Thingiverse 3D Printed RC Car

[speedy_w_beans]

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:42198

For all you 3D printer enthusiasts out there...

[30YrsL8r]

Whilst I think 3D printing is cool, I don't think the plastic is very cheap, is it? If you already had all the other bits to bolt onto it then it might be worth it, but wouldn't this much material mean starting from scratch would cost more than buying, say, a basic HobbyKing 1:10 truggy?

[speedy_w_beans]

I have no idea what the cost would be. Clearly the person who posted this to Thingiverse is a 3D printer enthusiast and an RC enthusiast, and just wanted to create something of his own instead of assembling a kit or buying a RTR. The process of architecting a vehicle, designing individual parts, manufacturing them, assembling them, and testing performance yields a lot of personal growth for an enthusiast. Who knows, maybe he'll land a job as an RC designer like it was discussed here: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=67903&hl=career

[Foxone]

Be it this or something similar in the future, I think it's along these lines, not just RC but all walks of life that 3d printing has a very interesting future. I'm not saying it's THE future, just an interesting one in itself, as in, what questions it could answer, what choices it gives us... I like those thoughts.

It's idea in the simplest form, to give us all the power to create is what I find facinating.

Hats of to the guy, Be it affordable or not, it's all relative. Plastic costs a bit? So what, I'm printing my own parts, not paying the man for them!

Open to all too, which gives us all the power to adapt/improve the design, follow on from, be a community.

I can't afford a 3d printer, wish I could.... but I like the thought of power to create to the people! ... and the sharing of info amongst others .... let's just hope that it stays all free, the info I mean

Internet shop killed the town centre store.... maybe the info store kills the physical part store ?

Who loses..... The postman I guess !

I'm going to crawl back under my physical rock now....

[bromvw]

i see 3D printing as the future for many hobbists . The scope to make our own parts is something that will really take off in the next few years as prices of the printers fall . The cost of raw materials is bound to fall as more people use the printers - economy of scale will see to that . As it stands a 3D printer can be bought for under $500 . Maybe some of the major manufactures ie Tamiya will see the future and offer the programs in a similar way to i tunes ? Maybe thats going too far ahead but it could happen .

[trf_414_m2]

3D printing is quite expensive compared to any hobby brand plastic parts.

But takes advantage when ordering short runs.

No expensive moulds to create before start plastic parts production.

I use to order 3D parts from Sculpteo and Shapeways and you can get them printed for 1.5€ per cubic centimeter.

These wheels are impossible to create with any moulding process, but price tag matches CNC factory aluminium wheels ones.

[markbt73]

Be it this or something similar in the future, I think it's along these lines, not just RC but all walks of life that 3d printing has a very interesting future. I'm not saying it's THE future, just an interesting one in itself, as in, what questions it could answer, what choices it gives us... I like those thoughts.

It's idea in the simplest form, to give us all the power to create is what I find facinating.

Hats of to the guy, Be it affordable or not, it's all relative. Plastic costs a bit? So what, I'm printing my own parts, not paying the man for them!

Open to all too, which gives us all the power to adapt/improve the design, follow on from, be a community.

I can't afford a 3d printer, wish I could.... but I like the thought of power to create to the people! ... and the sharing of info amongst others .... let's just hope that it stays all free, the info I mean

Internet shop killed the town centre store.... maybe the info store kills the physical part store ?

Who loses..... The postman I guess !

I'm going to crawl back under my physical rock now....

You and I are of the same mind here. Making things yourself instead of buying them ready-to-go is good for your soul. And open-source projects like this are good for everyone's soul. No corporate boardrooms, no third-world factories, no copyright battles, just people who are passionate about making something cool.

I can't afford a 3D printer, but I bet I could whip up some parts with my drill press and scroll saw. In fact, if anybody needs me, I'll be in the garage...

[Grastens]

This kind of technology could become cheaper, but I have to wonder about the plastics themselves given dwindling petroleum... But I suppose by then we can find alternative materials for these purposes.

A project like this is a hobbyist's dream!

[markbt73]

This kind of technology could become cheaper, but I have to wonder about the plastics themselves given dwindling petroleum... But I suppose by then we can find alternative materials for these purposes.

A project like this is a hobbyist's dream!

Easy... Just melt down RTRs after kids break them and get bored.

[Foxone]

Easy... Just melt down RTRs after kids break them and get bored.

... scenes all over the world, desperate 3d printer addicts, snatching plastic toys from kids, water bottles from joggers mouths back to the future desperate doc style .. just to feed into their machine.... print, I must print... whowohaha!

Yeah I gotta stop having these "laughs" to myself...

[Tamiya1/10]

This will be a game changer for RC or Static builders and I can see better and better show and tell at TC. The stuff we see now are very good but will bring it up to another level.

[HomerJHandley]

Easy... Just melt down RTRs after kids break them and get bored.

... scenes all over the world, desperate 3d printer addicts, snatching plastic toys from kids, water bottles from joggers mouths back to the future desperate doc style .. just to feed into their machine.... print, I must print... whowohaha!

Yeah I gotta stop having these "laughs" to myself...

http://filabot.com/

closer than you think

[stu22]

This kind of technology could become cheaper, but I have to wonder about the plastics themselves given dwindling petroleum... But I suppose by then we can find alternative materials for these purposes.

A project like this is a hobbyist's dream!

Besides ABS, PLA is the other commonly used plastic for these printers. I believe it's made with some form of starch so it is a renewable resource. Currently it is not as tough as ABS, tending to be harder and more brittle but I'm sure there's some chemist hard at work fixing the problem.

[stu22]

Whilst I think 3D printing is cool, I don't think the plastic is very cheap, is it? If you already had all the other bits to bolt onto it then it might be worth it, but wouldn't this much material mean starting from scratch would cost more than buying, say, a basic HobbyKing 1:10 truggy?

Plastic is typically $45 for a 1kg spool.

You're right in thinking that the cost of printing parts is pretty high.

I used the excuse of printing out parts for my vintage collection as the excuse to get my Makerbot Thing-o-Matic. Of course I haven't had any time to play with the toys lately so nothing has broke but for the old Kyosho, Marui, and Associated cars, and the Tamiya models that have not been re-released, I can beat on them more than I used to and not worry about breaking something that I would then have to hunt down or end up buying yet another parts car for that one piece that you just can't find. The D-parts on the Falcon is one piece that comes to mind.

For anyone who want's to get a printer, keep in mind any of the sub $3k machines out there are really not "consumer products" yet. Despite the press they have been getting lately (along with Bre Pettis and his claims for the Replicator line) the printer is as much a hobby as a tool. You'll spend quite a bit of time tuning and tweaking to get it to work reliably.

[alfagta]

that is very cool ,,I reckon within ten years we will see vast amounts of 3d printed parts and even whole kits , 3D printed titanium bicycle frame parts are already in production , someone is testing a fully printed aluminium bike frame as I type , the big manufacturers are looking at economies of scale and are seeing viable numbers , once this becomes a production reality in many industries especially in the far east we will see RC parts and kits that are stronger and better made than ever before .

[speedy_w_beans]

A small update...

I was contacted today by Daniel, who is the creator of the Thingiverse 3D printed car and had this to say regarding cost:

"As for the cost i spent less than o 1kg of ABS plastic for the entire car. I pay just about 35$ a kg. That would give you an idea of the cost. Of course you would have to buy a printer but there are good printers available for a few hundered bucks.

The proejct is coming along really nie and i´m quite satisfied with the result, in fact it´s better than i had expected."

You can see some of Daniel's OpenRC videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/DanielNoree2/videos?view=0&flow=grid

It was nice to hear from him!

[Origineelreclamebord]

What you see here is one of the reasons small companies can exist in what should be considered a relatively small branch. CAD modelling makes modelling flexible and quick design work, and 3D printing is now accessible and affordable even for the smallest of companies, allowing quick testing of the designs you have made. This cycle of designing, testing, re-designing and re-testing.

Cost-wise to give you an idea... This buggy uses a lot of 3D printed parts - everything apart from the gearbox, front hubs, driveshafts, dampers and wheels is custom really:

The plates (chassis, shock towers etc) will be made in carbon, all the 3D parts (and spacers and rings) will be 3D printed. I can't state exact numbers, but the 3D printed parts - printed at the company Shapeways - cost below 200 euros made from nylon (I tested other parts from this material and it is extremely durable and tough, it held up in racing conditions). When parts are ordered seperately or in small quantities it does cost considerably more, but for prototyping standards this is very affordable.

I find the 3D printed drivetrain in the link very interesting. I know there are 3D printing materials out there that are strong enough to make a 3D printed drivetrain (for example 3D printed titanium and stainless steel, or fibre reinforced nylon plastics for 3D printing) I'm not sure if the more 'down-to-earth' materials I see in the pictures hold up to a brushless system, but I absolutely love the initiative!