Printing Space
For thousands of years, humans have been learning about the solar system and our place in the universe. Attempting to recreate the solar system is by no means a new thing, but using 3D printing to create orreries and accurately-scaled models is certainly a modern twist.
These days, models of the solar system are often used for education, but there’s no reason you can’t print your own orrery just because it looks cool! Here we’ll be showing you our 10 favorite 3D printed orreries and models of the solar system. For each design, we’ll provide some printing tips, who designed it, and where you can download it for free.
If you want your very own solar system but your chosen model looks a bit complicated to print, try Craftcloud by All3DP. You can select materials and colors, compare prices, and have your model shipped straight to your door.
Now, let’s come back down to Earth and check out the best solar system models and orreries out there!
Basic
Our first solar system is a basic orrery intended to be used for educational purposes. The design is interactive, with the planets attached to a central axis and able to be revolved around the Sun. This orrery has astrological symbols on the base and even includes Pluto among the planets.
The designer suggests printing with a 0.2-mm layer height and an 8% infill. The maker listed this print with an easy complexity. A community maker shared the print pictured above and listed that they used PLA to print the design.
- Who designed it? rozoom
- How popular/printable is it? This design has nearly 400 likes on MyMiniFactory and has been downloaded over 2,000 times.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Scaled
Next up, this model of the solar system is not an orrery but still has educational value as it’s true to scale. Although the exact scale isn’t mentioned, the designer states that the proportional sizes of the planets and the Sun are realistic. (The Sun is the curved base!)
This design has been updated multiple times to add more file types and alter some planets’ dimensions. There are two versions to download, with one that includes Pluto!
A maker posted a great print and stated that they used a 0.2-mm layer height and a 15% infill. They also listed that they didn’t use a raft or supports.
- Who designed it? tc_fea
- How popular/printable is it? This design has 17 Makes, 7 Remixes, and almost 8,000 downloads.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Lights
This design isn’t just a model of our solar system; it’s also a light source for when the Sun’s not around! The designer remixed numerous designs of planets to make these lamps without having to start from scratch with every planet.
In terms of lighting, we’d recommend something that doesn’t emit too much heat. The creator used LEDs on copper wire in various colors to achieve the display pictured above. You’ll find the filament and LED color combinations to recreate the different colors of the planets listed on the project page.
There are files for the Sun and all eight planets, as well as additional STLs for the rings of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. It’s recommended to print the parts with a 1.6-mm thickness for the walls and the top and bottom layers, and to use tree supports if possible.
- Who designed it? mermaidz86
- How popular/printable is it? One make of this planetary lighting set has been shared so far. The planets have all been downloaded over 1,000 times and the project has 72 likes on Thingiverse.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Linear
This linear solar system model includes the Sun and the eight planets. The whole set is printed in one piece, which is convenient in terms of printing but might make painting each planet a bit trickier. It’s clearly still achievable though, based on the impressive model above!
The maker listed that they printed the model using PETG on an Ender 3. This should be a straightforward and support-free print.
- Who designed it? EDi3D
- How popular/printable is it? This design has nearly 1,500 views as well as over 100 downloads from MyMiniFactory.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Geared
You thought space was complicated? Wait until you see this orrery!
This solar system orrery uses gears to model the movement of the planets around the Sun. However, the designer states that adding the last two planets (Uranus and Neptune) is optional as they move so slowly compared to the others.
This project requires various additional parts, including bearings, brass tubes, a USB cable, a 5 V motor, and more. You’ll also need some tools such as a solder, drill, files, and more. Check out the project page to find the full list of materials needed.
Assembly will definitely be more complex for this project than for any of the other models on this list. However, the creator has provided detailed instructions to make this process easier.
The maker advises printing with a 0.3-mm or smaller nozzle diameter for precision and a 0.2-mm layer height. The pictured parts are in PLA, and it took around 250 grams of material and 12 hours.
- Who designed it? dragonator
- How popular/printable is it? This project has over 80,000 views and 741 likes! Two makers have recreated this orrery, including one “menorrery” with candles mounted on each planet!
- Where to find it? Instructables
Semi-Spherical
This semi-spherical and scaled solar system model is a great way to understand how different the planets’ sizes truly are. The model includes all eight planets (no Sun or Pluto) lined up and scaled relative to each other.
It looks like the maker has changed filaments mid-print to achieve a different color for the base, as the design isn’t designed for dual-extrusion printers. Whatever they did, it looks great in the image above!
They also noted that they used variable layer heights to speed up the print, with thicker layers on the base and thinner layers for the small planets.
- Who designed it? JBonasera
- How popular/printable is it? This design has nearly 100 likes on MyMiniFactory and has been downloaded over 500 times.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Hand-Cranked
This orrery of the Sun and inner planets is another excellent educational print. Like the other orreries on this list, this one is interactive, and you can use the small handle to revolve the planets in orbit. The distances between the planets (though not the Sun) are accurately scaled.
You can glue the planet names (or whatever words you like!) to the arms by customizing a nameplate on Thingiverse. You’ll want to go for an 8-mm height and 2-mm depth.
You’ll need at least a 200 x 200 mm print bed to print the longest piece, the Mars arm. If you have a smaller print bed, you can always scale the parts down, but be careful because the designer states the tolerances are already tight. In addition to the printed parts, all you need to build this orrery is some M4 screws.
Orbital
This educational solar system includes replicas of the eight planets and an orbit diagram. The orbit diagram is along the Z-axis at one end of the print, as seen above, and maps the shape and size of each planet’s orbit. The project altogether consists of 30 different STL files, and the parts were optimized to fit a print bed of at least 150 x 150 mm.
The planets’ size is scaled to 1:2 billion, while the orbits’ scale is 1:80 trillion. The planets are all separate STL files so that you can print them in different colors without a filament swap. The creator states that to achieve a colorful and detailed print, it’s best to paint the parts separately before assembly.
- Who designed it? GabrielYun
- How popular/printable is it? This extra-informative design has nearly 2,000 views and 66 downloads.
- Where to find it? Cults
Geocentric
The last orrery on our list is this geocentric take on the solar system. Before astronomers began to understand the heliocentric (Sun-centered) reality of our solar system hundreds of years ago, people believed that all celestial bodies revolved around Earth. This concept is called geocentrism.
This geocentric model displays our Moon, Mercury, Venus, and the Sun, which all revolve around Earth. You can even see the continents on Earth’s design, which the designer remixed from another Earth model on Thingiverse.
All the planets, except Earth, should be printed with a low infill (the designer used 8%). Earth and the orrery’s base should be printed with a higher infill; the designer recommends using 25% for these parts. The planets are split into halves for easy printing and should be simple to glue together.
- Who designed it? ofekshamischnitzer
- How popular/printable is it? 11 people have liked this geocentric design, and 25 people have downloaded it so far.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Scaled V2
Lastly, this impressive model of the solar system has a scale of 1:2.5 billion compared to the real planets, when printed without any further scaling in your slicer. The creator states that the design was inspired by another solar system model (that we mentioned previously).
There’s also a smaller version, scaled down to 1:5 billion to fit on smaller print beds. Even though the planets are scaled, the distances between them are not – Saturn’s rings don’t typically rest on top of Jupiter! Saturn’s rings also aren’t to scale, though they do look very impressive.
The print pictured above was scaled up to achieve a 1:1.25 billion ratio. It was printed with a 0.2-mm layer height with infill ranging from 0-10%.
- Who designed it? 3dmaan
- How popular/printable is it? This design has 14 Makes and 4 Remixes, and over 13,500 downloads!
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Lead image source: rozoom via MyMiniFactory
License: The text of "3D Printed Solar System: 10 Great Orreries & Models" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.