Bren

I'm going to hazard a guess and say no Brian. That is very beautiful detail fabrication you've done there - and nothing beats brass and nut/bolt hardware. I print at .05mm resolution - very standard - and some of the latest printers go down to .02mm - but many .stl files are coarser than that - so the point has been made that greater resolution for these files accomplishes nothing. The other challenge is that, as 3D surfaces get thinner (the brass braces above) or narrower (the long bolts on your hydraulic cylinder), they tend to warp or simply fall apart. Things like rear view mirror braces are best done in brass rod. Use 3D printing to pop the mirrors, but use brass for the thin/strong stuff like mirror mounts. As with all tech (and being enthusiastic as I am about 3D print possibilities) one has to recognize that "just because you can doesn't mean you should". There is much that other techniques are better suited for in modelling. I like 3D for small parts (rubber hood latches, air horns, air relays, hoses etc.) or truck bodies/trailers - curved parts that are difficult to fabricate. Detailed sub assemblies like you've got above would be very difficult to make look any good in 3D. Hope this helps. Can you post a photo if a 1:1 Western Star that represents what you're looking for?

Very nicely done. I’m always impressed by your design chops Jurgen. I have yet to tackle the arcane world of file design but it is on my do-do list. The first thing I’d like to try to get my toes wet is to modify the wall thickness on some of the files out there to produce a more realistic print.

Sure thing Brian. Check out these: https://cults3d.com/en/search?q=Western+star there are some 4900s in there. Now…a word of warning. Not all 3D files are equal in terms of detail - some are churned out by mass-content creators and the quality is iffy - but if that’s all you have to work with as a base - and are willing to scratch build detail to get to where you want - these could work. My printed truck bodies you like (above) are designed by a guy named Alfa Centauri. He’s on Cults too - and most of his stuff is available printed by Global Scale Models - they are here on the forum. The issue of wall thickness is tricky. Most of Alfa’s files are 1 /14- which I print at 56% scaled down in my slicer program (Chitubox). That makes the walls acceptably thin. Some of his files are 1/32 - and when I scale them up to 1/24 the walls get pretty thick. Still acceptable - but thick. For individual parts - think tread plate or mesh - the X, Y and Z thickness can all be individually selected in the slicer - and thin parts are easy to produce. For complex shapes like a truck body, this trick won’t work. There are some guys on here with a lot of CAD experience that might be able to edit the file to thin out the body or various parts - but that’s way out of my league. Designers tend to frown on guys editing their files - but my view is you bought it - you can do what you want with it as long as it is for your own use only. If you are interested in a particular file of the ones I pointed you towards, let me know, and I can print it and see how it actually comes out. Bren

It sure is Brian! Firstly - welcome back - we need every truck modeller we can muster! As a relative newcomer to 3D printing, I fully acknowledge it isn’t for everyone - but the rewards are worth it - I feel like a kid in a candy shop - able to print how ever many of something I want, to any size, and access unavailable subjects - like new (or classic) trucks. I feel parts are the most useful for this technology. Absolutely- filament printing is not that great for us - heavy print lines, not enough detail, persnickety to master - however, good for big stuff like trailers. As far as smell - the water based resins are not too bad - and there are filter fans which drop the smell still further. The problem is similar to paint fumes - an outside exhaust fan like in paint booths could easily be rigged. Printers are about the size of a blender - so they can be enclosed in a fume hood structure and vented to the outside. You might want to check out Karl at Global Scale Models - he sells 1/25 prints of a popular 3D designer. He is on this forum. Check out his website. And do go to Cults3D.com. That’s where most of the scale modellers live. My profile is ‘Heavyhaul’ and I have several thousand files I’ve downloaded that are truck-relevant - and made them public access so you are free to scroll through them at your leisure. Have fun - and if I can help in any way just drop me a line.

Hi Ron, I'm a PC guy - but the actual downloading of 3D files takes almost no computing power (i.e. RAM, fast processor) - just hard drive space. Which is cheap these days. It is the designing of 3D files in various CAD programs that chews up processing. Since you just want to print 'em - not make 'em - you should be fine. Note - if you're not in a hurry the Saturn 3 Ultra is just about to be replaced by the Saturn 4 - with some nice features - like a tilting FEP tank to ease the print in not sticking to the FEP film - a problem you'll find with (solid) fuel tanks. You might want to wait. Meanwhile check out my profile on Cults3D - I'm 'Heavyhaul' there - and click on downloads. I've been combing that site for the last 2 years+ and found most of the files a model truck builder would be interested in. Can't say they are all keepers - but lots of good stuff there. The rest of the advice I already gave to Dys in my comment above. I hope you do it - you'll have lots of fun!

You are very welcome Ron. Great to see you charging ahead with this project! Well done!

Oh I subscribed as soon as I found out about you. I see 3D printing and offering finished product to those who have no interest in printing their own, as the future of our hobby. The styrene based big companies are not interested. What we need now is a full array of modern diesel engines - I’ve asked some of the most active automotive engine publishers to consider truck engines - but no joy so far. This would be a big seller for you - I notice the aftermarket guys are almost always sold out of their engines. The other possibility is to package useful parts in “parts packs” like AMT did back in the day. For instance Alfa’s Kenworth 2000 has a great sleeper interior - and his Cascadia doesn’t. Selling the Kenworth sleeper parts separately seems like an idea. I don’t know if he would let you market groupings like this - or not. A collection of fuel tanks is another thought. Anyways, best of luck to you and your company Karl!

Not to be redundant - but just…wow! This is the type of build one sees as “best in show” or on a magazine cover. Kudos sir. I’m blown away.

That is great to hear Karl. It helps explain why Alfa’s designs are accurate and look like they were made with scale modellers in mind. Not like some of the many shapeless lumps out there purporting to be scale accurate. I think you have a great niche there - 3D printing requires the equipment and motivation to learn - many customers would just like to buy the finished result. I hope you succeed. Now try to convince him to do a Western Star 57X!

Thanks so much for your help - this is great! Bren

That’s exactly what I was looking for - thanks Hakan!

Thanks Hakan - I have that schematic too. I actually need to know where the airline physically runs - is it visible below the trailer floor and if so - where is it? Off to the side, down the middle etc….. thanks, Bren

I'm doing this build right now - basically box stock with different wheels/tires. Could any of you gentlemen enlighten me on the routing of the air brake lines under the floor of the trailers? I've searched the interwebs but can't find any reference photos to help. Thanks! Bren

Hey Dys, Brian has the right idea - JUST DO IT! You won't be sorry and there's TONS of cool stuff out there - stuff you can't even buy in the aftermarket. I'm sad that guys are complaining about there being no new truck kits out there, when you can 3D print just about anything you might want to build! Here's what I think you need to know. Any brand of resin printer will work (not filament (FDM) - that's for bigger stuff and generally gives unsatisfactory results for our type of 1/24 or 1/25 scale models, except in expert hands) . I use Elegoo brand and have found them pretty reliable - for model trucks you will want the Saturn if you can afford it (about 500 dollars Canadian) - I use the Saturn 3 Ultra. Mars Pro would be okay - just a bit small - I use that one too. Definitely go for water washable resin - it's a tad brittle, but the not needing to use isopropyl alcohol is a huge plus - and it doesn't smell as much. I use Elegoo brand resin and have been happy. I haven't been impressed with Anycubic brand printers - I have a Mono 5S too - and they originally sent it out with a non-functional auto-leveling system that had to be corrected later with a modified build plate - at my expense. Zero customer service. Not impressed. Brian mentioned two other things you definitely want - one is a cleaning station, the other is a UV curing station - neither is too expensive. I use the Anycubic Wash and Cure station ($179 Canadian), but don't use the wash function - for that I have found an ultrasonic cleaner works best. This is the one I use: https://phrozen3d.com/products/ultra-sonic-cleaner. ($101 US). You asked if I use a particular type of slicer (the program that translates 3D file, with the .stl suffix to the correct language for your particular printer). Brian uses Lychee - which has a good reputation. I've never used it. I use Chitubox - which comes with all Elegoo printers. I love Chitubox - very intuitive, easy to use. It generates supports very well, and they come away post-printing easily. I tried the Anycubic Photon Workshop slicer which came with my Mono5S - horrible slicer. The supports wrecked most of my prints. Not recommended. So yeah - most printers come with free slicer programs bundled in - and I haven't seen the need to purchase the pro versions. Where to find the files? That was my main purpose in starting the thread - to show you there are a ton of awesome files out there for truck modelers. All the ones above came from Cults - https://cults3d.com/en . Joining is free. I have found literally thousands of files - you can go to my profile - my screen name is 'Heavyhaul' , and I've made all my downloads public for viewing (https://cults3d.com/en/users/Heavyhaul/downloads ) - so you can peruse the hundreds I've downloaded and click on them if they interest you - many are free. Brian mentioned a designer he likes - you are free to 'follow' any designer you like, and will get email updates when they publish new stuff. I recommend a guy named Alfa Centauri - he does high quality truck files - often 30 or 40 files to a truck. Warning - there's a lot of poor quality files out there. Most designers are NOT scale model builders - and it shows. They publish their model as one lump of a truck - not separate parts - and the details are sketchy at best. Beware of 'content factory' publishers who have thousands of files on display - one for every vehicle ever made. They are usually toy-like at best. You'll learn which designers you can trust. You'll learn what you can get away with in terms of resizing - many truck files are published in 1/14 scale for the RC crowd - these generally scale to 1/25 no problem (set your slicer scale to 56%). Be aware that as you scale down, thin parts get thinner. Some of the 1/14 scale steering wheels are pretty skinny in 1/25! Likewise, scaling up from 1/32 (set your slicer scale to 128%) is doable - but walls start getting pretty thick. Those are the practical limits I've found for detailed parts. Simple shapes scale up or down easier. Brian mentioned Blender to customize a file - that's a step up in complexity - you can use editing programs to slice parts or or change things you want changed. I'm not an expert at that - I've just done simple moves like cutting prints in half that were too big - nothing complex. You don't need to know anything about that to start. How do I learn? Youtube has some great beginner videos. This site has literally thousands of 'how-to' articles - and trouble shooting guides - https://all3dp.com/ , check it out. The main thing is DON'T GET DISCOURAGED! You will have failed prints to start - typical problems are prints not sticking to the build plate, partly formed or distorted prints, failing to print at all. There are tricks to learn, just like model building. How you angle your print in the slicer (I like tilting about 20-30 degrees from the horizontal), how you select your supports (the autosupport function works really well in Chitubox), how you set up your print - (I like to space it about 2-5mm above the build plate) etc. all have an effect on the final product. Start with something simple like a tire file. And don't hesitate to ask. If you're running into a problem - post it or DM me - if I can't help somebody else on here surely can. Happy printing! Bren

I appreciate them, and they show this build is on another level! I don’t think I’d have the guts to show that level of detail on one of my builds! ?.You hit this one out of the park Robert! The details and workmanship are amazing.

Thanks so much Juergen - the build is looking great. I want to know how difficult it is to edit 3D files. As an example - there are many good tire files but they usually have no sidewall detail - and I want to add that. Could I edit them to add manufacturer logos and the usual information on 1:1 sidewalls?

I believe - though I may stand corrected - that a lot of their stuff is 3D printed from cults3D website - a designer named Alfa centauri. I printed a bunch of his files and they are generally excellent. The only reason for noting this is you may want to invest in printing them yourself - more flexibility that way - although I totally get that not everyone is into that. If you want to follow the thread between myself and Roninutah- I just printed the Cascadia for him in 1/25. I posted some pictures of the print. He’ll be posting as he does the build.

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I've been following the build - you have some great scratch-building chops - and it looks like you licked the roof issue. Just for your interest here's the F700 I printed last week - angled the body - no roof sag issues. If you want one just let me know....

Oh you're one of those guys eh?? Q. What kind of truck to you drive Mister? A. A Motel 6! Okey doke - check out the 60 inch hi-rise sleeper parts I printed today below. I'll keep the daycab for my build and send ya the sleeper. I'm leaving the supports in place for the dash so the steering wheel survives the postal service. This thing sure is a beast - thank heavens for the Elegoo Saturn printer - the larger prints wouldn't fit on my Mars.

Wow! That is a tour-de-force. Beautiful craftsmanship Tom. I always look at the mirror supports and window gaskets - they are the trickiest to make look right - as well as understated weathering - and you nailed them all. I echo the earlier observation - that interior is just amazing. Full marks on this one!

RoninUtah was interested in the Cascadia - so I printed out the files (not quite finished yet). I think there's a bit of interest in this model, so I thought I'd post the first shots of it taped together in case the rest of you guys wanted to see. This is from Alfa Centauri on Cults3D website. The file is 1/14, reduced in the slicer to 1/25 (56%).

I getcha! I’m on the other side of the retirement thing. Anyways - when I get to the bench next week I’m going to print the Mack on my larger anycubic mono printer which means I should be able to angle it and avoid some of the challenges you are having. If it works I’ll send you some pix and if you’d like me to send you a copy I can do that, no charge.

This build is a workshop in understated super-realistic weathering. As has been said you rocked the underside of the cab - an area often overlooked. I totally get the fretting over the grill detail - we all do that - something nobody else even notices drives us nuts! Congratulations on a masterful execution of a great subject.

Wow! Some great CAD skills there! Maybe you can post some hints or direction on where to go so we can learn to do some of this?