RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

W.W.,
How is the overall feel of the vehicle now that you have the body of it completed? Is it 'solid' in the hands, no flex or give?
regards,
Painless

It is as solid as a rock, no flex and getting quite heavy now. PLA is very hard, so that helps. You could hit the stuff with a hammer and it wouldn't affect it. Thin pieces can be flexed without breaking, but thicker stuff is as hard as Lego bricks. The hull is twin wall construction, so there is no chance of that moving, I can shove it across the floor, all of the wheels stay in contact with the ground, and they all rotate without sticking. I didn't bother with bearings, they are simply PLA printed wheels running on shouldered hex bolts. The PLA is like granite when its solid like that, and at the end of the day, if the worst happened (unlikely) I would just print another wheel or redesign them to take bearings, my philosophy is 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

Good morning,
That is a philosophy to live by ;o) Thanks for the quick reply, Doc.
regards,
Painless

The back panel with telephone box and convoy lights all done as one piece. I keep tweaking the printer (getting advice from the Reprap forum) and the quality keeps going up. Just need to find the settings to get the top layers solid, I have a feeling that it is Cura that is doing them as hatched lines, I am sure that when I first started 3D printing 2 years ago that I was using Slicr and that gave a smooth plastic finish. Anyways, as with everything in this game, it's trial and error.

Lower back panel done. All one piece like the one above it with the telephone box.

Hi Rob, I spotted this - it might be a solution to the diagonal lines
https://ultimaker.com/en/community/6810 ... hes-solved
Alwyn

I wish it was, I have already have those settings in Cura, that's why it's puzzling me. Slicr may not do it, I may give that a try and see what happens??

Been busy the last couple of days designing and printing the top of the track covers, the rear mudguards, as well designing and printing a new turret box. Re-did the exhaust as well.

It's all looking a bit neater now, and will start on the front mudguards before going back over it and doing all the fine details. One snag I have yet to resolve is the side covers, if they are glued on I won't be able to pull the sprockets off, so may have to make some clips, or leave them off, apparently they got broken off anyway?

Mr Wibbly looking very nice! Could you design a way to attach a metal strip to the back of the fenders and some strong small magnets behind them to allow removal and servicing without loosing them?

Carl

Wow, that Looks really promising.