Wild Willy’s 3d printing adventure - by NicheRotors

[nicherotors 319]

The design for Willy’s Bullhead interior has now been completed.  The parts have been designed so that once put together in a particular sequence there are no screw heads visible when the body is in place.  Especially pleased with the effect of the illuminated dashboard which requires a single 5mm LED.  The other servo lead will be connected to the steering channel to animate Willy’s head.  
 

It should be fairly easy now to lower and stretch the design to fit the Clod Buster. 

[bRIBEGuy 3032]

Looks fantastic!

[nicherotors 319]

Last year I was asked a number of times why I hadn’t designed a grill with vertical slats.  I’d always been quite pleased with [cutting out the horizontal vents] on the stock WW2 item and knew there were other designs available on the Shapeways marketplace. However, recent experience had taught us that the 3d printed materials currently available at Shapeways range from either strong and flat to more brittle but detailed - but there isn’t one material that was detailed and super strong. The Wild Willy grill requires a combination of both and so the following concept was hatched; that of having the main grill designed to be printed in PA12 that can accommodate the addition of separate fine detail plastic parts for the bolts and indicators/ side lights.  At the time of writing this concept seems to be unique on Shapeways.

So far the grills designed include:

i) a replica of the original,

ii) a simple version without the details as per the full-size yellow fibreglass (Bobcat) version shown a few posts back,

iii) a version that incorporates my headlight buckets (for two 5mm LEDs), and

iv) angry eyes (as Jeep owners call them) which I've just painted in TS-46 Light Sand.

 

It’s quite easy when using flat sanding sticks to get a good finish on the grill before adding the details. 

This two-part approach also makes it easier than normal to get a good finish on the orange signals.

Obviously a chrome light bucket would be best but I found white was the next best thing; silver turned the light too grey IMO.

Parts are available [here] with no premium.

 

[nicherotors 319]

The foundation design for the interior to Willy’s Clod Buster has just started and hopefully will be completed quicker than the Bullhead above. 

As with the Bullhead interior I feel motivated to make sure that there are no screwheads visible in the cabin (but that comes with complications and expense - we'll see). 

One known compromise is that Willy's left boot is going to have to be trimmed, he sits a lot lower than in the Bullhead; the alternative was to put Willy in the middle but then he wouldn't be able to see over the supercharger!