For now, the images below are presented as a preview of what is coming. A complete write-up covering the design process, reverse engineering techniques, challenges and lessons learned will be added in the near future.
All STL files used to create the model will eventually be made available for download, allowing others to build their own version.
CONCEPT, soon to arrive. Already built and tested, busy publishing.
Design and Development
From Reference Photos to a Digital Launch Complex
What you see here are some of the design stages of my fully 3D-printed SpaceX Starship launch tower project. Over the course of roughly six months, every major component was designed from scratch, including the tower sections, chopsticks, Quick Disconnect Arm, tank farm, booster and Starship.
The entire model was developed using approximately 150 reference photographs collected from the internet. Since SpaceX does not publish detailed engineering drawings, this is not a perfect one-to-one reproduction. Instead, it is my own interpretation, carefully designed to match the real hardware as closely as possible based on the available imagery.
Many dimensions, structures and mechanisms had to be reverse-engineered from photographs, making this project as much an engineering exercise as it is a scale model.
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Bringing Hundreds of Parts Together
These photographs document the actual construction of the model. Over a period of roughly six months, hundreds of individually printed parts were produced, tested, redesigned and assembled into what eventually became a highly detailed representation of the Starship launch complex.
The pictures show various stages of the build, including tower sections, the Super Heavy booster, Starship, the moving chopsticks, the Quick Disconnect Arm, lighting systems, wiring and numerous test assemblies. Many components went through several iterations before achieving the desired combination of strength, detail and functionality.
The model itself has been finished for well over six months. Only now have I finally found the time to start documenting the project properly and give it the place it deserves on this website. These photographs are therefore intended both as a preview and as a way to add some substance to what is still a relatively new website.
A complete project write-up is coming soon.
Over the coming months, this page will be expanded with a detailed build log, technical information, close-up photographs and practical tips for those who would like to build their own version.
This Starship tower is only the beginning. My intention is to gradually document and publish all of the projects I have created over the past six to seven years, turning this website into a showcase of the things I design and build.
Every project will be accompanied by detailed design notes, construction logs and assembly instructions. In addition, all STL files and any other data required to reproduce my designs will eventually be made available for download, allowing others to build and modify the projects themselves.
So, if you enjoy making things, feel free to bookmark this site and drop by from time to time. There is much more to come.
