the Elyden Globe experiment

[vorropohaiah]

Hey ive done this before, I will post some pics, unfortunately I did not finish as it was EXTREMELY difficult. i bought two large sphere shells (polystyrene) and then added a layed of paper mache followed by 5 layers of plaster, and finaly sanded the whole thing down (50 cm wide). I still have the sphere but calculating the final circumference and getting the gores right takes lots of trial and error.

I think you'll have a difficult time getting a perfect sphere without some sort of lathe, even just a simple set up. Why not instead actually buy a globe of the earth and then paint it matte white and then paste onto that?

I though about that, though a a crafty person (someone who likes crafts rather than someone sneaky) I'd like to try do this myself - a personal challenge sort of. Also, most globes I've been able to find are cheaply made and have a horrible ridge along the equaotr where the two halves are stuck together and i want to avoid that.

though yeah, I expect to probably have to work on a real globe...

[vorropohaiah]

Hey ive done this before, I will post some pics, unfortunately I did not finish as it was EXTREMELY difficult. i bought two large sphere shells (polystyrene) and then added a layed of paper mache followed by 5 layers of plaster, and finally sanded the whole thing down (50 cm wide). I still have the sphere but calculating the final circumference and getting the gores right takes lots of trial and error.

I think you'll have a difficult time getting a perfect sphere without some sort of lathe, even just a simple set up. Why not instead actually buy a globe of the earth and then paint it matte white and then paste onto that?

I though about that, though a a crafty person (someone who likes crafts rather than someone sneaky) I'd like to try do this myself - a personal challenge sort of. Also, most globes I've been able to find are cheaply made and have a horrible ridge along the equator where the two halves are stuck together and i want to avoid that.

though yeah, I expect to probably have to work on a real globe...

[LordIndy]

This is likely off track for what I imagine you want your final project to be; however, another globe option you could consider is taking your initial heightmap, turn it into a exaggerated spherical polymesh, output it as an STL, then pay a 3D print service (like Shapeways) to have it printed for you. Then you could paint it, paste over it, wrap it in leather, whatever you're skilled at doing. A 3D printed globe could be pricey, but it'll be accurate and the time it saves you would likely make it worth the money.