3D printed bay window VW

[MiteyF]

It may be a bit early to start this thread (I have a habit of leaving projects half finished) but I thought it might be of interest to someone.

As a fairly hardcore ACVW enthusiast, I've wanted an RC bus for quite some time. I wanted to scratch build as much as possible, and keep the budget on this thing to a minimum. I really wanted a split window (doesn't everyone?) but think that will better serve as a later project (thinking slammed street bus). And then I just happened to stumble upon a model of a bay window. I've always wanted to 3d print an entire RC body, and having gotten my printer 90% dialed in, I figured this would be as good a first go as any.

The model I'm working off of (free on Thingiverse, not my design). This is just the body, there are a lot of other bits and pieces in the included file (mostly running gear). We'll see how much of it I actually use.



The panels are fairly slow to print, and will need a lot of cleanup, but it's basically a free hardbody, and it will end up getting sliced and diced anyways most likely, so how could I say no? Plus, free patch panels

Thus far I've got 4 panels printed, and a 5th on the printer as I type this. Beer for both scale, and inspiration.



I've got some RC4WD steelies and Yota axles (which I will probably have to narrow if I go that route) I was planning to use for another project, but they'll work fine for this I think. Completely not-to-scale, incorrect, and probably hideous. I'm also thinking some printed hub caps would be finer than frog hair with these steelies.



My plans for this bus is a slightly lifted, street legal bus (class 1 I guess you would call it?) with lots of gaudy scale goodies, as many period correct as possible, with as much of an interior as possible. With these tiny little dirt grabbers, I'm kind of afraid it won't see much drive time next to my SCX Bronco, but I'm still in the very beginning stages of planning. Paint will be something nasty, and I may try my hand at some rust and grime too, with rusty wheels to match.


I'm also considering a double cab...


And I've had this 3d printed VW motor hanging around in the shop for a few weeks now, maybe I've found a good use for it?

[mr.rick]

I'm looking forward to this build.... I love these old slam vans

[johnnyh66]

I like Torpedo... and VW's.
What printer are you using?

[MiteyF]

I'm printing with a fairly modified QUBD ThreeUp V2. Being a tinkerer at heart, I decided a "low end" kit with a lot of modification was right up my alley. I've got this thing printing pretty damn well now, very reliably. I've been printing mainly PLA lately, mostly because the warping I've been getting (even with a heated bed and enclosure) with ABS. Plus, the PLA they've got out nowadays is really quite tough.

As we speak, the front drivers side panel is being printed. I'm about 2 hours in, with another 4ish to go. The supports at least double the print time on most of these panels, but the less cleanup later on the better.

[QuesoDelDiablo]

I. Love! This. Build.

Now I want to build an orange Westie to replicate my '74.

I'm going to have to investigate that site and see if there's any Westie CAD available..

[CM9000]

this build is gonna be sick! I love vw's and black ale...

this 3d print of things is almost making me want to start building just 1/10 scale models.

how much did your printer cost? cause shapeways already has me 500 deep in just a handful of parts ive designed for myself.

[MiteyF]

I'm stoked to see some interest in this project. I think I got about 2 or 3 replies total to my FoFF build

Queso - A Westy would be sick, and it would be quite easy to build in a pop top, with bug screen and everything. You're giving me terrible ideas, which will need to be resolved ASAP before I start printing the roof!

9000 - The printer as I have it set up now puts me basically right at $400 I think. All of the upgrades are either printed, or built from supplies I had laying around. This is the base printer I bought and modified.

ThreeUp v2 3D Printer Complete Kit - Quintessential Universal Building Device - 3D Printers and Accessories Store

However, I can't even begin to count how many hours I've got into getting this thing modified and working just like I want it to. Some people get into 3d printing thinking they will buy one, toss it together in an afternoon, and click "print" and have awesome shit on their workbench a few hours later. It's not that easy (maybe close if you've got a deep wallet, but I wouldn't know myself!).

With all that said, it's really surprising me right now as to how well it's working, and most of all, how reliably. Nowadays I only lose about 1 in 10 prints due to an error, whereas starting out it was every other print. To me it was well worth the money and time investment. It's ended up being just as much a second hobby as a tool, only I've found this to be my cheapest hobby to date. Besides filament (which is *really* cheap if you don't go to crazy exotic stuff) there is damn near zero cost involved.

If you're the type to build something you know you could buy, you should probably have one of these. If you're the type to buy a $20 scale ratchet strap from RC4WD and pay shipping on top, instead of making one for $1 and an hour or three, 3d printing isn't for you.

Every serious modeler/maker-of-things should have one in their shop.

**sigh** OK, I don't mean to babble. Then again, this is my thread I guess I can do whatever the hell I want

Got half of the front panel printed, and it turned out pretty nicely. About 7 hours of print time. Once I removed the support, and gave a 30 second cleanup with the exacto, it looks like this tacked onto the rest of the body. Some more tidying up is obviously needed, but it's a damn good base to work off of for about 25 cents worth of plastic and only 15ish minutes of work







You can see some warping on the ass end. Easily fixed.



I'm almost done with prints for the lower half of the body, so before I start printing roof panels I have to decide whether I want a standard bus, a single/double cab... or a westy maybe?

Anyone have any input?

Vans



Westy









Single cab



Double cab

[dubyas1989]

Looks great! I have wanted a rc version of one of these since I found this pic, still don't know where they got their bodies.

[MiteyF]

Originally Posted by dubyas1989

Looks great! I have wanted a rc version of one of these since I found this pic, still don't know where they got their bodies.

Check eBay for a Maisto rc bus

[Natedog]

W0W freakin cool, love the style of the older buses, that od tan Westy is sweet! Good job and nice home-brew printer, updates please.

[snapon boy]

If an rc body manufacturer wanted to make some cash vw van oh yes

[BigSki]

my vote goes to the double cab!

[CM9000]

Originally Posted by BigSki

my vote goes to the double cab!

x2 on the double haha.

though the westy is kinda cool,


and ive designed a straight six that actually has moving parts.... but shapeways wants 300 to print it all.

like you said, I need a printer and do what you did.

keep up the good work on this rig.

[Stormin2u]

The Single Cab looks likely to be most capable for trail use.

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Originally Posted by MiteyF

I'm almost done with prints for the lower half of the body, so before I start printing roof panels I have to decide whether I want a standard bus, a single/double cab... or a westy maybe?

Anyone have any input?

How about a 21/23 window?

[MiteyF]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Printer's still plugging away. I decided on a double cab (sorry Queso, sooner or later I want a splitty street bus). Since a DC will require two identical sides unlike the busses with one big passenger side door, I mirrored my sliced bus panels so the sides match. What would take (me) a few hours in styrene took me 2 minutes with the printer.

I can't decide exactly what the rear will look like, but I'm going to finish the bottom half of the body as it sits, and if I need to cut out the "bed" and install proper bed sides (check the rear gates on the DC vs the regular bus) I will. I might decide to do something different though, utilizing the standard bus panels. I have yet to see.

I have 3 more pieces to print for the body (hopefully finished tomorrow) before I can decide which roof panels to print to make it all look "right".

I'll put up a few pics once the body's glued up.

[cutlaSS]

sick! too bad Tamiyas Bus body is so small, about 1/12 scale.

[cutlaSS]

how's this build The long slow v-dub doublecab sleeper build

[MiteyF]

Just thought I'd pop in. I've got a lot of crazy ideas rolling around, and have no idea how many of them are likely to come to fruition. Running gear is really my biggest worry at this point, so I'm trying to not make any drastic decisions that will totally screw me when that time comes. I'm really trying to avoid losing interior space for the sake of mounting running gear and electronics. Trying to stay mostly true to the layout of a 1:1 DC. Luckily these old girls have a really high bed, so that may lend me some options. There may also be a small amount of room under the front seats.





More things printed, and the beginnings of a proof-of-concept pan chassis. I've got the first bits of the roof printing now. That will be the next big project to tackle, and will also help decide what exactly I do with the back end/bed.

I'm really dreading body work on all these little curves!





Started hacking up my little VW motor to see if I can make it fit nicely. Thinking permanently mounted to the firewall (which will also be used for lateral stability of the body in the rear), or perhaps a removable faux-firewall. She'll need protection from rocks and things though. It would be too easy to tear the exhaust clean off without. As you can see, I didn't love the air filters, and thought I could do better. Some SS mesh, styrene, cut up UNI air filter foam, and a bit of chrome-looking sticker stuff. Should look the tits once tidied up.

[QuesoDelDiablo]

I love the updates. Looks like that chassis should work nicely for ya since the trucks appear to have a bench seat up front. When I start the Westie I think the floor pan needs to run right up to the nose so it'll mean more sheet metal work..