Coolhand

IRML, There's a minimum clearance between parts to make them work as a single mechanism, unused material between the parts is flushed away and all the parts are self enclosing so no need to use screws or glue on hundreds of tiny parts... for scale the wheels are just over 1cm in diameter at my first chosen scale and parts like the tiny control rods are less than a millimeter.

Suspension and steering are self contained modules - so i dont have print an entire vehicle for testing. you can see the suspension is very chunky to meet tolerance requirements. The suspension and steering are also rigged up using inverse kinematics so i can for example drag the central steering bar and that applies constrained force through the link arms to move the wheels and this responds no matter what the suspension deflection is, which is also an inverse kinematic setup - also makes animation very easy to setup and have working suspension in the animation, effects like bump steer are naturally modelled in the system even.

Having this setup is essential for tweaking the limits of the design for steering lock and suspension limits, so the twisting organic look of the wishbones is a result of making something thick enough to print and also be functional at a given small scale.

L2K wrote: »

you might want revise your title. de laS carreteras (or de la carretera, decide if its plural or not )

Ah, There was bound to be something wrong with the translation. As inept an error that it is, I'm glad thats apparently all it was... I'll amend the thread and further titles. thanks!:)

as for the shine, its been polished up for the above top secret publicity photos displayed here;)

Alnair, thanks!

Someone remembers me! Thanks RW, this new printer tech is crazy.

And look how fancy the place is now, I get notified of replies, there's a like button, never had any of that back in my day....

Howard is the man, looking at this thread, that is for certain. I appreciate that though mate its nice to hear from you, and I have missed you all very much, looking at all the wonderful work on here sure makes me want to post something new.:)

Road Warrior wrote: »

Did I see Coolhand pop in a few pages back?

Negative, I am a imagination-figmentation.

Hey thanks all, and thanks for commenting on both threads :thumb: if Leonov is one of your favourites, you're spoiled for choice here at the moment.

Indeed, we're nearing completion on the prototype of this advanced nuclear wessel, the Soviet Unions most glorious achievement... A true weapon of peace.... At least i always assumed it was unarmed, but you never know.;)

Here's an attached still from the animated feature, 2011, detailing Leonovs crew returning to a changed planet.

Only kidding, but if ever there's a year for some devine intervention, to unite humanity and make us all look up for a change, I think this is it.

yeah it's always been a favourite of mine. at least until i started to build it;)

ok here's a bit more... just a little tidying here and there and then its on to the radiator spine and the engines. there's nearly 40 separate printable parts here, 16 separate modules, which all hang from the middle arm. the structure of the kit is steel reinforced throughout so should be strong enough. I'd show the internal structure of it, but thats probably best kept top secret for now:cool:

Sure, the 2010 Discovery is close but a different model to the 2001 version. So, if thats a resin kit based off my sculpted parts which was based off 2010 refs, then to be as close to screen accurate as possible it should be finished in that sulfurous orange tone.

Hey all, long time no post, though I've checked in every so often, I've renamed this thread and as it suggests will use it to update some of my 3d printing projects. Feel free to comment, critique (constructive preferably, outright insults will be deemed merely entertainment) or ask questions about the projects or 3d printing in general, I'm still learning the art of Resin, but tbh, its proven very straightfoward, if a little chemically dangerous(procedures!).




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Currently in use with a black budget task force on the late night highways of the US and Mexico; it's existence is denied by the US Government, it's mission, classified beyond top secret. Never normally seen during daylight, the dark hunched form seen speeding around the border areas has become known as "The Devil of the Highway" and is associated with many burned out car wrecks (which appear to have been pummelled by high powered explosive tipped rounds) and mysterious deaths found in areas where the vehicle is sighted.

Based on the XMT-168 advanced APC prototype this vehicle is modified for use at high speed on paved roads: It features 6 wheel drive and 6 wheel steering, powered by twin turbo-shaft engines outputting a combined 2000 shaft horsepower. Aerodynamically arranged armour and double rear wheels help keep it on the road, along with a vacuum system (inspired by outlawed Chaparral race cars) that create low pressure areas under the hull around the front and side skirts allowing manuvering that belies its mass - which is minimal through use of composites and high tech materials. The turret has a faceted lenticular shape - similar to an AWACS radar that allows the turret to rotate and cause minimal wind deflection at high speeds.

To tackle rougher terrain, the vehicle can raise up on its double wishbone suspension and / or detach skirt sections for added clearance, it is also able to fit inside a C-130 transport and compact enough to be practical on a modern road network. The side effect of this is reduced carrying capacity for troops or cargo of its own. Effective Crew is a minimum of 2, typically 3 and provision for carrying a small number of passengers.

The model itself is built to be 3D printable and while it's also a scifi concept model its also an experimental test bed for very real world technologies that allow the printing of working suspension components, or of course any type of working mechanism.

I intend these to be printed as complete mechanisms at as small a scale I can get away with, perhaps even as small as for the 15mm figure scale which I can then order from shapeways. 3d printing is very much the wave of the future for manufacturing and more complex, more interesting miniatures with working parts that require no assembly are one of the (probably less useful;)) things that it will provide.

Lovely detailing and great lighting in that that last rendering.:)