1/8 Scale Lotus 72c -3d Printed

[kenlwest]

To all,

Using the Ebbro kit as a basis, I redesigned all of the parts so that they are 3d print friendly, and scaled them up to 1/8.

Here are the parts that comprise the engine, transaxle and rear suspension.  

[kenlwest]

Sneak preview of body and front nose - note the size comparison to the 1/25 Ford in the background.

[absmiami]

Well. This is certainly interesting - did you print the parts or have the files printed for you ?    ??

[Ace-Garageguy]

Excellent. Great to see motivated and skilled people like you showing more of what's possible with this tech.   

[kenlwest]

  On 8/4/2022 at 5:19 PM, absmiami said:

Well. This is certainly interesting - did you print the parts or have the files printed for you ?    ??

Expand  

Actually, I have my own printers.  The larger parts are fdm and smaller detailed parts are made with dlp printers.

I started assembling and painting the engine.

[Chris Smith]

Great subject, awesome size! Looking forward to seeing this come together 

[kenlwest]

I made some progress on the rear suspension.  The assembly went together as expected.  I am the world's worst painter, as my eyes are not what they used to be, but I am happy with the project so far.  One of the benefits of large scale, is that mistakes are less noticeable when viewing from a distance.  

[Bainford]

Very cool project. It's going to be an impressive model. Watching.

[kenlwest]

I just finished the front suspension.  I placed both front and rear suspension assemblies loosely in position.  Next up, the body and cockpit.  Thanks for looking!

[kenlwest]

I have been working on the intake and funnels.  The intake is designed to be removed for viewing.

[kenlwest]

The tires were fdm printed, gray filament, but the darker inserts were resin printed.  The reason for this is because filament printing does not provide the resolution required for the Firestone letters and logo.

[Bainford]

The sidewall printing does look very clean. Good, crisp detail.

[kenlwest]

One more coat of primer, then wet sand and paint.

[kenlwest]

By the way, in the background, you can see the stackable shelves I designed and printed.  LED lighting is integrated into the pillars.  

[kenlwest]

The tires and wheels are almost there.  I will be painting the treads flat black to render a driven look, and tone down the treads a bit.

 

 

 

[kenlwest]

I couldn't resist placing the wheels onto the rear suspension assembly just to get a feel for the scale.  So far so good.  Stay tuned.

[kenlwest]

Ditto for the front...

[Bugatti Fan]

This model looks fabulous.

3D printing is certainly revolutionising scale modelling in all its genres as you don't have to compromise on any detail. A mainstream kit manufacturer however, might have to make compromises due to their production processes.

Those looking for a plastic kit in though in 1/8th scale of a Lotus 72 brings to mind that someone (Entex maybe) made one some years ago, but i could be mistaken.               Pocher has announced a new kit for release this year.

[kenlwest]

Wet sanded the body and other color parts.  Ready to paint!

[Bainford]

That's looking great! I am just amazed at this project. This is some seriously good model building.

I'm digging the lighted display shelf, too. Nicely done.

Edited August 19, 2022 by Bainford

[kenlwest]

The color parts are painted.  Some bleed through issues.  This will be wet sanded to smooth out a few sags, and to provide a flat surface for the gold stripe that paints over the white/red interface.  Since I am using rustoleum paint, the total process can take a week to get satisfactory results I can live with.

[Ian McLaren]

Very impressive project, everything looks very good.  Well done.

[Lee Yoder]

Wow, nicely done!  I will be watching  

 

Later,

Lee

Edited August 23, 2022 by Lee Yoder
Grammar

[kenlwest]

I over-sanded the red and white, so some touch up is in order.  Just more proof that i need more experience to get to the paint quality level of many modelers in this forum.  But I did apply gold on the nose and the side stripe.  I built this mockup to see how everything lines up.  I am happy with the results so far.  

[Mike C.]

Cool!