Oldmopars

I didn't know they made a kit, I had to make this one myself.

I've made a little progress on this. I'm going really slow and have too many projects going. I made the decals for this.

So, a few things. 1. I would need Dimensions, diameter and thickness. An angled photo would also help get the contours right. 2. The Mercury I can draw, but will just not print very readable. In real life 1:1 those look to be less than a 1/4 in. That would put them at .01in or .25mm tall, that will be very small and likely only readable with a magnifying glass. 3. I would be happy to draw them up for you. I could post them on my Cults3D site and you can get them there. The file would be free.

https://cults3d.com/en/users/ScottSolomon/creations

The current Peterbilt tow truck has several that go on the back on the lift plate. Also you might try Olsen Brothers, they do a lot of 4x4 stuff, so does Scenes Unlimited and a few other vendors. If you just can't find any, let me know and I will just print you some.

If it really is BMF and not chromed plastic, it should peel off. If it has been too long and the adhesive is hardened or the foil won't come off, you can try alcohol. IPA, 90+% would be my choice, or denatured alcohol. They won't damage the plastic. But always try a little on the inside of the body just to be safe. Worst case, BMF is thin, prime over it, sand and paint. Many here put BMF under paint and then rub the paint off after. So, you could just leave it.

I love it, looks great. My all time favorite truck.

What format? I can send the OBJ

The truck bumper is easy, the Taurus much harder.

Either would be fine. It seems the topper is just a rectangle and as long as I have the right size it should be fine.

OK, I drew it 5in, but can change it to 10. Easy fix. Were you wanting them, or just a suggestion for others?

I would need photos of what you want the topper to look like, and dimensions of the bed you want it on. So, length, width of bed. Height of topper. Photos of any details that are important. Please be exact and in Millimeters. Without having the bed in hand, I will rely on you for these dimensions.

At the moment, I may have one, but otherwise I can send the file or put it on Cults and you get it printed. I may try this weekend to print another set but in multiple parts.

The way it is drawn, I can do that. It may be the best way. I can try that and see what happens.

So, I would be more than happy to design it, there is no way I would print it. I have not had a lot of luck with large flat objects. Designing it would be no problem. I can send you the file an you find someone to print it for you.

A possibility, as the rest of the van is the same different grill would allow different years to be built. I will add it to my list.

When I model a tire I add details to the side walls to help them look like the real thing. You are right, most kit tires don't have any details, but if we were happy with the lack of details we would just use kit parts. The advantage to 3D printing is having the ability to go beyond what the kits offer and create details that you can't get from the kits. Nearly all engines are offered in a kit somewhere, but vendors of 3D printed engines sell loads of them due to the added details. All depends on what you want in the end.

Sidewalls do not have a repeating pattern. Yes, the tread does repeat for the most part, but not the sidewalls. There is a lot of info listed and cool designs. This all depends on the tire style, brand, purpose, etc. but it is not a repeating pattern.

One more thing, at a hobby level all of these printers will work fine. Don't let people tell you that you need some $1500+ printer to print off a few parts at home. A very professional and prominent 3D printer that receives excellent reviews uses the printers listed above and he prints large volumes with excellent results. So, at a hobby level these will all exceed your needs and perform beyond your expectations. Now, let us know your volume requirements and budget.

There are several factors you need to think about, because they effect each other. First is size, second is budget. How big will you want to print? Volume is how 3D printers are sold. The larger the print area, the bigger the price. Do you want to just print car parts? Small volume will be fine. Do you want to print full car bodies at a low angle? You will need a larger print area. Do you get into other stuff like figurines? Want to print a 9in tall Batman or Manalorian? You need a big printer. Phrozen, Elegoo, Anycubic are all good printers. Like Ford or Chevy or Toyota, everyone will have an opinion, do you research and check reviews. It's not a small investment, do your research. Also, decided if you need a 4K, 6K, 8k. If you don't know what that means, research it. Definitely get a Mono, don't go LCD. Lots of reasons why, again, research. If I were to go out and buy another one today, I would get an Elegoo Saturn 2. 8K, huge build volume, great machine. However this is a $550 machine. I love my Saturn S and would buy another. But this is what works for ME, you need to know what will work for you. As a side note, avoid the Creality printers, they require you to use their software to slice. Printers that I have listed can use Chitubox or Lychee. One step. Easy. I like Lychee, others like Chitubox. Buy a printer that allows you to use either one. Then you get to chose. Once you know more, feel free to ask more specific questions.

Well, that depends. A high quality scan of a large object like a tire should work fine. You may miss some fine details, but once reduced to 4% of the original, you won't notice. However, replication of a tread pattern and all the sidewall details is a fair amount of work, but will give very crisp high details. I guess it depends on if you have a high quality scanner, or you have good design skills and time. I think both are a viable option depending on your skills, tools, time and desired outcome. Custom tires are easy, I don't have to copy any design, it's all up to me. So that one is easy.

Ok, I get it. I guess I'm thinking about from the stand point of a printer owner. For me it would just be the cost of the resin, about $10-15.

I am in no way wanting to persuade you away from casting these tires. However, I have to wonder if it is the best way to obtain the final product you are after. There is a fair initial investment into all the stuff required to resin cast something, hard or soft, there is an investment. If you plan to do a lot of resin casting in the future, this is OK as you will get your money back in time from the many casts you create. However, if all you want is a run of 14-16 tires, 3D printing may be the most affordable and easiest way to go. Printing that many tires could be done in a few hours in one print as opposed to 14-16 different casts with only one mold. This could take many days. No matter what way you chose to go, there will be clean up, casting leaves the mold line and the fill hole/port. 3D printing will have small supports. I am only suggesting that you do the math and see what way is going to be the best for you. I assume you do not own a 3d printer and this would require you to have the tires printed by someone else. You can PM me if this seems like the better option and I can point you in the right direction. Either way, I hope you find a solution that works good for you.

If there is a demand for these engines, I could design one with FI manifold. They could then be 3D printed.

I never give up, but I am finding I really enjoy the designing in Fusion and not the printing as much. I also like to make parts for existing kits, printing bodies is not really something I will do a l lot, just not my thing. I'm more into trucks anyway. I have very limited time at-home, weekends only. So, the time involved with printing takes away time from other things. However, I spend a ton of time in hotels and have lots of design time.