Framecraft

FrameCraft turns a map location into a 3D-printable framed miniature city. It needs a wider screen: a map, a live 3D preview and around thirty controls have to be visible at once.

Open it on a laptop or desktop, 640 px wide or more.

Framecraft

a place, printed

Loading map...

Loading preview...

Nothing built yet. Preview builds the model.

Bambu Studio project (.3mf). A Bambu Studio project with every part on its own filament slot, so it opens ready to slice.

Model

Where the model is cut from, and which way round.

Pin at 41.8827° N, 87.6233° W. Click the map or drag the pin to move it.

Place name0/64

The {city} token: it is cut into any line of lettering that names it, and it titles the exported file and its credits sidecar.

Author0/64

The {author} token, for a credit line in an engraving or in the mark under the base.

Radius900 m

Half the ground span of the square that prints, so it decides how much city fits and at what scale. Releasing the slider refetches from OpenStreetMap.

Rotation0°

Turns the crop before it is squared, so the dashed square on the map is what prints. Releasing the slider refetches from OpenStreetMap.

Plate, base and nozzle: these three set the printed scale.

Plate size180 mm

The square the model is printed on. With the frame on, 12 mm of it becomes border and the city keeps the rest.

Base thickness3.0 mm

The solid slab under everything. Every recess is cut into it, so a thin base clamps how deep water and roads can go.

Nozzle diameter0.40 mm

Your printer's nozzle. The minimum wall is twice it and the minimum gap one and a half times, so a wider one merges more of the city into fewer blocks.

0.80 mm minimum wall · 168 mm of usable plate

Nothing configured to cut yet: add a line of lettering or turn on the underside mark.