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donut_v2

3D printing wheels and tires for the Renault Alpine A110 and Citroen 2cv

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I was satisfied with how the Beetle wheels and tires turned out so now I'm doing the same to my A110.

wheelsTires04.thumb.jpg.b710365e6c1f4d8e24317bca083ce22f.jpgweatheredtire01.jpg.6815dbdd47515b9d0b7a2036bf008b97.jpg

I'm going for this...

redalpine.png.684e2c67428e623035f4db8c82bef622.png

 

What I've got so far...

AlpineTire01.thumb.jpg.0f83ef6be72960311bef531c1b7dea2a.jpg

 

AlpineTire03.JPG

 

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You´re so crazy, found your beetle in the net, upper cool with those tires and rims. Wouldn´t have spotted, that they are 3d printed with the looks on the real car! Even the tire lettering is very accurate. How can you print it in this quality?

Can´t wait to see your new Project on the Alpine!

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First try at the tire with 3D flexible resin. It  came out a bit overcured which caused details to be lost. 

testtirea110.jpg.22568ca8ad97811a0e1770316cb4a40e.jpg

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On 3/1/2020 at 6:55 PM, ruebiracer said:

You´re so crazy, found your beetle in the net, upper cool with those tires and rims. Wouldn´t have spotted, that they are 3d printed with the looks on the real car! Even the tire lettering is very accurate. How can you print it in this quality?

Can´t wait to see your new Project on the Alpine!

I use an SLA 3d printer. It can produce way more detail than an FDM printer.

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Looks perfect! How soft are the printed tyres? Do they offer any grip or are they for show only?

Also - what grey is that? I was after something similar and couldnt see a ps spray like that only corsa grey which is a little bit too blue

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On 3/10/2020 at 2:49 AM, Superluminal said:

Looks perfect! How soft are the printed tyres? Do they offer any grip or are they for show only?

Also - what grey is that? I was after something similar and couldnt see a ps spray like that only corsa grey which is a little bit too blue

The tires are soft enough to be useable. Here's the link to my Beetle build with more details and a video of the tires in action.

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This is absolutely amazing, what I've dreamed about for years. I've always wanted my models to have a more narrow scale tread, so much so that even as a kid I did loads of research pre-internet, best I could in hobbyshops, stores etc to find narrow track wheels to make my cars more realistic. I understand the need for the wider track wheels found on all modern RC cars, I just would love to drive them with a more scale appearance. The crawler boom has so many options, why not touring and rally cars?

As I'm back in the hobby now I've been trying to collect a database of alternative wheels and tyres for my projects, there's so many tyres out for 1/18 and 1/16 models that could work.

I started building an Alpine years ago, but gave up due to being unsatisfied with the wheel options :lol: If there's a chance you could 3D print rally wheels and tyres like below, then I'd buy a set straight away! I've always wanted to build a RWD M-chassis version with mudflaps and a larger ground clearance, full interior etc.

There are some 1/18 Crawler tyres on eBay that work really well, they need to be narrower but its a start. I'll try and find the link.

 

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On 3/24/2020 at 11:47 PM, Joe Bo said:

This is absolutely amazing, what I've dreamed about for years. I've always wanted my models to have a more narrow scale tread, so much so that even as a kid I did loads of research pre-internet, best I could in hobbyshops, stores etc to find narrow track wheels to make my cars more realistic. I understand the need for the wider track wheels found on all modern RC cars, I just would love to drive them with a more scale appearance. The crawler boom has so many options, why not touring and rally cars?

As I'm back in the hobby now I've been trying to collect a database of alternative wheels and tyres for my projects, there's so many tyres out for 1/18 and 1/16 models that could work.

I started building an Alpine years ago, but gave up due to being unsatisfied with the wheel options :lol: If there's a chance you could 3D print rally wheels and tyres like below, then I'd buy a set straight away! I've always wanted to build a RWD M-chassis version with mudflaps and a larger ground clearance, full interior etc.

There are some 1/18 Crawler tyres on eBay that work really well, they need to be narrower but its a start. I'll try and find the link.

I believe those wheels and tires can be printed. Do you have a closer or more detailed picture of the wheels and tires? I could put them up on Shapeways. However, the only flexible material they have is TPU. It could work but I find it too hard.

...and I totally agree with you regarding wanting more cars with scale appearances. Next in line to get the wheel/tire treatment are the 2cv and Karmann Ghia :D.

 

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2 hours ago, donut_v2 said:

the 2cv and Karmann Ghia

Defo. This is an area where Tamiya could get back to its roots. Scale model cars that are radio contolled.

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Wow, I'd really love to buy a set. The hub caps are beautifully executed. They look incredible! I hope they re-release they Alpine body again.

If you make them for the 2cv, I'm definitely all in. I'm deeply dissatisfied with my current 2cv setup, I'm looking at scale crawler wheels, small buggies etc to see if there's anything narrow to use.

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21 hours ago, Joe Bo said:

Wow, I'd really love to buy a set. The hub caps are beautifully executed. They look incredible! I hope they re-release they Alpine body again.

If you make them for the 2cv, I'm definitely all in. I'm deeply dissatisfied with my current 2cv setup, I'm looking at scale crawler wheels, small buggies etc to see if there's anything narrow to use.

 

Thanks! 

However, to get the hub caps that small, the threaded shaft will have to be cut and low profile wheel nuts used.

I ordered a 2cv body set but don't know when I'll receive it given everything that's happening. I'll try to make wheels and tires for it based on pictures for now.

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@donut_v2, what printer, resin and settings are you using?  I tried to print some drift rims using Elegoo standard resin on an Elegoo Mars printer, I has some issues with the wheel being out of round due to inadequate supports but also found the resin was so brittle it would shatter when I tried to snip off the supports.  I seem to be caught between making smaller supports that break during printing or bigger supports that I can't snip through without shattering the rim.

I've designed my next batch to print with the rear face against the build plate.  That way I don't have so much support material to trim and the wheel should be perfectly round.  However I fear Elegoo standard resin will be too brittle for actual use.

I know there are some tougher resins out there but not sure what brand to try as this seems to be new ground for resin printers.

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4 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

@donut_v2, what printer, resin and settings are you using?  I tried to print some drift rims using Elegoo standard resin on an Elegoo Mars printer, I has some issues with the wheel being out of round due to inadequate supports but also found the resin was so brittle it would shatter when I tried to snip off the supports.  I seem to be caught between making smaller supports that break during printing or bigger supports that I can't snip through without shattering the rim.

I've designed my next batch to print with the rear face against the build plate.  That way I don't have so much support material to trim and the wheel should be perfectly round.  However I fear Elegoo standard resin will be too brittle for actual use.

I know there are some tougher resins out there but not sure what brand to try as this seems to be new ground for resin printers.

For this wheel/tire set, I used a Moai 130 with Anycubic resin. I would have used my Phrozen Sonic Mini but I'm still waiting for a part to get it working. 

I can't really give my opinion regarding the part you are printing until I see it but you can try adding a lot more supports with smaller contact areas to the object. I don't have experience using Elegoo resins but from what you describe, it's seems too brittle for your intended purpose. Try looking for a "tough" resin. Something similar to this resin from a quick Google search - https://epax3d.com/products/esun-hard-and-tough-photopolymer-resin-for-lcd-3d-printers-uv-405nm-0-5kg.

Laying the wheel flat on the build plate should work. Just make sure there are vent holes in your model so you don't create a vacuum that may cause it to stick to your vat. Maybe also add about 0.2~0.3mm to the bottom/rear part of  the wheel as the first few layers tend to get compressed. 

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Thanks for the advice @donut_v2, I have been searching tough resins but wasn't sure which of the various options to try.  I was going to message a UK manufacturer about their product range as they do both tough and flexible resins.  I'd like to try some tyres, even if they're only used for display and light running.  I could possibly make functional rubber parts for my big rigs too if the finished product is tough enough.

I'm not familiar with those printer models but the Phrozen Sonic Mini seems to occupy the same market point as the Elegoo Mars and Anycubic Photon and the Moai 130 is a bit of a step up, at least in terms of price.

Do you find the difference between the 130 and the Sonic Mini, in terms of capability, reliability, resolution etc.? 

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I actually prefer the Sonic Mini and so do a lot of others based on the positive reviews it's getting. The printouts were better and easier to produce than on the Moai. The Moai needs a lot of fiddling to work properly. Dimensional accuracy seems to be better on the Sonic Mini, too. Unfortunately, the LED of the Sonic Mini had to be replaced after only a few prints. The LED driver issue turned out to be a known problem and (hopefully) has been addressed by Phrozen. They shipped out a new part to me but the pandemic hit and now it's stuck in a Fedex warehouse. 

I've successfully printed tires on the Moai using Photocentric3d's flexible UV resin. I've ordered the LCD version of the resin to try on the Mini for tires but I don't know when it's going to get here. The thing about these "flexible" resins though is that they will bend but NOT stretch. For this reason, I design the wheels with front and back parts so that I don't have to stretch the tires when mounting them. The flexible resins are durable and you can run them without breaking. If they do, print another one! :D

wheeltireSmall.jpg.1c4afa55f69746b1b2f0c5a90fe8a25c.jpg

 

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@Joe Bo Veering a bit off topic, here's a rendering of the 2cv wheel and tire I plan to upload to Shapeways for anybody that's interested. I simplified it so that no screws are needed. The hub cap is held on by friction. Tire should be printed using TPU. TPE would be better but I don't think Shapeways has that yet.

2cvwheeltire.jpg.c96a70cbe3d44d8e6d78daf99f409f84.jpg

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Thanks @donut_v2, I’m interested in those too thanks to @Joe Bo’s 2CV- a showroom entry I have bookmarked!!

Please let us know when they are available - I’m hoping to do a Shapeways order in the near future (thanks to the efforts of another TC member).

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I'm still not convinced with pressing in the hub cap into the middle of the wheel. Removing it will be a pain. I'm thinking of maybe putting a hole so you could poke the cap out from behind the wheel with a paperclip.

I also checked Shapeways and they only have TPU in white. Who would want a white tire?  If anybody is familiar with alternative materials on Shapeways, please let me know. If there isn't a material that works, I may just put sets on E-Bay or sell directly like I did with a couple of Beetle wheel/tire sets.

Below is a test print of the 2cv wheel. Gave it a quick and dirty spray of PS-1 White (can't go out to get some TS-1). Don't mind the crude looking tire. It was printed on a FDM printer using NinjaFlex. The tire is slightly smaller in diameter and narrower than the Alpine A110's tire.

testprint.jpg.d3d0a9a5325f79b94fbbb841133dc6c7.jpg   2cvwheelproto.jpg.3fbda2cfc0c2f93bc75dd005d3f833a4.jpg

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