There was a time when many people who were starting to familiarize with 3D printing did not see any real value in 3D models and thus limited their exploration to free models from Thingiverse and other free 3D model databases. Not much has changed but, as 3D printing becomes more widespread, and people’s capabilities improve, the demand for higher quality models for more challenging projects is starting to increase. For example with this impressive 3D printable jet model

Tor Arne Hustvedt published the STL to 3D print a 1:6 scale jet, with all the instructions to complete the project, and made them available for $30. He totaled six downloads so far: it may not seem like much but, then again, there are not the many people who are actually able to undertake such a modeling project. On his YouTube channel, Tor published several videos of his 3D printed jet’s high-speed flybys and they do look impressive.

With flying specs

The 3D printable jet model measures 1,858.5 mm (1.9 meters) in length, with a 1,451 mm (1.5 meters) wingspan. Altogether (with 3D printable a non-3D printable parts) it weights 7.2 kg. CG is 83-90 mm from the leading edge at the wing joint with the gear in the up position. There is a protrusion on the top of each wing surface to indicate the safe 83mm/25% MAC position. Gear up or down should make little difference because of the low weight of the nose gear. The prototype flies with CG at approximately 90 mm.

A 300×300 mm print area is required for the largest parts, Tor said. Many parts fit on a 200×200 bed, and some even smaller printers. Tor used a JGAurora A5 with TMC2100 stepper drivers for the big parts and a Wanhao Duplicator i3 for the smaller parts.