Promontory render above. This is pretty expensive, but I can put full satellite imagery on to the terrain, as well as colour coded tracks.

The last is to figure out what type of paint / marker translates well onto PLA plastic, and to include one with the prints ... that way people can use the terrain map to plan off track hikes of their own.

[Orion]

...the mountain that you're thinking of, if I'm not wrong, is Mt. Olympus. It's the one that you can see from near Narcissus hut, and it really is a spectacular feature on my Lake St. Clair print. Unfortunately, the data I have for it isn't high enough resolution to do just it.

No that's not the one I mean. It's on the other side of the lake.
Somebody help me, what's this thing called?



It's much nicer looking than my poor photo suggests. That's the rub though, depicting it in an impressive way.
It's certainly impressive in person. I'd love to climb it, although I suspect it would involve a lot of scrub.

Good luck with your project!

[Mortar Art]

Ahh, I believe that one is Mt. Osa. Here's a photo I took of it a little while ago:



And here's the Wilson's Promontory and Mt. Taranaki prints that I mentioned in my last post:













Each layer on Taranaki is approximately 25m

[Nuts]

That's Mt Ida Orion.
I'd like a full Tas relief similar to the one available/ Mr Walkers mention, maybe 1:250000 scale, imagine the cost would be prohibitive?

[Mortar Art]

Cost is really only affected by the size of the print, and as you cover a larger area, although I might have to do a few prints and join them, if it's quite large. What size were you thinking?

[Nuts]

That size (for tas) works out around 1500x1200mm. What do you price those smaller ones at, just out of interest? (are they A3?)

[Mortar Art]

I can do the 20x20cm tiles for $50 each. For a much larger map, like the one you're proposing, I might be able to reduce the resolution, and speed up the print, but it's not going to be cheap! It would be at least 30 tiles, if I only printed the land ... the sea is a bit redundant, unless you're a diver!

[north-north-west]

That mountain on the eastern side of Leawuleena is Ida. It would make a good project for this, but you have to include Ida Bay and Rim Lake, to get the full impact.

[Mortar Art]

Is Leawuleena the lake's real name? I guess Osa must be one of the side tracks off the Overland Track.