How are large city and terrain map models 3d printed and assembled?

Here are two projects that demonstrate how you can make very large models of cities or terrain by connecting smaller pieces in larger frame.


3D Printed Model of San Francisco





Video description:

Behind the scenes 3D printed model of San Francisco:
Connex 500 printed 3d model of a portion of San Francisco. The model was created to aid real-estate developer Tishman Speyer in telling the story of urban development in the rapidly changing SOMA neighborhood. It can help with urban planning and building construction decisions that are better understood with the kind of physicality that only a real-world 3D replica offers compared to digital images or digital models.

3D Printed terrain map of Canton Bern in Switzerland


3drucken.ch printed this terrain map of Canton Bern in Switzerland, made in scale 1:25'000 out of 340 tiles. 4.9 x 4.5 x 0.17 m. ca. 75kg PLA used, 12'000h total print time on 7 Ultimaker printers during 7 months.