3D Design/print a Toy Boat

In this project, we will be designing and printing a toy boat.

1. Any CAD software that's parametric and supports lofts
2. Some common options include SolidWorks, Onshape, Fusion 360, AutoCAD, and many others
3. A relatively modern 3D printer that can achieve overhangs to a reasonable degree
4. You should be OK with any printer ~Ender 3 era or newer, but something recent will certainly make printing easier

In this section, we will draw the hull of our toy boat:

1. Start a new sketch on the top plane and draw a basic hole shape using the line mirror and spline features
2. The right way to do this is subject to what you think looks good, but be sure to make measurements from front to back a size that is reasonable for you to print.
3. You can find my personal example in Figure 1
4. Click to accept the sketch
5. Create a new plane, offset over the top of your current sketch.
6. This will be the height of your hull, so dimension it accordingly
7. You can find my example in Figure 2
8. Click to accept the plane
9. Click to start a sketch on this new plane, click the 'use' feature, and copy your sketch from the original, then convert those lines to construction and create a new set of lines offset to the outside.
10. The amount of offset is subjective, but it will be the angle of your hull
11. Remember, if you offset the hull too much, it will make the angle steep and hard to print
12. You can find my example in Figure 3 and 4
13. Click to accept the sketch
14. Create a new loft feature and select the two sketches you just created
15. Most of this step should be automatic
16. You can still find my example in Figure 5
17. Click to accept the loft
18. Fill the edges of the hole to the desired amount
19. Really, no notes on this, just do whatever is aesthetically pleasing
20. See Figure 6
21. When you're done, make sure to accept the fillet feature
22. Shell the part, to do this, select the shelf feature, and then select the top face as the face to exclude. Select a shell thickness that you desire.
23. I chose 0.15 in as my shell thickness
24. You can find my example in Figure 7
25. Click to accept the shell

Congratulations 🎉, you've finished the hull!

In this section, we will create the mask of the toy boat:

1. Start a new sketch on the floor of the hull
2. You should dimension this with your desired dimensions of the mast
3. I used .25" in both directions, and I wouldn't make it smaller, as you will need room for the next steps
4. Ensure this sketch is centered on the hall side to side
5. See my example in Figure 8
6. Accept the sketch
7. Extrude the mast to your desired height
8. I chose 2.5 inches
9. You can find my example in Figure 9
10. Accept the Extrude
11. Add fillets to your mast
12. You can dimension these fillets to whatever looks appropriate, but remember to leave material for the next step
13. Do not fillet the face facing the bow of the boat
14. You can find my example in Figure 10
15. Accept the fillets
16. Create two slits for which your sail will fit into
17. To do this create a sketch on the front plane
18. Draw slots that look like those in figure 11 and ensure the angles are no greater than 45°
19. If they are over 45°, you may have issues printing them with your printer
20. Extrude the sketch using a midplane remove extrude

Congratulations 🎉, you've finished the mast!

In this section, we will create the sail of the toy boat

1. Create a new sketch on the plane
2. Click to use the geometry from the slots and then draw an arc between the top and bottom of the far ends of each slot
3. You can see this in figure 12
4. Extrude the sail to what looks appropriate
5. See Figure 13
6. If you're working in a CAD software that allows it, select to make this extrude a new part
7. Through it all edges as shown in the diagram of Figure 14

Congratulations 🎉, you've finished the Sail (and therefore the whole boat)!

1. Click to export your parts as an STL
2. Arrange them in your given slicer of choice as shown in the image
3. I chose to split them into two plates in order to use different colored filaments without waste
4. Even if you're slicer prompts, you shouldn't need any support if you follow the instructions
5. Hit print

Congratulations 🎉, you should now have a completed toy boat!