Wild Willy’s 3d printing adventure - by NicheRotors

[Willy iine 18843]

Thanks, @nicherotors!   I checked out your gallery page.   Looks fantastic!  Great work as always. 

[nicherotors 323]

Maybe this is a better way of illustrating how the battery bay and switch are sandwiched between the two chassis halves (lots better than my pictures!). 

 

[simensays 380]

...

Edited March 30, 2023 by simensays
Reminded myself to keep it positive

[nicherotors 323]

Thought it would be a fun little distraction to cut up a WR-02 chassis in an attempt to lower the Wild Willy 2 body on the chassis without just reducing damper throw and eating into valuable ground clearance.
 

This experiment, called WR-03, is a standard rear wheel drive WR-02 chassis with the battery tray cut off.
 

I started with a combination of cardboard templates, sheets of plastic, old 3d printed body mounts, glue and some imagination.  The design accommodates a 7.2v hump pack mounted transversely over the rear axle with the hump nestled within the faux fuel cell of the Wild Willy 2 body as per the original 1980’s model.

 

I got the development chassis running quite well on the standard Wild Willy 2 tyres. 

 

My collaboration with @Jamesssb continues who has modelled both the chassis and body in Fusion 360.  We settled on getting the front grill only 2mm above the front of the hard WR-02 plastic.  The rear section of the Wild Willy 2 body is level (parallel to the suspension mounting points).

 

An advantage of this design is that all the aluminium suspension upgrades on the market for the WR-02 will still be compatible.  Also, there is lots of space in the engine bay and our imagination is extending to build out a big (comical) Ford V8 with side exhausts that can sit within the bonnet/ hood (without the front fenders) - just like the yellow Bobcat I posted on Jan 18 on the previous page. 

 

The first version of the WR-03 chassis add-on has just been sent to Shapeways - the renders are just showing current progress.

[nicherotors 323]

Progress with the WR-03 chassis continues; just received the first Shapeways items and they fit like a glove.  The main 3d printed item nicely covers up the hacksaw marks and any rough edges I might have left behind on the original Tamiya parts.

The first picture shows how @Jamesssb took my original card templates and transposed the design and got a pretty good version printed in grey at home.

Effort will now be spent on detailing a replica V8 engine which will incorporate the front body posts.

[nicherotors 323]

Progress continues with the WR-03 chassis; in its basic form it is just two 3D parts, a) a turtle shell that bolts onto a sawn-off WR-02 chassis (cuts painted yellow) and b) a pair of front body mounts.

 

The pictures here show how a pair of 3D printed side exhausts can be fitted with some polished aluminium tips - the same diameter as used on the Wheeler.  I like the way they infer a big engine up front.  This combination means a modified Wild Willy 2 body can simply slot into place. 

 

The 7.2v hump pack sits transversely and nestles in the faux fuel cell as per the vintage model.  This allows for the body to sit much lower without cutting the body - in fact there is even space to fill in the drivers footwell with a part previously designed for an earlier project. 

 

Still some little tweaks to process before the designs can go up on Shapeways.

[nicherotors 323]

I plan to build one model without the front inner fenders so that the V8 up front can be visible.

Here are a couple of pictures of current progress building on the WR-03 chassis above - utilising the same side mufflers but with a different manifold. 

[wildwillhappy 15]

I do like the battery tray on the back but would love a speed control and receiver to fit into a  box to fit the  wild willy 2

I do know this is off topic a bit so sorry

 

 

Edited June 6, 2023 by wildwillhappy
goofed up

[nicherotors 323]

On 6/6/2023 at 4:47 PM, wildwillhappy said:

I do like the battery tray on the back but would love a speed control and receiver to fit into a  box to fit the  wild willy 2

I do know this is off topic a bit so sorry

Feel free @wildwillhappy to direct message me with a diagram and I'll see if we can help.

[nicherotors 323]

Many of the fibreglass Bobcat based Jeeps seem to have homemade dashboards and simple tailgates fashioned from plates of metal - often diamond plate. 
 

I wanted to emulate these items and thought it best to start with 3d printed blank dashboard and tailgate items that can be covered with some nice diamond patterned styrene - despite the pattern being described as 1/48th scale from Plastruct I’m quite happy with it on a 1/10th model. 
 

The dashboard comes with a little instrument binnacle for the sticker and a handle bar.

Pictures of the full-size can be found here: http://www.ewillys.com/tag/bobcat/page/3/

[nicherotors 323]

Have now completed the design of the blank firewall which like the blank dashboard and blank tailgate needs to be skinned with patterned styrene.  These three parts have proven best when printed in PA12 with glass beads to maintain their flat structure.
 

This firewall includes the drivers footwell which has been painted the same colour as the body and is held in place by the locking nuts to the front roll bar and the two screws that hold the dashboard in place (just 2mm longer than standard).  

[Willy iine 18843]

@nicherotors Looks good.   Did you paint your roll cage for the foam tube look or sand it?  That looks really good.

[nicherotors 323]

Thanks and good spot @Willy iine, I used TS-82.  In a slightly unorthodox way I paint the fire extinguisher first - this way I get a sharper edge around the two straps. Because the widths of the narrow areas I want to mask differ I find it convenient to cut a thin strip of masking tape and then mask each edge and then the two overlap.  There is a small moulding seam that needs to be sanded and this is easily sanded smooth once the masking has been done thus protecting the natural gloss black plastic. 
 

TS-82 responds well to the white snow being added for shading - I typically use the same recipe on the windscreen rubber surround and the rear wheel arches.

[Willy iine 18843]

Thanks for the info @nicherotors!  

[Chewie75 9]

On 7/17/2023 at 7:38 AM, nicherotors said:

Thanks and good spot @Willy iine, I used TS-82.  In a slightly unorthodox way I paint the fire extinguisher first - this way I get a sharper edge around the two straps. Because the widths of the narrow areas I want to mask differ I find it convenient to cut a thin strip of masking tape and then mask each edge and then the two overlap.  There is a small moulding seam that needs to be sanded and this is easily sanded smooth once the masking has been done thus protecting the natural gloss black plastic. 
 

TS-82 responds well to the white snow being added for shading - I typically use the same recipe on the windscreen rubber surround and the rear wheel arches.

That cage looks great.. More like Art Box. Every one is going to do that from now on.... 😉 Also The " chrome" on the back of the light bezels look so much better.. Just like the box. I will tape mine up with Tamiya tape and try to get it as nice as yours. Make a big difference!!!  
Did you back it with TS14

Cheers 

[nicherotors 323]

Thanks @Chewie75, yes, as per the instructions on the TS-83 cap I used TS-14 as a base - the same for all the diamond plated parts too. 
 

From experience it’s helpful for the base to be dark but more important that it is smooth. So after a coat of TS-14 I apply a light coat of TS-83 straight away and don’t touch/ key the black in between. Your mileage may vary but it works for me and worth every penny of the extra expense.  Bizarrely it becomes less reflective with more coats - bit of a knack required - but a single warm light coat that just covers the parts is best.

Have fun - TS-83 is a great product. 

[Chewie75 9]

Thanks @nicherotors I also noticed 2-3 layers of TS83 will make it more dull compared to 1 single layer that covers it all. So one coat of TS-14 and then straight after a light tack layer of TS-83. Try for 20-30 minutes the one single layer of the nice TS-83. Did I understand correct?

Your painting and guides are a pleasure to follow.  And you after picture set up with the parts and can lids are spot on !!!

 

[nicherotors 323]

Appreciate the encouragement @Chewie75, you got it and I look forward to you sharing the progress you make.

Here is another picture of some paint caps!

[nicherotors 323]

The design and development of the faux V8 for Wild Willy is now complete.  

The 3d printed radiator has a pocket that allows a cut down version of the plastic spare radiator grill from the kit to be dropped in from above (once the fan has been slid onto its axle).

Its obviously a compromise that the body posts come out of the rocker covers on this model but on the next project the body posts will be relocated and the majority of this design work will be leveraged and reused. 

Just having another chassis printed with some final tweaks before moving onto the next adventure. 

[Willy iine 18843]

That looks great @nicherotors!  Love the attention to detail including the colors you used on the weld areas of the headers, the air filter, oh wow, even has an oil filter!  

[GeeWings 2861]

Yes, totally agree with the other comments, this is looking awesome @nicherotors.

Oh, and I also recently sprayed my WW bars in black rubber but I used gunmetal for the tubes. Yours looks much better and the white weathering just takes it up another notch. So good.

[nicherotors 323]

Have now completed the WR-03 project and loaded pics into a showroom here.

Has been a lot of fun and have learnt a lot about the different 3d printed materials.

The Shapeways shop has been updated - with no premium added:

    - the lowered chassis parts can be found here 

    - the optional engine accessories can be found here

    - and the body accessories (inc. the blank dashboard, blank tailgate, front spotlights etc) can be found here.

[Willy iine 18843]

Nice work @nicherotors as always!  Great attention to detail.  

btw, those front lamps look real good too. 

[nicherotors 323]

Have picked up where I left off with the Bullhead interior; made lots of little adjustments that I want printed and tested before completing with the rollcage.

 

 

[nicherotors 323]

Conviction remains high but progress has been thwarted - was hoping I was nearly there but found a number of subtle changes were required. Am starting to wish I’d invested in a 3d scanner to model all the little obstacles on the inside of the Bullhead body (plastic posts and screws). 

The chocolate box card will be used as templates to cut diamond plate (painted silver) for the dash and door cards. 
 

The renders reflect a lot of design tweaks and a complete set of parts have just been ordered from Shapeways and are due just before the festive holidays.  I’m looking forward to seeing the illuminated dials in the dashboard.

Designing the cabin for the Clod Buster next should be a lot easier.