I now work with a local company to do the silicone moulding and resin casting but the biggest cost has always been making the master for the silicone mold. I've used various types of 3D printing, SLA, and FDM but even though my chassis are made with SLS process (selective laser sintering), I've never tried it for a master bodyshell.
However I recently got in touch with a place in London and they said they could make a much higher resolution part than I'd had before. Could this combine the low cost of SLS with the accurate surface finish of the better 3D prints?
The next candidate for a bodyshell was the AMC Matador, probably the most common TV and film police car until the 1977 Dodge Monaco came along.
I got the 3D surface data for a 1971 model
Then got a bureau service to stitch the surfaces together so it could be made. Most 3D models have holes in the surfaces where the edges don't quite meet; it's not a huge problem when the car is used in a computer game but it can't be 3D printed like that, the mesh has to be complete.
I uploaded the file, paid about 30% of what an SLA would cost and waited, nervously, for two weeks. Then this arrived!
It looked fantastic, the powdery surface was still there but it was much tighter than the SLS usually is, certainly much finer than my SLS chassis. I tried it out for size on a chassis, although I'd done all the checks on the computer before so I wasn't too worried about it fitting properly
I then washed it, dried it and put some primer on. Then sanded it down and primered again.
It took about 5 coats, sanding down between each one, before I was satisfied that the surface was good. Then I got busy with the silicone mould as usual.
Today, the first resin casting came out of the mold and it looks great. The window apertures need a little more cleaning up but the surface quality is excellent.
It still needs windows, but I'm hoping one of my existing interiors will fit, and the wheel centres are similar to the later Dodge I already have. I see lots of this, in the car's future
