Note: This entire model is designed to be printed at .2mm layers and with a .4mm nozzle. If you decide to scale it, or use other nozzles, make sure you are using layers and nozzles which are a multiple. For instance, .1mm layers are fine, .16mm layers will give you problems. .2mm nozzle will be fine (slow, but fine), where a .6mm nozzle will not produce certain walls.

Personal Statement: I love Griffith Observatory and find it to be one of the most beautiful, and recognizable, buildings in the United States. The building has been used in many movies throughout its history and recently was the sight of an Adele concert in 2021 which was broadcast globally.

To me, it embodies the best of the Art Deco movement.

I hope you enjoy printing it as much as I enjoyed creating it. Now I want to start recreating my other favorite places!

From Wikipedia: Griffith Observatory is an observatory in Los Angeles, California, on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. It commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin including Downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. The observatory is a popular tourist attraction with a close view of the Hollywood Sign and an extensive array of space and science-related displays. It is named after its benefactor, Griffith J. Griffith. Admission has been free since the observatory's opening in 1935, in accordance with the benefactor's will.

Over 7 million people have been able to view through the 12-inch (30.5 cm) Zeiss refractor since the observatory's 1935 opening; this is the most people to have viewed through any telescope.[2] The space theme prevails in the interior.

How I Made the Model:

I began with the landscape from a topographic map of the Hollywood Hills, with each layer line representing a 10ft mark on the map.

Once I had set the topography, I used a map from the visitor center, and lined it up to correspond with the topo map.

Next, I began with the ground level, paying attention to the location of the grass squares, the walkways, and the overall elevations before moving to the building itself.

I started with the monument out front (one of my favorite pieces) which celebrates famous scientists throughout history.

Knowing that in this scale, too much detail wouldn't matter (or work) I opted to not include the scientists and focused solely on the shape.

Next I moved onto each of the terraced locations, making sure that each level was correct.

The last thing I did was to move onto the main building. I made sure as I modeled everything that it was .4mm nozzle compatible at .2mm layers. For instance, the balustrade or parapet wall on the roof is set to .8mm in order for it to properly print. The stairs are .2mm (in most instances) to ensure they properly print.

For more detail, I used a combination of Google Earth (to get multiple angles and views), reference photos, and some of my own personal photos.

Printing the Model:

My first print of the model was done with a single color to make sure that the model printed correctly, and the proportions were correct. I realized that the smaller observatories were too tall, so had to make some changes. I also made the test print on a smaller footprint to save time and filament (topography isnt difficult, so no need to include all of it).

This is where I discovered that the .4mm wide balustrades and parapets were not going to cut it, and needed to use .8mm instead in order to get 2 lines of filament down and show the detail.

From here, I moved on to the four-color version, coloring the model within BambuStudio using the fill tool with select edges.

I used the following filaments to create this:

Slot 1 - Anycubic PLA - Gray

Slot 2 - Bambu PLA Matte - Ivory White

Slot 3 - Bambu PLA Matte - Latte Brown

Slot 4 - Bambu PLA Matte - Dark Green

Total filament use is 255g.