Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

Turbo 4cyl Cuda - DONE!! 3/21


Impalow

Recommended Posts

So with my gremlin model almost under glass... I shifted my focus and attention over to the newer revell Hemi Cuda kit. 

My plan for this one is Pro-Touring with a Tuner twist:

  • 3d Printed Neon SRT4 Turbo/Intercooled    2.4ltr  4cyl Engine
  • Massive aftermarket turbo
  • 6 speed Transmission
  • Independent front and rear suspension
  • Lots of Carbon Fiber
  • Maybe brown with a camel interior?  (still undecided here)
  • Hopefully this is done for the Buckeye Classic show in march of next year, this kit was chosen for the "Ohio Challenge" this year.

I have recently purchased a M3D Micro 3d printer, my goal was to use it as well as other bits of new technology to build this bad boy.   The printer arrived about a week ago, and i have been playing with it non stop. First let me say, for the 349.00 this printer cost... its down right amazing... I went into this purchase knowing it was a filament based printer, and that my parts will need some clean up, and small detail parts may not even be possible.  Well just a week into it, I am beyond impressed with its output.. and the photos show it.  Now to be perfectly honest, I have printed probably over a dozen heads and blocks... a bunch of calibration stuff...It hasn't been easy... however I think I am finally getting the hang of this.

First thing was to model the engine in the 3d software... I use FormZ for my day job, so I made this model in that software and exported it. Took about an hour

F2366DBC-FC2F-49D0-A720-F734AFDF99BA.jpg

Shiny new printer and kit.. Printer is very small, maximum print area is about 4.5" x 4.5" x4.5"

A0B57F8A-B0CC-44BD-B54A-46B3F048B2E3.jpg

Engine block printing!   Each part takes about an hour to print at high resolution, so print, wait, inspect... adjust 3d model or printer settings then print again.

AF412CB7-AD7A-4264-AF98-21845C2B29D5.jpg

B067A714-911C-4087-879A-C0053B961A55.jpg

My rough mock up parts... These arent the best yet... but you get the idea of size and scale.

65448967-FA82-42F1-88A3-7493D739F49E.jpg

9EFA54C5-9728-49AC-9661-E701B25C66DB.jpg

One of the cool things about the printer is the ability to do other things while it prints.  Independent suspension from the C5R kit mates up nicely after some re-fabing on the rear frame section.

EF965C38-FE3F-488F-8B84-72FFF2FC6D3D.jpg

C38BCF22-58DE-4E57-BC60-4C0810294A7E.jpg

Finally last night an acceptable (to me)  Head and cam cover... Block is still in the works.

703DB4F2-4215-43F3-981B-ACF9280EFB5F.jpg

 

 

 

 

Edited by Impalow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the interest guys... added another piece of technology to the shop tonight.. A silhouette portrait cutter.. Technically made for scrap-booking, however our model railroading friends have been using them to cut styrene.   I'm still getting the hang of it, but my first little pieces came out nice and are far better than i could achive by hand.  I am able to draw parts in autocad or illustrator and then send it to cutter.  I have tried .020 and .010 so far with some success...

For my first try with this i made some chassis supports, the c5r has a plate chassis and the cuda will not, so i needed something to bridge those gaps.  Here are the parts drawn in Illustrator

Load up raw sheet material and cut

Remove and clean up parts (these didn't cut all the way through, so it was more like a score and snap)

Parts assembled.. this is two layers of .010 glued together

and setting on the chassis..

so far I'm happy with this purchase.. lots of ideas on how to use this thing on this and other future projects.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know its kinda funny I was on another scale model website and everyone got on a tangent about technology, I believe that it is your choice to embrace or not, I personally love technology,especially when brilliant people such as yourself, can demonstrate what is possible w/  a little cash and a little technology!,GreaT work! Shaun

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watching this build with great interest. The 3D printed parts look pretty good, especially considering the relatively low cost of the printer! Is the plastic filament material expensive? (thinking of regular ink printers, which are cheap, but the ink is massively pricey).

The silhouette cutter is very cool too, I didn't know such a thing existed. Does it use a bladed cutting head like a vinyl sign cutting machine?

I like seeing technology used to speed modeling...it reminds me of the "behind the scenes" stuff for movies, where prop departments will do whatever they can to create realistic results, quickly.

For 5+ years now I've been following the Flickr account of Harrison Krix at "Volpin Props". He mostly builds replicas of video game weapons and other objects. He started with almost completely hand-built projects (lots of hand shaping and sanding, much the way we build our model cars), and over the years has added a laser cutter, large vacuformer, vacuum box for casting, CAD mill, and recently has used 3D printed parts. He still does a ton of hand-work...except now he is able to produce more complicated and sophisticated results than before.

While some might celebrate spending 15 hours to hand-file a complicated styrene inner door panel, I think it would be cool if I could just spend 30min drawing it on the computer, a few minutes printing on the sillo cutter, 15 min cleanup, and boom, done....time to move on to something more rewarding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I really like the use of the silhouette cutter. Please tell us more about using it. This got me thinking about buying one. Amazon sells it at 149$.

I actually picked this up on eBay used...  90.00 included a cover, extra blade and cutting mat...  I'm excited to use it more, seems like it will be great for those repetitive parts, mirror image parts, and keeping things symmetrical...

Watching this build with great interest. The 3D printed parts look pretty good, especially considering the relatively low cost of the printer! Is the plastic filament material expensive? (thinking of regular ink printers, which are cheap, but the ink is massively pricey).

The silhouette cutter is very cool too, I didn't know such a thing existed. Does it use a bladed cutting head like a vinyl sign cutting machine?

I like seeing technology used to speed modeling...it reminds me of the "behind the scenes" stuff for movies, where prop departments will do whatever they can to create realistic results, quickly.

For 5+ years now I've been following the Flickr account of Harrison Krix at "Volpin Props". He mostly builds replicas of video game weapons and other objects. He started with almost completely hand-built projects (lots of hand shaping and sanding, much the way we build our model cars), and over the years has added a laser cutter, large vacuformer, vacuum box for casting, CAD mill, and recently has used 3D printed parts. He still does a ton of hand-work...except now he is able to produce more complicated and sophisticated results than before.

While some might celebrate spending 15 hours to hand-file a complicated styrene inner door panel, I think it would be cool if I could just spend 30min drawing it on the computer, a few minutes printing on the sillo cutter, 15 min cleanup, and boom, done....time to move on to something more rewarding.

Thanks for the interest!   The filament is surprisingly inexpensive..  12.00 for a 250ft roll... to put that in perspective, one engine block uses about 20-25inches... I have been printing pretty much round the clock for a week, and I still have half a roll left.    There are other options for even larger rolls at more of a discount, but currently I'm using the PLA material from M3D.

Yes the silhouette is just bladed vinyl cutter, but made to cut thicker stuff.... I have yet to successfully cut all the way through styrene, even the .010... The other forums i was reading said it will cut clean threw .010 and .015... I'm going to work with the settings and change out the blade tonight.   Hopefully I can cut out the flanges for the engine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys!

The scrapbook cutter is neat. What price are those?

I got this used for 90.00 off eBay, new your looking around 150-200 depending on model and brand.

I looked at the M3D site and could find little technical information. I like the looks of the head & valve cover, but how much finish work after printing did it take to get to the point you showed? Is the printed surface smooth?

I would say very minimal clean up..  trimed off any stray filament and lightly sanded with a sanding stick, then shot it with UPOL primer... sanded again... then another shot of primer.  That was really it, this photo was taken about 15 minutes after printing finished.      The surface has some ribbing, but a coat or 2 of primer covers it well. Its not perfect, but it will work for a block and head.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally last night an acceptable (to me)  Head and cam cover... Block is still in the works.

Why was it finally acceptable? Did you tweak the design between prints, or is there a variation in print quality between prints? 

 I've seen those silhouette portrait cutters in craft stores. Interesting that the model railroaders found they would cut plastic.

Very interesting work you are doing here. Looking forward to seeing more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Wow this looks crazy good ! !   Ignoring all the hi-tech stuff for a minute, I love the idea !  Four pot turbo lump was a great idea and the suspension fits like a glove...

As for the gadgets im well impressed, looks like it has endless possibilities with the 3D printer and the silhouette portrait cutter would be very useful as you say.......

Looking forward to more progress on this killer Cuda ......... Lowlife ! !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is some awesome stuff right there!! I've looked at those 3d printers. At work we just bought a ROBO 3D for around $800 and i've been pretty impressed. We are still working on settings to get a smoother object but I do see the potential there. I saw your rat rod build about you using the cutter and I had to call my wife to see if I could do the same thing on her circut machine. I'm gonna have to do some modeling in AutoCad and use some of these new ways of scratchbuilding. Thanks for the inspiration!!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...