3d Printed Body Molds

[Basher67]

One of the issues with reproduction bodies, as we all know, is that many of them are produced by making a mold of an original, which in the end produces a smaller copy of the original. Has anyone considered making a body mold using 3d printing? As for myself, I can barely operate a computer good enough to navigate the forum and ebay , but I know there are some members here who are very skilled in the rapidly advancing 3d printing technology. I have seen the crazy overpriced 3d printed bodies online, but I haven't heard of anyone printing a mold to form lexan bodies. Possible or not? Cost effective? Unrealistic? I'd love to hear the thoughts on this. I apologize if this has been covered around here before and I missed it.

[jwscab]

I've thought about the same thing. The problem with most 3d printing is that it's a thermal process, so using it as a buck for a body outright would likely cause issues. However, if this printed body mockup is then used to back pour a mold/buck, then I think you've got something. A friend of mine printed out a multi piece storm trooper helmet and it looks pretty cool, along with some hollow vessels, so I think the process might work well.

[stickboy007]

Using 3d printing as a template for a mold would be a good idea. The trick is getting a body scan into a 3d CAD file. Also, 3d printed surfaces are pixelated and so the translation from that template to a mold would have to provide some wiggle room for the mold to planarize the pixelated surface roughness, while at the same time maintaining the finer features of the original body (e.g., window indents).

I think it's possible, though, and frankly this could also be done to make molded repro parts (arms, bulkheads, etc.) without spending big money on a conventional mold.

[Dadio]

It would be almost as much work as doing it the old fashioned way, firstly designing the body model and probably printing it to check for fit, then printing a buck, sanding and filling to get rid of layer lines, then cast a mould over it and finally cast the buck that's heat proof ... Its not difficult but still time consuming and labour intensive. Mostly its cleaning up the print to remove the layer lines that would take the time.

[klavy69]

now that I get a few minutes to peruse the forum this has my curiosity peaked.

some of you guys can probably answer a few questions.

What kind of materials do you need to make a mold/buck?
You mention heat proof so would concrete make a decent mold?
I looked up some stuff a looong time ago but what is the best, to pull it into a mold or over a buck?

back then when I talked to the LHS he had an interest because he couldn't sell bodies to the masses as the majority of the guys were avid runners but not avid racers so the bodies would sit on the shelf if they were over $25. Like usual when I get an idea its always a day late. Once I got the LHS interested Jay ended up with all the molds that were really wanted so it kinda went by the wayside. Then with sabulatech getting into the molds I figured the same that they would become plentiful. Then Jeff getting into A&L and handing his molds over to Andy I figured we'd be neck deep in bodies.

Not wanting to get into it too deeply was just interested in finding some more info out of this. Maybe enough to get the LHS interested in a couple bare essential low buck bodies. I realize that the guy pulling them would be the initial expense but if it gets to that point yeah, cross that bridge then...

Thanx
Todd

[GoMachV]

Then Jeff getting into A&L and handing his molds over to Andy I figured we'd be neck deep in bodies.

me too I should have sent them to Ross at McAllister. That guy gets stuff done!

[klavy69]

Then Jeff getting into A&L and handing his molds over to Andy I figured we'd be neck deep in bodies.

me too I should have sent them to Ross at McAllister. That guy gets stuff done!

its only a 25 hour drive one way for me to pick you up and stop by Andy's

[ROH73]

I don't know exactly what the pros use, but here's my materials experience in vacuum forming...

Thermo/vacuum forming requires a rigid, tough material with a low coefficient of thermal expansion, as well as the ability to withstand cyclical 400F+ temperatures. As polycarbonate cools and shrinks, it grips like a vise and really puts a lot of stress on the buck. Also, when you back pour a body or a mold to create a buck, you want the copy to shrink as little as possible to not lose even more of the original body's dimensions. So, concrete type materials can work. I have successfully used Ultracal 30 (https://plaster.com/product/usg-ultracal-30/) to back pour existing bodies. The resulting bucks have great detail reproduction, but are a little fragile and hard to drill with "helper" holes in the corners and tough to form areas. It works well, but I wouldn't expect to make a lot of copies. I've had better luck with a high temp resin. This one is specifically made for vacuum forming: https://www.alumilite.com/resins/vac-master-25/ It's very expensive; you can end up with hundreds of dollars in material to create a buck from a 1:10th scale body, so I mostly used it for smaller parts like gear covers and wings.

For non-repro parts, machined aluminum works very well. Wood also works well; it just needs a lot of sanding to get the grain out. I've used pine with a clearcoat on it. I imagine hardwoods would be better.

Ultracal 30 Back Pour

Vac-Master 25 + Aluminum + a little Bondo