The goal of this project was to make a Star Trek Intrepid class warp core as seen in Star Trek Voyager, with optional LED lighting. There a not many 3D models of this particular class 9 warp core for reference material, so I used an image from danielwachter (Deviant Art), and a commercial design on Etsy for inspiration. 

For all Trekkies on Printables: I am sorry if this model does not comply to scale precisely with the dimensions of the warp core of a class 9 warp drive.

Print Settings

Printer Brand: Artillery

Printer:  Artillery Sidewinder X1

Rafts: Yes

Supports: No

Resolution: 0.2

Infill: 100%

Filament: BASF Ultrafuse PLA (silver & red), Ninetec PLA (white transparent)

Post-Printing

I applied some sanding to the Core top brackets to adjust the length slightly.

How I Designed This

The eight different parts involved in this model were designed using the ‘Not for commercial use’ free version of Autodesk Fusion 360, and more detailed information can be found in the file description below. I modelled some of the parts quite thin, because I wanted to stay as close as possible to the reference images of the warp core, and did not want to make the model very large. For instance, the Outer core brackets and Core base ring are only 2 mm thick. The current model has a total diameter of 144 mm and a height of 227 mm.

In addition to silver, red and transparent PLA to print this model, I used 22 mm of a ¾ inch PVC pipe as internal core to place the LED strips on for lighting. I used offsets of -0.2 mm for the slids of the brackets in the Core base and Core top parts. Although quite straightforward, assembly of the model can be found in assembly instructions below. For lighting I used a Brilo car LED kit (€ 15,-), of which I used two 50 mm RGB LED strips that can be controlled remotely.

Files description

01_Core_base. A base for the four Core base brackets (02) and the bottom Outer core (04).

02_Core_base_brackets (4x). Act as stand for the model (with core base).

03_Core_base_ring. Two-ringed (red) part, glued on outer parts of the core base brackets.

04_Outer_core (2x). Transparent and placed on the Core base and Outer core ring.

05_Outer_core_ring. Placed between Outer core parts (04) 1 and 2.

06_Core_top. Identical to Core base (01), except the slids for the Core top brackets (07).

07_Core_top_brackets (4x). Act as holder for the top Outer core.

08_Round_panels. Transparent panels, to be place on the core base bottom and core top.

Assembly instruction

1. Glue the four Core base brackets (02) to the Core base (01).
2. Glue a transparent Outer core part (04) on top of the Core base (01)
3. Glue the Outer core ring (05) on top of the transparent Outer core part (04).
4. Glue a second transparent Outer core part (04) on top of the Outer core ring (05)
5. Glue the Core top (06) to the top Outer core part (04)
6. Glue the four Core top brackets (07) to the Core top (06) and top Outer core part (04).
7. Adding lighting (optional):
   1.  Glue a 50 mm LED strip in the length of a 22 mm ¾ inch PVC pipe (up and down)
   2.  Connect a second 50 mm LED strip to the first LED strip (with a connector)
   3.  Glue the 2nd LED strip in the length of the 22 mm ¾ inch PVC pipe (up and down)
   4.  Run the PVC pipe with LED strips through the cylindrical model and test lighting. 
8. Glue the transparent round panels to the bottom (01) and top (06) parts of the model.
9. Shed a light in the universe and go boldly were no one has gone before…