Turner's "The Fighting Temeraire" Lithophane

“The Fighting Temeraire, tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838” by J. M. W. Turner depicts an important event: the passage of the Age of Sail and the beginning of the Age of Steam.

Depicted here the retired warship Temeraire, her sails struck, being towed up the Thames by a side-paddle steamer. Temeraire had fought valiantly at Trafalgar and had saved HMS Victory while also capturing two ships. Temeraire is being towed to be broken up as she is now obsolete. Yet the scene is a hopeful statement for the Industrial Age.

Bambu's frame for the Bambu CMYK LED Backlight Board (FAZ007) is included in the print profile. Comparable LED backlight panels may be available at online electronics retailers like AliExpress. Another MakerWorld user has designed a lighting system using Bambu's 2-contact white LED strips (https://makerworld.com/en/models/862322#profileId-812830), although soldering is required.

The frame has a stand component that can shake loose during printing. If you encounter problems, add a raft or other support, or consider using a glue stick.

Lithophane made using filaments in the Bambu Lab Basic PLA Lithophane Bundle (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Jade White). Frame made using Amolen Rosewood Wood PLA, with the light guide plate (diffuser) printed with Kingroon PLA Plus.

A special 'thank you' for those download points and boosts that helped make this new venture possible!

How to Print a Great-Looking Lithophane

The print profile will take some minutes to slice. This is normal. Warnings about “floating regions” can be safely ignored.

A high-quality lithophane has some of the same quality problems seen when printing signs or other large, flat objects: a tendency for the edge to lift. This spoils the print. Bambu Lab recommends minimizing this problem by reducing the bed temperature to between 40-55 degrees C.

A lithophane printed at 50 C on top, and 65 C below:

While this lithophane image looks ok, the end product is quite poor without crisp corners and edges. It is also possible for the bottom layer to lift off entirely and bring the upper layers into hard contact with the print head, as you can see here. You will know if this happens because your printer will turn the plastic it hits into little pieces of confetti all over your print bed.

It's strongly recommended to take the following steps before printing this lithophane:

• Wash your build plate with a mild, oil repelling detergent (such as Dawn), and rinse and dry thoroughly.
• Calibrate the filaments being used, including Bambu Lab filaments (I discovered considerable variation among fresh-out-of-the-plastic filaments from the same product line, in this case PLA Basic).
• Reduce the bed temperature from 65 degrees C to somewhere in the Bambu recommended range of 40 C - 55 C. Alternatively, you could use a cool “Cryo Grip” type plate, but this has not been tested with this lithophane.
• Your local conditions and materials will vary, so you may have to experiment.
• Important Note: the transmission of light through plastic lithophanes, as through any other media (including air) is subject to the inverse-square law. The intensity of light from a point source decreases in proportion to the square of the distance from the source.
  • This means that if you double the distance between a light source and the lithophane, the light intensity drops to one-fourth. Triple the distance? The intensity drops to one-ninth, and so on.
  • Lithophanes must receive enough light to diffuse through the medium, illuminating all parts so they can be perceived correctly by the eye.
  • Therefore, only use strong light placed close behind the lithophane to prevent the loss of light due to the inverse-square law.

Lithophanes Make a Memorable and Elegant Gift with custom designed “Vienna” & “Chantilly” Lithophane Gift Boxes with compartments for a frame, USB cable, and storage for up to four 144mm x 108mm lithophanes.   Learn More

The original image used to create this lithophane is in the public domain.