Wall Greeble

Greeble

Greeble – Wikipedia : A greeble (/ˈɡriːbliː/ GREE-blee) or nurnie is a prominent detailing added to the surface of a larger object that makes it appear more complex, and therefore more visually interesting. It usually gives the audience an impression of increased scale. The detail can be made from simple geometric primitives (such as cylinders, cubes, and rectangles), or more complex shapes, such as pieces of machinery (cables, tanks, sprockets). Greebles are often present on models or drawings of fictional spacecraft or architectural constructs in science fiction and are used in the movie industry (special effects).

Wall Greeble – Wise Engineering Works

These were created to add interest. They are not in any way supposed to represent anything other than what they are .. a Greeble – a detail added to a larger surface (wall of building) to add complexity.

These were printed by Shapeways. They are available as Wall Gizmo V3 – V3. Price current as of 12/10/2020 is $22.96 – which I find a bit steep. There were some issues I found which I will detail below :

• Wall thickness – while they were fine .. as you can see in the photo, the walls were a bit thin .. a little pressure with the fingers would make them flex a bit. They could stand thickening.
• Tolerances were a bit close with the elbows fitting to the greeble and needed a bit of clearance.
• The wall brackets were a bit thin in retrospect .. call it ‘delicate’

Wall Greeble – V4

This was my first test print with a modified version of the Wall Gizmo V3 to print on an SLA printer – specifically my Prusa I3 MK3

I put the supports on the back side of the print – that part that faces the wall to hopefully reduce any support scaring showing. What I managed to do in the process was to rotate the print in the wrong direction – the exhaust opening ended up facing up during printing. It still printed fairly well .. enough so that I could see where I needed to make changes.

• The sockets for the studs on the elbows was basically an interference fit (four places). Sockets need enlarging slightly.
• The collar that the exhaust fits on needs to be slightly smaller. Not crisp enough .. but this was the low side of the print. Printing with the fat bottom down will improve this as it will not have any supports .. probably
• The scars from the supports – really are hidden since this part faces the wall. These are large supports – medium may work. In any case I may change the print angle. Would rather have the scars on the fat bottom (easier to sand off).

Wall greeble – V5

• I increased the Elbow socket diameter from 1.88 mm to 2.0 mm. This is a 0.12 mm or about 0.004″ increase which should allow the stud on the elbow to slide in freely. I underlined the ‘should’ as I have found that in this hobby being ‘certain’ can lead to being ‘wrong again’.
• The collar that the exhaust fits to was reduced in size from 7.5 mm to 7.3 mm. The reasoning here is that a free fit of the exhaust over the collar is fine since this will be glued in place. I also increased the wall thickness to 1 mm for strength.

In the V4 test print I had the exhaust collar end angled down and the scaring from supports caused problems. Since that part of the model is highly visible it makes sense to angle that part up so any scaring will be on the fat bottom and not as visible if at all.

In addition, additional supports to the area of the wall bracket will not be visible.

Wall greeble – V5

I added n access port to the fat bottom which also adds a drain hole for printing. Heck .. this adds complexity to the model which honestly defines what a Greeble is in any case.