3D printed tank stowage thingies

[AshMann]

So apparently some people 3d print stuff for their tanks? Is that a good way to get things that you cant find?

[wibblywobbly]

Depends what you need, some things are easier to make out of styrene, and quicker. Some things are difficult to design and print, eg stowage, anything organic in shape. Sometimes very small parts are difficult to print unless you have a fine extruder nozzle, and some shapes are just downright frustrating to print.

[AshMann]

Depends what you need, some things are easier to make out of styrene, and quicker. Some things are difficult to design and print, eg stowage, anything organic in shape. Sometimes very small parts are difficult to print unless you have a fine extruder nozzle, and some shapes are just downright frustrating to print.

Okay Lets say i want to print this machine gun http://tylero79.deviantart.com/art/MMGT ... -303582683
Would that be easy or would it be difficult?

[AlwynTurner]

Hi, the first thing that has to happen is that the gun needs to be designed in a cad program and looking at the gun you are probably looking at 3 to 4 DAYS to do the design. probably it would have to be printed as small parts and glued together. I don't think the gun is a suitable candidate for 3d printing really. I'm currently trying to print a Nashorn gun barrel in 4 pieces and it took me a whole day to do the design, and so far it has taken me a day to print, and I'm not finished yet.
Hope that helps explain why 3D printing is not a magical solution.

UPDATE sorry that sounded a bit abrupt, I'm having a few problems with my prints and I'm afraid I put it a bit abruptly. Really the issue isn't just with the way things are printed, there's also a large amount of work goes into doing the designs so any complex, or as Rob says, organic/rounded in shape, then the design work can be a real bitch.

hope that helps explain it
regards
Alwyn

[silversurfer1947]

There is a range of machine guns on the Shapeways site, with variable detail and corresponding variable prices. e.g http://www.shapeways.com/product/7MKJ2R ... d=57207230. If you are serious about wanting one, it might be your best bet to contact someone who already produces them on Shapeways.

[OnTrack]

I agree with Silversurfer. Check Shapeways first to see if the item you want already exists. If it exists, but isn't in your preferred scale (1:16) send a PM to the designer to see if they can scale one for you. Most designers are happy to do this.

**Note that scaling up, as in (1:35 up to 1:16) is far easier for the designer than scaling down (1:6 down to 1:16). Scaling up is a simple conversion of math. Scaling down almost always means the designer has to adjust not only the scale, but also rebuild the model. For example, a 3D model part that printed just fine when it was 2mm thick at scale A, is now .6mm when scaled down to scale B and won't print on a printer or printing material that is limited to 1mm resolution.

So in summary, prioritize Shapeways models that are smaller than 1:16 if you have more than one option.

[wibblywobbly]

A word of caution, a lot of the parts on Shapeways are illustrated using 3D rendered images that are created using the print code. This is not the same as the printed article. Yes, Shapeways will produce a better quality printed part than a home printer, but it isn't going to be injection moulded.

As for printing the gun on a home printer, yes it would have to be printed in parts, and all of those parts would have to be sanded 'very' carefully. They would have to be designed to slot together so that all of the parts lined up, and with the size of them...there isn't much room to do that. You are also looking at a 0.2mm nozzle, most printers use 0.4mm as standard, the parts would be very fragile, though the same could be said for plastic kit parts.

Part of the learning curve with 3D printer ownership is not only getting the printer set up correctly, or designing parts, it is also learning what will print properly, when to cut a design up to print it, and how to print each of those parts so that it is both strong and has a good finish. I've printed stacks of things, but learnt that often a sheet of styrene and a cutter will do a better job in less time than trying to print them.

They do have their uses, I have printed parts that I could never have made manually, but it is definitely an addition to the toolbox, rather than a replacement for it.

[AshMann]

Hi, the first thing that has to happen is that the gun needs to be designed in a cad program and looking at the gun you are probably looking at 3 to 4 DAYS to do the design. probably it would have to be printed as small parts and glued together. I don't think the gun is a suitable candidate for 3d printing really. I'm currently trying to print a Nashorn gun barrel in 4 pieces and it took me a whole day to do the design, and so far it has taken me a day to print, and I'm not finished yet.
Hope that helps explain why 3D printing is not a magical solution.

UPDATE sorry that sounded a bit abrupt, I'm having a few problems with my prints and I'm afraid I put it a bit abruptly. Really the issue isn't just with the way things are printed, there's also a large amount of work goes into doing the designs so any complex, or as Rob says, organic/rounded in shape, then the design work can be a real bitch.

hope that helps explain it
regards
Alwyn

I never realized that you had to design the gun in a cad program, I guess that makes sense. As for the gun, ill probably just use a standard .30 cal instead.

[AshMann]

There is a range of machine guns on the Shapeways site, with variable detail and corresponding variable prices. e.g http://www.shapeways.com/product/7MKJ2R ... d=57207230. If you are serious about wanting one, it might be your best bet to contact someone who already produces them on Shapeways.

I quite like the machine gun on the shapeways link you sent. I might use that instead

[AshMann]

There is a range of machine guns on the Shapeways site, with variable detail and corresponding variable prices. e.g http://www.shapeways.com/product/7MKJ2R ... d=57207230. If you are serious about wanting one, it might be your best bet to contact someone who already produces them on Shapeways.

I have found some suitable replacements for the machine gun i wanted http://www.ludwigs-hobby-seite.de/30%20cal.JPG http://www.shapeways.com/product/JDRXKZ ... d=57071446
http://www.shapeways.com/product/XV63EW ... d=60264828