Loading…
How a resin map is made
The real water
The sea, lakes and rivers come from OpenStreetMap: the sea is built from the mapped coastline, and rivers are drawn at their mapped width. Water too thin for resin to flow into is widened a little, or left out if you prefer, and specks are dropped.
Level pockets
Resin always settles flat, so every pocket has one level, just under its lowest bank, and any lower spot on the bank is raised a little so nothing spills. A river that runs downhill becomes a chain of level pools with a small weir between them, like a staircase.
Deep water looks darker
With Steps or Lake bed, each pocket gets deeper away from the shore, the way real lakes do. Through tinted resin the shallows look light and the middle looks deep, with no extra colours to print.
A dam at the edge
Where the sea or a river runs off the edge, a wall in the model holds the resin in. Or print a separate frame that fits round the model: tape it on, pour, and take it off after curing for a clean, glassy edge.
The right amount of resin
The resin in every pocket is worked out from the model itself, in millilitres and grams (epoxy is about 1.1 g per ml), with how many pours the deepest pocket needs and how much to mix.
Ideas to try
The lake where you got engaged, the bay of a favourite holiday, a river through your hometown, or a fjord in deep blue. Pour the sea darker than the lakes, and try a touch of white along the shore.
Water: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Elevation: Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (© DLR e.V. 2010–2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014–2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA) and Mapzen Terrain Tiles on AWS (SRTM, GMTED2010, ETOPO1 and others). Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO. Resin is a chemical: always follow its own instructions and safety sheet. Want more? Make a wall map, contour layers, open the TerraPrinter app or see more 3D map gift ideas.