Another 3d Printed Fiero

[ccobra]

I found a Fiero the other day on the internet so I decided what the heck. After a little modification in Netfab I was able to get it to measure the 93.4 inch wheelbase scaled down to 1/32. Then off to the printer.

After goofing up the placement of the parts the first time I was able to get a decent print the second time around. After a quick cleaning on the body, I inserted four tubes with inserts to use as body mounts, with the chassis spaced evenly away from the body, I applied the first coat of epoxy on the tubes.

Once the epoxy was setup, I measured the gap between the body and the setup wheels, I removed the chassis and the inserts, and machined the body down for the new position of the chassis.

Then I was able to apply another coat of epoxy to the mount tubes since my hands didn't read the G-Code correctly so I patched up the the surface from the top side.

Now I can start working a little more detail tomorrow by making room for the motor and side gears. Then I'll start on the adding the vent plate details on the rear deck. After some thought though, I'm going to cheap by painting the back window for it looks like it would be above my skill level to cut out the current plastic and then adding a window.

Once I get the body with a little more detail I'll be able to apply coat of epoxy like XTC-3D which has been tricky stuff to work with until you get the right amount on. The first tie I used it I put on too much and it ran off the body like water. Hopefully my primary job won't get in the way of this little fun project.

[Jesla]

Cool...

...hope it doesn't set you track on fire. :)

[ccobra]

[dge467]

That is cool!

[TuscoTodd]

That is pretty slick!
I was poking around on shapeways and have noticed a number of new additions in the 1/32 side of things! Definitely great to see this technology being used to create cool stuff like this!
:text-bravo:

[ccobra]

I usually get the bodies from either Thingiverse, Grabcad, DMI, or Turbosquid. After downloading a model, I run it through the Netfab where I clean up the model, check and adjust the scale to 1/32 (I base this off of a rough measurement of the wheelbase, and then cutout the body to fit the chassis that I designed in Inventor. Some times I even goes as far as opening up the STL file in Inventor and add the holes and support material for the chassis mounts in the body. The I stitch up the body in Inventor and save it as a STL file then I go to the other computer I have hooked up to the printer and let it print for about the next four hours.
Anyway I got the epoxy on the chassis and the body this afternoon and I must warn you about something that I forgot. I forgot how fast this stuff sets up in the mixing cup so don't mix over 3 grams at a time, its less wasteful that way.

Note the mixing cup with the epoxy set up in it.
I got the epoxy applied with some quality sponge brushes which seems to work better than the acid brush. With the foam brush you can work the epoxy better out of the corner pockets and recesses in the parts. Now after the epoxy sets up overnight I'll lightly sand the body to make sure it has an even surface and to ensure that the grooves I just cut didn't fill up and even out. I wouldn't know who had done that before so I'll blame my dog for that also since see gets the blame for everything which helps the wife and I from arguing.

Just to try something new, I even applied a coat on the chassis. Time will tell how that works out.