Render CubeLandmark blade servers
Pagoda, render: close-up: the glowing eaves

Print plans for a home render farm

Your old laptops, standing inside a pagoda, rendering your films.

Print the landmark, slide a laptop board into each blade, plug it in. Full-size builds from 1.21 to 1.88 m at their standard size, and a compact line that stays under 1 m.

Designed and checked in CAD. Not built in real life yet.

Big Ben, render: taken apart: blade and drawer out
Taken apart: blade and drawer out

How it works

From a drawer of dead laptops to a render farm

  1. An old laptop

    A laptop with a cracked screen usually still has a working board. Take the board out; screen, keyboard and case stay behind.

  2. A blade

    The board goes into a printed blade: a slim lattice cassette with its own fan on top, and a fuse and a network socket in the foot.

  3. A landmark

    The blade slides into the tower and plugs itself in, power and network meeting at the bottom of the slot. One 260 W supply feeds them all.

  4. A render farm

    Each board is an ordinary computer on your network, so the network render tool you already use can send it frames. Our own software for this is not built yet.

The line-up

Landmarks that render

Two lines. The big models are landmark-size: laptop blades, plus a drawer for one desktop board, Mini-ITX up to ATX. The compact line stays under 1 m: up to 4 laptop boards packed inside, or up to 8 in a row in the temple, and no desktop drawer.

Decor

Your rack already hums like a city. Now it looks like one.

Printable decor for the servers you already own: a skyline for a 10-inch rack, a lantern for a mini PC, a city block for the desk. No boards to fit, no build, one USB light string.

Custom model

Your building isn't in the line-up? Send it to us.

A town hall, a church tower, a shape you drew yourself. We design it on the same laptop blades as the models above and reply by email.

What it costs to build

The plan is the small part of the bill

Parts and filament for each model at its standard size, then a used laptop for every blade. A broken laptop with a working board goes for about €40–60.

ModelComputersPrint time, standard / 0.6 mm nozzleParts and filamentWith used laptops
Eiffel Tower4 laptops667 / 414 h€531€691–771
Leaning Tower of Pisa4 laptops827 / 514 h€608€768–848
Big Ben2 laptops395 / 248 h€432€512–552
Lighthouse2 laptops393 / 247 h€413€493–533
Pagoda2 laptops423 / 295 h€457€537–577
Tower Bridge4 laptops761 / 476 h€662€822–902
Rocket4 laptops776 / 482 h€599€759–839
Compact Pisa4 laptops605 / 375 h€458€618–698
Compact pagoda4 laptops600 / 396 h€547€707–787
Compact Greek temple4 laptops717 / 476 h€471€631–711
Compact city gate4 laptops1,230 / 783 h€576€736–816
Compact triumphal arch4 laptops942 / 588 h€493€653–733
Compact Colosseum4 laptops717 / 447 h€471€631–711
Compact castle4 laptops787 / 488 h€480€640–720
Compact windmill4 laptops632 / 394 h€446€606–686
Compact Maya pyramid4 laptops913 / 564 h€470€630–710
Compact Ferris wheel4 laptops659 / 409 h€476€636–716
Compact barn4 laptops684 / 425 h€434€594–674
Compact carousel4 laptops662 / 413 h€469€629–709
Compact skyscraper4 laptops633 / 392 h€424€584–664
Compact arcade cabinet4 laptops675 / 419 h€434€594–674
Compact toy robot4 laptops675 / 418 h€434€594–674
Compact lunar lander4 laptops675 / 419 h€434€594–674
Compact sawtooth factory4 laptops660 / 410 h€434€594–674
Compact modernist villa4 laptops664 / 413 h€434€594–674
Compact popcorn cart4 laptops671 / 416 h€434€594–674
Compact gift box4 laptops675 / 418 h€448€608–688
Compact beehive4 laptops668 / 414 h€448€608–688
Compact puppet theatre4 laptops673 / 417 h€448€608–688
Compact camper van4 laptops660 / 410 h€439€599–679
Compact tugboat4 laptops655 / 407 h€439€599–679
Compact owl4 laptops666 / 413 h€448€608–688
Compact scarecrow4 laptops666 / 413 h€448€608–688
Compact sleepy bunny4 laptops668 / 414 h€448€608–688
Compact toy dinosaur4 laptops668 / 414 h€448€608–688
Compact toy crab4 laptops665 / 412 h€439€599–679
Compact toy traffic light4 laptops676 / 419 h€490€650–730
Compact toy crown4 laptops655 / 406 h€439€599–679
Compact toy aquarium4 laptops670 / 415 h€490€650–730
Compact toy butterfly house4 laptops672 / 417 h€528€688–768
Compact toy crystal garden4 laptops672 / 416 h€556€716–796

Prices with VAT from Amazon.de, Reichelt and DigiKey as shown in October 2026. Shipping, glue and the boards are not included.

The desktop drawer is optional: a used desktop board with CPU runs about €130–190, plus €91 for its DC-DC power board.

No printer yet?

Buy the printer. It costs less than having the parts printed.

For a model of about 12 kg, the cheapest print service we found with a published price would charge approx. €1,280 (read 18 Oct 2026). A printer and all the filament come to approx. €330–770, and you keep the printer.

Advertising: the links in this list are affiliate links. If you buy through them I earn a small commission. The price for you does not change.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Every printed part fits a 220 × 220 mm bed, so all three printers take them. The Bambu A1 mini (180 mm) is too small. Prices are from each shop's own page; shipping and the final VAT are added at checkout.

Before you ask

What is tested, and what isn't yet

Has this been built?

Not in real life yet. Every part is designed and checked in CAD: the fit of the boards, stability with blades pulled out, the power budget, and that each piece fits a 220 mm print bed. The print times come from the slicer. Nobody has printed or built a model so far, and we are not promising a date for the first build. Start with the free test coupon to check the fits on your printer. If something is wrong, tell us: we fix the files, and every buyer gets the updated files free.

Which laptops fit?

Boards from most 13 to 17 inch laptops: up to 280 × 390 mm, with nothing taller than 24 mm above the board. Big 18-inch gaming laptops are not guaranteed.

Won't it overheat?

The cooling is sized for laptop chips running at 15–25 W, with a fan in the head of every blade. Stronger boards should be capped at 25 W. On the big models the desktop drawer takes a CPU up to 65 W, without a tower cooler. These are design estimates; nothing has been measured on a real build yet.

What printer do I need?

Any printer with a bed of 220 mm or more, printing PETG. Every part is cut to fit that bed. Expect hundreds of print hours; each model page gives the range.

Do I need to buy drives?

Usually not. Every board keeps the drive its laptop came with and boots its system from it. Each model needs one shared disk of 1 TB or more, where the render manager (Flamenco) keeps the scenes and the finished frames, so your own computer stays free. An old 1 TB drive will do; a new one is about €136–146 (October 2026, check before buying). It sits on the desktop board in the drawer, or on one laptop board in the compact models.

What do I get when I buy?

The plan for one model, at every computer count it supports, so growing from two laptops to four costs nothing extra. Single models are €19, €24 or €29, VAT included. A free test piece lets you check your printer first.

How do I buy?

Open a model or a decor piece and press "Buy the plan". You tick one box about the download first, then you pay in the Lemon Squeezy checkout.

gebaut von Wild Digital Moments