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How the box is made
From a view to layers
The page stands you at the eye and traces the skyline across the view: for mountains from open elevation data, with the curve of the earth, and for a city from the mapped heights of every building. The view is split by distance, so each layer holds what stands in one band of distance, and the bands are chosen so every layer adds its share of new skyline.
Printing it
Every piece prints flat with no supports. Each layer has its spacer ring built onto the back, so the gaps come out even. Print the layers face down in colours from dark to light, the sky panel in white, and the frame, light box and back in one colour. The pieces line up on 3 mm dowels or bamboo skewers through the corners; a dab of glue holds the stack.
The light
A strip of warm-white LEDs, about 8 to 10 mm wide, sticks around the inside of the light box, behind the sky panel. A USB strip is easiest. The cable leaves through the notch in the bottom edge. The thin white sky panel spreads the light, the moon and the stars shine through, and the layers stand out as silhouettes in front of it.
Laser cutting
The laser zip has one file per piece, with the number of copies in the file name, and one file with every piece laid out. Cut the layers, the spacer rings and the light box rings from the same sheet; put a sheet of tracing paper or frosted acrylic behind a wooden sky panel to spread the light.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Elevation © Mapzen / AWS Terrain Tiles. Want something else? Make layered contour models, a full 3D model in the TerraPrinter app, or see more 3D map gift ideas.