When Gino Palileo moved to Seattle from the Philippines in 2015, his first job in his new city was at an ice cream shop at the waterfront ferry terminal. Watching the green and white ferries crisscross Elliott Bay was the beginning of a lasting appreciation for vessels.
“When I started high school, we would go camping a lot, so we would take the ferries,” Palileo told GeekWire. “We’d maybe do two or three trips every year.”
When Palileo started college to study architecture, he got a 3D printer to help with designing and modeling. Now an architect splitting his time between Seattle and New York, he’s stuck with 3D printing as a hobby — and this week he showed off a new passion project.
In a post on Reddit, Palileo shared images of prints he made of Washington State Ferries. The 1:400 scale models are rather intricate replicas of Olympic-Class vessels from the state’s fleet: the M/V Chimacum, M/V Samish, M/V Suquamish and M/V Tokitae.
Palileo created his designs from scratch in Rhino 3D modeling software and then printed the ferry models — measuring about 9.8-inches in length — on a Prusa MK4S printer. The designs are available on his page on Prusa’s Printables marketplace.
The models feature the various ferry decks, railings, seating and more infrastructure. He might print little cars and trucks, or people.
“I’m very fond of these ferries; they’re always fun to be on,” Palileo (@GP_3D) said in his Reddit post. “They all have beautiful names that honor tribes, peoples, and locations indigenous to the Puget Sound area.”
Commenters on Reddit demonstrated that the love is strong for ferries in the Seattle region — and for Palileo’s craftsmanship:
- “Wow! My wife is a native of Whidbey Island. I’d love to make one for her.” — @jordanhusney
- “If you print another take it to the ferry itself and present it to the captain. It would be cool to see in a display case on board.” — @Shayden-Froida
- “This is stunning — thank you! My father-in-law was the chief engineer for the Olympics and this will be an amazing gift for him.” — @thevowel
A self-professed transit geek, Palileo said he has plans for other Seattle-related designs and prints. He might do the Monorail or maybe a Link light rail train. And he likes the Virginia V steamship moored at South Lake Union.
And when it comes to revisiting ferries, he’s been eyeing a classic.
“I was thinking of maybe an older ferry — the Kalakala?” Palileo said. “It is a little bit more complicated than I thought so I went with the modern ones for now. But I do want to do that one and have a nice silver color for it.”
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