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I should be working on my 20 other RC projects, but instead I decided to model the aluminum RC10 chassis and massage the design to make it 3D printable out of ABS plastic (which is obviously WAY more flexible than 6061-T6 ). The printer I have at work only has a 6"x6" platform, so I had to break the chassis into three parts (as shown by the different colors) that can be screwed and glued (maybe solvent welded) together. I'll be printing with a 20% fill. That means that the interior volume of the parts will be hollow and filled at 20% with a roughly 1.5mm x 1.5mm square lattice. This reduces weight and makes the part stiffer than if it was solid.

This project is for fun and there will be quite a bit of trial and error involved until I get parts that I can join together and mount up to the rest of an RC10.

I printed the back section today (only took 2 hours! ) and already saw that that motor guard section needs to be thicker. The model pics reflect that change.

Any comments are appreciated.

That's pretty cool and looks promising.

Nice. Some notches could be put into the front bulkhead to use chassis stiffeners if needed. Looking forward to seeing the final.

Thanks! I thought about the stiffeners too; they could probably run over the top if needed or I can just get out the ol' dremel and make some notches after the fact.

That's gonna be tough to Ano

I like it. I think it should work out well, I mean Tamiya uses nothing but ABS on most of their chassis.

i want a 3d printer and scaner so bad anymore

looking good so far, robert.

The ABS should be strong enough in theory, but an injected molded chassis is stronger than a printed one, so we'll see. The interior lattice helps on stiffness, but not on impact.

Many members of The Open RC project use ABS and same type of printer. It seems to be going well for them, although several people have switched to nylon: https://plus.google.com/communities/112745535856143176146

It's about time to upgrade my printer to one that easily prints with nylon filament .

Thanks, Jason!

That's very cool!

Wow, that's really awesome! Can you print using nylon instead of ABS? Can't wait to see the finished product.

I can print with nylon on my printer, but it's more challenging to use than ABS as the nylon absorbs quite a bit of moisture and must be dried prior to use. I may try to order some next week and bake it in one of the lab ovens at around 110 C for a for a day or so.

I'll probably make a run with the ABS first as it's cheap and I have 6 spools in 4 different colors (black, red, white, green and blue) at work.

oh nice. someone else who likes the cad side of things.

what kind of printer are you using. I've been wanting to get one but dont really know whats good.

I never saw the open rc project so thinks for that.

I've done some cad models of several parts so far, It may just be a starting point but if you want some model files, I can send them to you.

just a thought but maybe you can determine a ratio for the thickness increase when comparing nylon to aluminum. might help for some parts.

Great project Robert. You're just a bit ahead of the rubber-band/balsa racer I've been working on. I think a 1/18 RC10 would be a cool project. Maybe steal a transmission from an existing model or go direct drive.