Microstructures of the diatom Corethron criophilum

Created as part of my BAC thesis ("Lessons from 3D printing of the polar diatom Corethron criophilum") and uploaded as a secondary download link.

Diatoms are single-celled algae encased in silica (that is, glass) shells of incredibly complex and intricate shapes. Unique to the Corethron genus,
its shell contains a complicated arrangement of hooks and spines on microscopic hinges.

I created two of them from reference images, the joints connecting the long spines to the 1-spine valve and the hooks found at the tips of the short spines. Scale roughly 2,500:1 for the hook and 10,000:1 for the joint. Hooks have a socket for a 0.8 mm wire.

More details, printing suggestions and reference image sources in the readme file.

Models are not perfect, lots of nitpicks and improvements I'd make if I had infinite time, details in the thesis.