How has 3D printing changed R/C hobbies for you?

[Drivetrain]

The advent of inexpensive and easily sourced (in home or mail order) 3D printing is truly amazing. How has it changed your enjoyment or participation in the R/C and modelling hobby?

For me I'm not too afraid to go bashing with my old car because I can make replacement parts for old and worn out components without worrying about breaking the bank, plus I know if I break something I can replace it in less than a day. I can get proper replacements and leave them in the box until I retire the car (again) and still have a car that looks like what it should do.

[taffer]

I still need to get started in all this!

Luckily TC members like Pintopower have a growing library of parts and mods from shapeways which are easily purchased.

[speedy_w_beans]

I bought a Turnigy Fabrikator kit for $220 USD and free shipping this past Thanksgiving holiday; I built it a few weeks ago. This is going to let me design and fabricate some complex mechanical parts much more accurately and easily than making them by hand. It will also help me create some nice detail parts that are missing from chassis and body sets. So far I've just done a few test prints and have been learning the tools in my workflow.

I'm using FreeCAD for design, Calculix for FEM analysis, and Slic3r for generating G-code to drive the printer. The printer is based on the usual Arduino Mega 2650 / RAMPS 1.4 driver board / Marlin firmware.

HobbyKing did a fantastic job packaging this kit for shipment, and they used quality parts throughout the assembly. The linear bearings, belts, ball bearings, flexible couplers, stepper motors, brackets, and laser-cut acrylic are all good quality parts. The assembly process was straightforward and I had a successful print on the first try. I'm very pleased with the purchase.

[Pintopower]

I have to say, 3D printed hasn't influenced the hobby for me as much as it has completely changed my life. I know it may sound like an exaggeration but I am serious. I have things that I have always wanted fixed/changed/customized and before 3D printing, it would cost a fortune. Before I discovered 3D printing, I had some RC Cars that I drove alot. That was about it. I would drive them and enjoy painting and building them but I always felt like they needed more. This is the same with my big cars. One of my Fiat Stradas (Ritmo) needed a seat latch. Sadly, they were gone with Cindy Lauper and neon green. Even my home needed things replaced but since it is 100 years old, I cant just go to the home store. Now...omg...who cares if something is missing/broken? I'll print the part!!!!!

Examples:

Fiat seat latch plate:

Key cover for 1880's vintage dresser I restored:

Ford Pinto Dome light lens that are impossible to find:

Missing parts on a GoBot:

Project 1/2 Hornet:

Backlit control panel in my car:

Gauge cluster in my car:

Fiat inscribed radio bezel:

Custom rims/mirrors/tool box/rear bumper to make this Datsun look like my sisters Nissan:

Replacement pegs for Tyco Crash Dummies:

I can go on for days showing the stuff I have made. Emblems, trim, jewelry....house stuff, car stuff, gifts, cat stuff (she broke part of her collar, I printed a replacement part).

Point is, 3D printing has made me stop using the phrase "I wish....". Now it is "I can!"

[Drivetrain]

Wow that's some nice resolution on those prints. What kind of printer do you have? Mine is a prusa i3 so not too fancy nor the largest print area at about 20x20x20 cm. But fairly robust for all that.

[tam-trucks]

could of atleast done a 3d copy of the woman in the picture with the nissan

[Pintopower]

could of atleast done a 3d copy of the woman in the picture with the nissan

You mean my sister?

[Nitomor]

Nice

[Mokei Kagaku]

As much as I'm impressed by the skill and creativity of several TC'ers and others who have created 3D-printed parts, I don't feel ready yet. The quality of the surface of the printed parts simply isn't good enough yet, especially not when considering the relatively high cost. I'd love to buy some VW dummy engines, the Jimny body detail parts recently created by a TC-member and several other parts, but I know I would be massively disappointed by the poor printing quality, regardless of how perfectly the parts were actually designed.

I feel very confident that 3D-printing will eventually also change my life. Maybe even future Tamiya models will be a small box with hardware and a few other parts not suitable for printing, combined with a "license" to have a set of (primarily) plastic parts printed by a local service or possibly even at home. I made my engineering degree with roughly 50% of the effort being CAD many years ago, and would love to design my own parts too, and really look forward to see the 3D-printing technology mature. But for now, I think we're just in the "first few stumbling baby steps", and I want much better printing quality before I feel ready to get involved or spending money. Apart from parts printed on extreme high end printers (like the 1/2 scale Auto Union Typ C printed by Audi themselves), I haven't yet seen a single part with a surface quality that has impressed me or been even remotely good enough for me to want it. I know it's just a matter of time though, and I look very much forward to it!

[Toykid]

Yep,

3D printing was a game changer for me too. For me it all started because I wanted a Flat four engines for my Sand Scorcher. After chasing down a cast replica from the 1/8th Kubelwagen, seeing all the work I needed to do to make it look right... and then realizing I wanted 3 of them for the other SRB's I had. I realized 3D printing a engine would allow me to easily make as many as I needed. One thing lead to another and I now have a small business designing and selling 3D printed parts. The ability to make and share your designs means there are some really cool parts out there from all sorts of designers that would have never seen the light of day before 3D printing. Mokie Kagaku is right, we are only just starting to see the potential of 3D printing - I too look forward to the future of it all.

[lin6499]

I've been wanting a mid motor Optima since a decade ago and I couldn't have built this without 3D printing.

In this case, gear cover, quick release battery holder, radio plate etc., were made by printer.

Having a 3D printer allows me modifying the parts again and again until I'm happy with the result.

Above: original gear cover.  Left: latest version. Right: previous version.

[manny]

3d printing has added another dimension to the hobby for me.  Since I had kids, im not racing or even bashing as much as I used to.  Now I have another outlet to get my RC fix.  Most of my early stuff was decorative but Tamiyaclub members have inspired me to try more functional parts like suspension arms and a gearbox

[khyzersoze]

I've been wanting to give 3d printing a try, but not sure where to start, and not really sure I have the time.

[magnumb]

I'm going to wait a couple more years. I'm thinking a good machine can be had for under 2k at that point.

[tam-trucks]

anyone doing any 3d parts for tlt axles,,,,like lockouts