This print is a relief map, at 1:25000 scale (so it should match your topo map perfectly). The main purpose of this post is not to show off a particular mountain, but as a demonstration of the contour line technique with a suitable model.

I have used OpenSCAD to generate an .stl to apply as a modifier to the mountain .stl in Bambu Studio. Using these planes in the modifier .stl, I can cut different colours into the model at suitable layers to create contour lines. In this example, I have placed the contour lines at an integer multiple of 20m. A savvy user should be able to take this example and add filament-change contour lines into a relief map of their own choosing, with perhaps some legwork to get the scaling right.

The model is a small mountain (my favourite mountain) in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia. Sadly, the mountain has been inaccessible for over a year due to road closures. 😥 The relief map has been generated using 2m horizontal resolution data from the NSW state government. The license information (and required attribution) for the map data is appended.

The images show a high resolution print of the mountain, but this precision comes at the cost of a file size too large (1.3GB ) to upload here. A lower resolution model is provided to demonstrate the contour lines. The file size is excessive relative to the detail contained, but unfortunately that's just what the DEMtoSTL QGIS plugin gives when you crank up the resolution.

To print the model, I suggest the profile attached to this post. The print profile used is based on the 0.08mm height profile (because conveniently, 20m contours at 1:25000 scale are exactly 0.8mm apart, so exactly 10 layer spacing, avoiding any aliasing issues). I changed the top surface pattern to concentric, to improve the appearance of the top layer, and told the slicer to avoid travel over walls (though some will be unavoidable).

To generate the relief map, I used QGIS and a handy plugin called DEMtoSTL (screenshot of my settings is included, showing that the base of the model is at 500m above sea level, which is important to getting the contour planes at the right height).

In the future, I hope to be able to place roads/trails onto the relief map, and possibly GPS tracks as well. I will use these techniques on other areas of terrain that I want to print.

Information about the map data license:

License: Access and Licenses are managed by DFSI Spatial Services, a unit of Department Finance, Services and Innovation. Spatial Services creates and manages intellectual property (IP) for the Crown in right of New South Wales. Acquisition of this data is subject to the customer entering into an appropriate Creative Commons license agreement. To the extent that Creative Commons licensing applies, all data and other material produced by DFSI Spatial Services constitutes Crown copyright. DFSI Spatial Services has applied the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence. DFSI Spatial Services asserts the right to be attributed as author of the original material in the following manner:© Department Finance, Services and Innovation. Additional terms for the use of DFSI Spatial Services material include that any derived products which are created will be required to clearly mark the date that any extractions from the DFSI Spatial Services Spatial Database occurred. All Intellectual Property (IP) which is owned by DFSI Spatial Services should only be loaded on any external cloud platforms if DFSI Spatial Services' Intellectual Property (IP) remains unchanged, maintained and preserved.

I extracted the relevant map data in early June of 2024.