For this project I decided to make a graphic of the Space Shuttle, a classic image in American history. I used this image from the Noun Project. The link is here:
https://thenounproject.com/search/?q=space+shuttle&i=1220003

In its current state it would be hard to cut, and it wouldn’t look that great. I used inkscape to remove the watermark and shock waves. After some difficulty I inverted the image and added borders so it would cut out the black space and leave a higher borderline. I processed the svg in Easel and prepared to cut.

I actually tried my first cut without the inversion and border but wasn’t satisfied with how it turned out. The next one went well, and I also tried cutting out the full shape. However, I didn’t measure the height correctly and the cnc cut too far. The piece came loose and was deformed a fair amount by the bit before I could stop the machine. Most of the damage was on the bottom though, so I decided to keep the piece.
   

In the next attempt I had the opposite problem. The machine didn’t cut far enough, and there was a fair amount of material leftover. Nothing a boxcutter and a file can’t fix. In the end the second piece looked great.

Since the space shuttle is so iconic I thought I could really make it pop by painting it. I started by spray painting the whole thing with a base white. Then I taped over the external tank (the orange part). I used a paint brush to paint over the raised elements. The brush I used was a little too large though, and it left streaks on the white part. Next time I do something like this I’ll make sure to use a smaller brush so I can be more precise. The streaks aren’t all that visible though.

Finally I taped over the rest of it and spray painted the tank orange.

I’m really happy with the final results! This is my favorite project I’ve made so far in this class. My submission number is 20.

The final cost is a little hard to estimate, since everything is on a pretty small scale. It feels unreasonable factor in the full cost of a 2×4, or of 3 full cans of spray paint, but of course that cost can’t be neglected. I decided to just estimate the cost as a small fraction of the retail price for the materials.
3 cans of spray paint is ~$15, and I used only a little bit of each. I’m guessing around $0.50 worth. An 8ft 2×4 is around $4, so since I used 12ish inches the wood is around $0.50. I didn’t need much help from the lab techs, so I’m only say about $10 of external labor went into making the parts. That gives me a grand total of $11.