Im thinking of making a case for my pi using software and 3d printing it, I would say I am somewhere between beginner / intermediate when it comes to making 3d models... at least with the ancient 3d modeling software I used way back in collage but it the only thing I really know how to use.
I don't have a printer and was planning to use an online printing service (when it's done TM) where I would have to pay something like $10 then wait to see if it came out right afterwards, so no real test prints to make sure things are lined up.
I managed to make a basic looking but accurate mock-up of the pi board but have few questions I am unsure abouts
1/scale, my software didn't like making things too tiny and wouldn't let me change the decimal place from meters :/ so for now my scale is set to 85mm = 0.85 meters (off to a terrible start but I figure I can scale it correctly in post using other software or the site )
2/any recommended (free) software I can use (blender does not like me)
3/suggest any good reliable sites that will print ? (I was thinking of trying one called sculpteo has international shipping and really the main one that came up when I searched for 3d printing online)
4/Im thinking of a much bigger case than the usual Pi ones but still think compact, i want it big enough so I can fit the board, a drive and guts that go with linking it to the pi, probably have the usb ports internal. generally how big is ok for 3d prints ? 16cm*10cm*2cm sound good?
5/would the build thickless controlled by the print or do I have to specify?
6/how sturdy are 3d prints ? should I be concerned about adding support structures?
7/will I also need to add temporary support structures too?
any other advice ?
probably going to be a hard project but will be fun to at try I think

Thanks