donut_v2

Yes, I printed two sets (wheels and tires) of the latest version to test. I plan to try them on a DF-03Ra since the Beetle chassis has no electronics. I'll be travelling for a week though so the test will have to wait .

Test fit...

Tire

CorelDraw and 3ds Max

I think NinjaFlex should be durable enough to withstand normal running and have reasonable grip. The tires shown in the previous post were printed using an SLA printer. An FDM printer using NinjaFlex just can't give me the level of detail I'm looking for. My latest tires were printed using flexible resin which is much softer and, based on feel, has the same amount of grip a standard Tamiya rubber tire has. I modeled a new tire and will test run it to see how it holds up.

Thanks berman & colda. It would be nice to sell them but probably only on a made to order basis. Maybe I should put them on Shapeways? Anyway, had some time to work on a couple more parts. Here are the new wheels printed using clear resin. Tried a quick shot of flat black to see how they turn out. Here's a failed print of the ver. 1 tire... Ver. 2 has a tighter tread pattern that looks a bit more to scale. Both tires haven't been fully washed and cured yet so they look a bit rough and grimy. Flexible resin!

I modeled everything except the bumpers. I did modify them though to accommodate the foglights.

Thanks for the kind words everybody. Some more progress.

Lens

Peopoly Moai

Tried printing latches.

More parts

Thanks. The printed tires are about twice as stiff compared to the stock tires. They were printed on an FDM 3d printer so I could only do so much in terms of getting the tire walls as thin as possible without the print failing. I recently got an SLA printer so hopefully the next version of the tires will be much softer and with better detail.

After putting this off for half a year, I printed some updated parts -- headlights, headlight protectors, rear number plate light cover, door handles, horn.

This thread is inspiring me to resume work on my beetle --> Rally Beetle

Door handles ...and another attempt at a tire. Deeper thread pattern this time.

Version 0.9

Below is a test print of a tire using flexible filament (NinjaFlex) and wheels using ABS. I'm happy with how the wheels are inside the fenders like the real Beetle.

Yes, I made it narrower as I find the stock wheels too small in diameter and too wide in thickness.

Mounted the stock tire on the rough test print.

It's been a long time and I'm back to working on this. Finally got a 3d printer and tried making a proper wheel. I'm also going to try to make tires using TPE filament.

Thanks! I have an old Alps MD1000 printer that can print white.

Just a stock M-02L chassis...

Added panel lines and some decals then did a test fit.

Thanks. Got lucky that the stock rims are a perfect tight fit inside the outer rims. Furthermore, the edges of both the inner and outer rims are "flared" (couldn't think of a word) so they center by themselves when you put them together. Had they not been, I was ready to put the outer rims in my mill to to enlarge the holes and keep them centered.