Can You 3d Print RC Car Parts? 3D Printed RC Parts Download/Printing

Can You 3d Print RC Car Parts? RC cars are a favorite pastime for many people of all ages. They’re a relatively cheap way to have some fun and get some exercise, but they can still be quite expensive if you want to buy new parts or upgrade your old ones.

Whether you’ve been racing RC cars for years or just bought one this morning, 3D printing is an easy and cost-effective way to make the car even better! In this blog post, we’ll show you how it’s done.

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Can you 3d print RC car parts?

Yes, you can print RC car parts using 3d printing technologies. But to understand the subject better we must first clarify what is meant with “3d printed RC car part”.

When people hear about 3d printers they think about plastic trinkets and small figurines, but it’s the same as thinking a car or airplane is made of wood simply because those were options in the past. In fact today almost all airplanes use composite materials as fuselage and wings to be light and strong enough for what they need to do.

So even though aluminum is still used extensively it wouldn’t make sense if every plane was only made of that material since it would be much heavier than what actually needs to carry a few hundred gallons of fuel over long distances.

3D Printing RC Car Parts vs Traditional Manufacturing Processes

One example would be wheel hubs, traditionally wheel hubs are cast from metal alloys which require expensive molds and lots of time before they can start getting used on a real race track. While there are alloy wheel hubs already 3d printed out of metal, these were still prototypes that didn’t necessarily pass all the FIA/JAF tests so they couldn’t be used on an official race track.

This is where 3d printing can help since it can create them in plastic, this would allow teams to use these same parts on actual races instead of wasting time for expensive castings or taking too much risk using metal alloy hubs which might not fit the requirements down the road.

The main problem with this technology is that 3d printers are still quite slow compared to traditional manufacturing methods and need more material than what’s actually needed since you’re building layer after layer .

This means other manufacturing processes like injection molding could simply produce more pieces faster than a 3d printer can do it even though this technology has come a long way since it first appeared.

Can You 3d Print RC Car Parts?

3D Printed RC Parts to Watch Out For

Considering the possible advantages over traditional manufacturing methods it’s understandable why people are eager to bring them into racing since it could help keep costs down or at least make teams more competitive depending on how they use them. But there are also downsides that need to be considered before popping the champagne open, one of them would be stiffness.

Most 3d printers work by melting small amounts of plastic filament and depositing layer after layer until the desired shape is achieved, this means that most parts will not be as stiff as an injection molded part which results in lower strength. Of course, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to achieve stiffer parts but doing so might require completely new processes instead of just bringing them into racing because it’s cheaper or faster.

Another downside is that 3d printers are still quite slow, the same goes for the materials that can be used compared to traditional manufacturing methods which means you might not realize its potential unless you’re willing to use it on high-end products only.

There are some very expensive machines already capable of using different materials but even those are mostly constrained by speed so they might not be practical for smaller parts manufacturers yet.

For now, I don’t think anyone should rush out and buy one of these devices since there are still so many other factors at play than just printing something yourself instead of sending it off somewhere, but seeing how interest in this technology grows I could see myself getting excited about this as well.

Can You 3d Print RC Car Parts?

How to make car parts? Printed car models/Printed car cost/ Filament

I am writing this article because I know that there are countless people out there who want to make their own RC car parts. Unfortunately, the tutorials on how to do it are mostly in German or at least need a Google translator to be understandable. Of course, you can learn a lot from highly developed sites like rc-bastler.de but sometimes you just need something basic without too much theory and background information. On the other hand, if you don’t have any experience with tools or soldering stuff, maybe my suggestions won’t be too useful for you either. But even if you only have very limited access to tools etc., it’s always worth a try! Just think about all those awesome custom-made RC cars around here…

Another point which I want to mention at the beginning is that this article will not cover how to design RC car parts using CAD systems.

It’s about physical building and even though it’s possible to build quite complex things with just “standard” tools and equipment, in most cases, making a good and functional part really depends on having access to professional machinery like CNC mills or laser cutters. This means that if you’re not in a university research lab surrounded by students who can help you out when you’re in trouble, you’d better forget about making anything but very basic pieces for your projects!

I assume here that the reader has never done any kind of work with metal before. In case somebody knows some basics already, please don’t be offended by my gaps in knowledge, and feel free to add comments or correct me.

I am especially interested in getting some links here about how to design metal parts using CAD systems and about the materials and tools most useful for making RC car parts, so please post a comment with your suggestions!

First of all: Choosing the right material

What kind of material you use depends on several different factors like what equipment is accessible, your budget, etc. Of course, there are tons of different metals out there but these are mostly used for special purposes only.

Those which can be used both inexpensively/handily and for many hobby projects are Aluminium (Al), MDF (Medium-density fiberboard), Anodized aluminum (Ano), Plywood (Ply), and Acetal.

Aluminum is the most common material for RC cars, especially when you go into more professional products. However, it has some drawbacks which make it less suitable for beginners to work with: It can be cut using normal metal saws without too many problems but drilling holes, etc. requires special tools like diamond-coated twist drills or specific jigs/fixtures.

Plus it’s really easy to overheat this stuff if you are not careful so please don’t try to save money here by buying a cheap rotary tool! There are better options out there 🙂 Of course, Al is great stuff because you can get it in almost any shape or size but that also means that it’s easy to get lost and hard to organize it properly.

Can You 3d Print RC Car Parts?

Best 3D printer for RC body parts

In the following article, I will show you some of those printers that can help you to create those parts for your RC vehicles which are made from a single material.

3D printer – RepRap Prusa i3 Hictop

The Prusa i3 is an open-source fused deposition modeling 3D printer. The design is partially based on the Prusa Mendel and stretches its predecessor’s frame into a rectangular shape with a larger build volume. The Prusa i3 was named “Project of the Month” in February 2012 by Make: magazine. It was featured in their “Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing”, released at Maker Faire 2012.

The HICTOP i3 pro is a clone of the Prusa Mendel with some slight differences. The rods and bearings are compatible, but the parts that hold the smooth rod and the bearing block together, and the X ends and motor mount, have been replaced by available parts from McMaster-Carr.

The size of this printer is 310*310*380 mm – it’s not as big as we would like to see due to its circular shape which limits you in terms of printing bigger objects such as robots legs or car rims so if you want to print bigger RC components than go for another one on my list – Zortrax M200 also sold by HICTOP.

The most interesting part is that you can print all the parts for this printer by yourself which will save you some money. The assembly process takes about 6-7 hours but it’s not difficult, just follow the steps in their manual. HICTOP also provides online support if any questions arise.

Filament spools are not included in the kit so consider buying one or two with your purchase. Though PLA filament is best to use in my experience I saw some people printing ABS objects with this printer without issues (I’m sure they didn’t have a warping problem). Another advantage of HICTOP i3 pro over other printers on my list is its heated bed which allows you to print with ABS filament if needed, though this printer is not fully enclosed so you might have problems with warping with ABS.

This makes it the most affordable FDM 3D printer with a heated bed right now, making it one of the best choices if you are on a budget (this is what I’ll recommend to my friends who want to start playing with 3D printers).

Can You 3d Print RC Car Parts? (cre: rctech)

The best material to print car parts?

Nowadays, 3D printing technology is being widely used in almost every industry especially in the automotive field. It allows to the production of prototype parts quickly and at a low cost. Also, this method could help engineers to save time during the testing process of new auto parts designs.

Previously I have discussed one of the most important aspects while designing the RC car parts which is model scaling. However, it is equally important to choose the proper material for its production. The best solution would be to print it directly from the CAD program with materials that are compatible with your 3D printer’s hotend. But if you want to use some other material, here are several points you should consider:

1) Strength

– this parameter depends on density of printed object. We recommend to print your car parts from material that has a density within the range of 1.1g – 1.5g/cm3. However, never use filament with higher or lower density since it will lead to poor strength of the printed object.

2) Cost

– 3D printing technology is far cheaper than using molds for producing prototype auto-parts. It is worth mentioning that price per volume is much less expensive in the case of 3D printing (it takes approximately $0,7-$1 per cubic cm). You can find out precise cost by multiplying material volume with its price per kilo/liter and dividing this sum by 1000

3) Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)

– this technology enables to production of prototype parts from nylon, PEEK, and other materials that are extremely hard and durable. However, we do not recommend using such material as PLA as it is very brittle and will crack during the first crashes or collisions with obstacles.

4) Post-Curing

– this parameter is becoming more and more popular now because it significantly increases the strength of 3D printed RC car parts. It can be achieved by placing a printed object in the oven for several hours (for example 110 oC – 120 of – 1h). This process could also improve the color of ABS/PLA printed objects if they were tinted in some way (e.g. painted, dyed, etc.). Keep in mind; you should use proper ventilation while post-curing your RC car parts.

5) Color

– if you do not have any CAD program or 3D printer which could print in color, do not worry about it too much! It is always possible to paint the RC car parts before assembling itwith a chassis. Just use paints that are compatible with the material from which your prototype part is printed.

The list above is just a small overview of some important parameters you should be aware of when designing and testing new RC car designs. However, there are many other things that contribute to the performance and durability of the finished product such as type of infill (rectilinear/honeycomb), wall thickness, etc. Nevertheless, we hope our advice will help you to get better results while using 3D printing technology!

Can You 3d Print RC Car Parts? (cre: rccrawler)

Can you 3d print tail lights?

Yes, you can.

The Thingiverse community is very proud to present:

Cyberman from Dr. Who is in the making, and it’s only for our beloved 3D printers. Let’s go through an epic journey and create this scary monster together! If you don’t like the idea of printing out Cyberman, wait until we’re done with him and come back here to learn how to sculpt your own amazing creature. Or you can simply handle this project as a nice visual tutorial on building a miniature without needing too much technical background knowledge about 3D or sculpting software. Ready? Here we go…

First step: download all the files. After downloading the files, they need to be prepared for printing.

There are basically three kinds of parts: 1- Those that are already solid. 2- Those that need to be hollowed out in order to save plastic and weight. 3- The part with a special structure that needs to be printed with support material in order not to crack when printing it upside down.

For the first group, just print them as they are. You can print them with or without infill, doesn’t really matter since this is the solid exterior of Cyberman’s body.

For the second group, you have two options: either you simply remove some of the inner “walls” using your sculpting/knife tool so it becomes hollow, or if your printer is patient enough to print that thin part in a pointy way, you can simply let the printer do so and it will come out nice and smooth. Just make sure you have a high resolution for this.

As for the third group:

There are some parts that have specific structures where support material would be needed in order not to break when printing it. You don’t want your Cyberman head broken off during printing, right? Not cool at all… In this case, just add “support” when exporting from your 3D sculpting program.

After removing the support from these parts there might be some leftover pieces of plastic here and there on top or bottom surfaces that need to be removed with a blade or modeling tool (in Rhino for example).

For the rest of the parts, you simply export/save them from your sculpting program as .stl files.

Can You 3d Print RC Car Parts?

Second step: Printing and painting

You might need to scale some of these files in order to get a nice finish with your printer, especially if it’s a 3D printer that has “low” precision (meaning the dimensions aren’t exact) or if you’re using one of those cheap Chinese 3D printers from Aliexpress or something. I used a Wombat XL 2 with high precision and it did great! So if you have a big budget machine that is precise then just scale things down 10-20% so they fit nicely on your print bed. Let’s move on to our beloved 3D printers now.

For this project I used a Lulzbot TAZ 5 with MatterHackers PRO Series PLA, it printed beautifully.

So, let’s take our Cyberman body and print it out! Let’s start with the helmet first: just print two times the helmet STL file and that should be enough to have a full helmet for your Cyberman – then move on to printing the rest of his parts (the chest plate, arms, legs, and feet). After finished printing all these parts you can start painting them.

Painting is very important because it gives depth to the figure and makes him look like he jumped right out of Dr Who!

Here are some basic tips on making your Cyberman even more epic:

1- Painting is easier when you print the parts with a higher resolution! So printing them in 200 microns instead of 100 microns will make your paint job look much better!

2- The smaller the part, the less time/painting is needed. It’s okay to spend hours and hours painting a big chest piece but why waste that art on tiny legs or arms?

3- For the best possible finish: use gloss varnish instead of matte (for example Testors Dullcote works perfect for this), it will make your Cyberman shiny like hellfire and he will scare small children & pets… I guess…

Conclusion

3D printing is a powerful tool that can manufacture complex shapes with accuracy and precision. It’s also an excellent option for making RC car parts because it doesn’t require expensive molds to be created, which means you’re saving time in the manufacturing process.

This technology may not have been around long enough yet for us to see how it’ll affect our lives or society at large, but we do know one thing – when used correctly, this innovative new tool will help you design your next great product! If you need assistance figuring out if there are any uses of 3D printing that would benefit your business then please contact us today.

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