Martin and Kenneth create radio-controlled cars as VRCP. The star of their fleet is the Wild Willy, a replica of the legendary Willys Jeep, the original Jeep that was produced during WWII. Historically, the Willys Jeep was four-wheel-drive. But an out-of-the-box RC model by Tamiya was only two-wheel-drive. And not useful to these off-road trekkers.

The original World War II Willys Jeep

Martin made his first foray into 3D design in 2012, when he began developing custom maps for flight simulators. He then designed and printed a gift for a friend through Shapeways. Now, to get the performance he needed from his favorite ride, he would turn again to 3D printing.

“The Wild Willy is one of the most fun cars ever. Your face is too small for the smile you get when driving one of them.” – Martin

No one had ever tried to build something like it before, but Martin and Kenneth were determined to replicate the historic Willys Jeep. The new machine would be a Frankenstein’s monster of sorts, borrowing pieces from the Losi Mini Rock Crawler, the Tamiya original, and Martin’s Shapeways prints.

After three prototypes, the new parts were ready. The pair were so impressed with the 3D printed components, it forever changed the way they work. Martin started designing everything from vents to doorhandles to grilles, expanding from one to many makes and models. And he took his hobby pro, opening a popular Shapeways shop. His lightweight, durable 3D printed parts also give Kenneth and Martin a competitive advantage, of course, when they showcase their work as VRCP.

prototype your design

Martin developed this custom grille for the Wild Willy, here shown ready to race into battle

He also created a custom shovel-and-axe set

By focusing on creating parts that aren’t available in other stores, Martin is building a following. He’s also helping to pioneer a whole new approach to the world, one that doesn’t accept what’s available from mass manufacturers and instead says, “I can do that.”

create something new

The post They couldn’t buy it. So they created it. appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Markus Busch of Germany rounds a bend

Normally, RC car drift competitions take a break this time of year. Not satisfied to sit out the winter — and wanting a return to the skill-driven competitions of the past — I and my Wreck it Sideways teammates decided to organize a three-round event series that would become the RealGood Wintercup 2018. Shapeways was kind enough to sponsor the event, and last Saturday, a group of almost 50 RC drifters from all corners of the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium made their way to Waalwijk, the Netherlands for the first round of racing.

A full house at Wintercup 2018

After seven years of competing in the Dutch RC drifting championship, I quit the series last year. I missed the “good old days” when it was more about style and precision, and less about speed. After hearing similar comments from other regular competitors in the Dutch and other series, I knew it was time for a change. I figured that if the perfect event doesn’t exist, why not try to organize it myself?

Together with my team, Wreck it Sideways, I’ve been organizing RC drifting events under the name RealGood since 2016. The aim of our RealGood events has always been to make sure people are enjoying RC drifting, improving their driving skills, and growing the hobby. With the Wintercup, we wanted to bring back the classic drift competition format to our local scene. The individual qualifying sessions will make all drivers focus on style and precision, with less attention to only speed.

One of the organizers, Bauke van Wieren, showing us how drifting is done

Despite the strict rulebook and judging, plus the clear push for improving skills, we want everyone to enjoy the event as much as possible. We welcome any level of driver, and no matter what the qualifying score, anyone can battle for the top. Next to a great competition experience, there are tons of cool prizes raffled off amongst all competitors, thanks to our generous sponsors.

Speaking of sponsors, since Shapeways sponsored the event, we could give away some awesome 3D printed prizes too, all designed by people from within our own community. This sense of supporting the community is our theme for all of the sponsors. No big-name manufacturers, just small businesses founded by RC drifters making handmade and custom-made accessories for our little cars.

Shapeways proudly sponsored the RealGood Wintercup

With the first round fully booked, we started off the day with great success already. It was clear that all the competitors were in great spirits because half an hour before the official opening time, almost everyone was already in. The circuit we chose for round 1 was the amazing Drifted Circuit in Waalwijk, Netherlands.

The top qualifier of the day was Sven Malcherczyk from Germany with an 87/100-point score. He put on a great show throughout the day, but unfortunately for him, he got knocked out early in the top 16 battles. Second-place qualifier Bauke van Wieren also got knocked out earlier than he hoped in the top 8 battles. In the end, it was the German Manuel Jumpertz and Dutch Stephen Leegwater who made it into the finals after a series of very clean battles.

Me and RealGood Wintercup Round 1 winner Manuel Jumpertz

Both Manuel and Stephen were bringing their A game all day. The final was a great battle to watch with the guys truly pushing their limits. It was nice to see that all the other drivers had also gathered around the track to watch and cheer on the remaining competitors. In the second lap of their battle, nerves seemed to get the better of Stephen and he made a mistake, handing the win to Manuel. Third place went to yet another German driver, Michael Guder.

With the first round in the bag, Manuel is now leading the Wintercup championship. For the next round, we’ll move to a different venue, Drift Arena Geldermalsen. With a much smaller and slower track, it will be a challenge for all competitors to alter the setup on their cars. Let’s see if Manuel can stay on top or if someone else will step up.

Next month we’ll dive deeper into the customization culture of RC drifting and show you some examples of 3D printed parts. In the meantime you can find all news and footage on the RealGood Facebook page. Stay tuned for more of the RealGood Wintercup 2018 presented by Shapeways!

The post When You Just Want to (RC) Drift, Part 1 appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Here are just a few of the cool projects that community members like you are launching in 2018:

Artist Claudio Settiis bringing a Viking back to life

Chris McConnell of M-Customs is building a dropped and chopped hot rod truck

Wayne Losey of ModiBot is planning new BriXleev building blocks

Katie Larocca turned a grazing animal into a keepsake box

Julian Arnold of Jewelled Seas Untold is updating the reminder string — as a beautiful ring

Patricia Castillo from CatDragStudio is building a better Frantic Krug Robot

Roxy Rahel of Morphology is finalizing her first bracelet of 2018

Conner Austin is working on an adjustable Universal iPhone Cover

Pop Goes the Monkey designed a pair of Death Team: M2a Troop Tank Doors

Death Team: M2a Troop Tank Doors

Are you still waiting to start that project you’ve been dreaming of? We’re here to help. You can explore our materials to see what’s possible, start printing now if you already have a 3D file, hire a designer to turn your idea into a 3D model, get help in our forums, or learn 3D design in our Tutorials hub and Magazine. And don’t forget to share your progress with the hashtag #Create2018 on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The post 9 Amazing #Create2018 Projects appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Order deadlines might have passed, but you can still give them a passport to over 1,000,000 products by skilled independent designers. Plus more than 60 materials and finishes to help power their own 3D printed projects. We think that Shapeways Gift Cards might just be the ultimate gift.

A Gift Card can empower them to learn to 3D model, print that thing they’ve been dreaming of with a file they find online, or find a one-of-a-kind Valentine’s Day gift. Not to mention open them up to a community of other RPG / RC Car / Model Train / Paintball / Drone enthusiasts to bond with.

We’ve also expanded our Gift Card amounts on offer to give you options for people just getting started with Shapeways ($25 and $50), anyone who might be looking to get something special and shiny ($75, $100, and $300) and those who think beyond limits of size, finish, and complexity ($500).

So give them something that’s more than just store credit or a last-minute solution. Give them the power to bring their ideas to life.

The post Don’t Worry — There’s Still Time to Wow Them! appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Kenny and his ORB Racing FF210

Over the summer, community manager Ruud van den Muijzenberg and I traveled across Europe visiting RC car events. One of the best things about these trips was the incredibly cool people we met along the way. To our delight, many of them were already using Shapeways 3D printed parts on their RC cars.

In this second of our Driver Profiles, we talk to Kenny Mok, whom we met at the IconicRC Revival meeting in Grantham, England in July. Kenny has been a Shapeways customer for a while and runs 3D printed parts on multiple cars in his fleet.

Kenny prepares to race at the IconicRC Revival

Name: Kenny Mok
Age: 39
From: London, UK
Profession: IT Consultant
Hobbies: 1:1 cars, Fishkeeping, Football, Karaoke and Eating
Years in RC: 2
First RC Car: Tamiya TA01 Alfa-Romeo 155 DTM

IconicRC 4WD car line-up

A couple of weeks before we went to England for IconicRC Revival, we announced that we were going to join the event on IconicRC’s Facebook group. We were welcomed with lots of replies of people showing off their 3D printed RC car parts.

One of those people was Kenny, who showed us his ORB Racing FF210, a very unique and almost fully 3D printed front wheel drive buggy that we actually featured in the magazine earlier this year. He was clearly very excited to show off the cars he had built, and even challenged our community manager Ruud van den Muijzenberg to a race!

When we finally met at IconicRC, Kenny told us he has only been in the RC car racing hobby for about 2 years. After looking up information on drones and quadcopters, he stumbled across a group of RC-car-loving enthusiasts, IconicRC. Kenny initially thought that racing RC cars was a dead hobby, but soon realized it is very much alive and active. He found a group of great people in IconicRC, who race from club level to pro.

Kenny added, “When I was a kid, I was never able to afford hobby RC cars. But being older, like the most of us, I am now able to relive my childhood once again and buy the cars I dreamed of as a kid.”

Kenny racing in one of the Revival heats

When we asked Kenny about his experience at the event, he told us,

“Revival 2017 was my first ever Revival. It was simply awesome! From the smell of fried bacon and grilled onions emanating from the campsite to the enthusiastic chattering of conversation with fellow racers, I soon forgot that there was actually racing involved. I met people from all over the world. Some had travelled quite far (Holland, Germany) and it was great to share views and experiences with everyone. The show of beautiful vintage cars was just simply sublime. Oh, and the racing was fun! This will surely be a regular event for me and a lot of other fellow enthusiasts. I thoroughly recommend this to all RC vintage enthusiasts, I would even go so far to class this as the vintage racing event of the year!”

A special commemorative edition FF210, Kenny’s second FF210

Kenny races a very special 3D printed buggy. The ORB Racing FF210 is an almost fully custom-made front -wheel-drive buggy that features many parts 3D printed at Shapeways. In the picture above you can see the special commemorative edition FF210 that was built by Paul Dijkstra, ORB Racing’s designer and Shapeways community member. Paul created this model to celebrate the FF210’s racing success in 2017.

Kenny likes the FF210 so much this is actually his second one. The FF210 is special because it is the only modern front-wheel-drive buggy in existence. And being front-wheel-drive makes it very competitive on low-grip and wet surfaces compared to regular buggies. With England being a very rainy and wet country, Kenny’s FF210 should feel right at home.

Kenny’s Tamiya Top Force

As cool as it is, the FF210 is of no use at the vintage-focused Revival as it’s too modern. Luckily Kenny brought a whole fleet of cars (painted his signature white) to race at the Revival in multiple classes. Just like the car we raced on sunday at the same event, Kenny also races a vintage Tamiya Top Force featuring 3D printed parts designed by ORB Racing. Besides developing their own FF car, ORB Racing also offer a lot of 3D printed replacement parts that are otherwise very hard to find and often expensive if available at all.

“The fact that I can now have 3D printed replacement parts which feel just as strong as the originals is a real lifesaver for collectors and racers of now obsolete cars,” Kenny told us, reflecting the driving force behind many RC car drivers’ use of 3D printed parts.

Kenny’s Yokomo YZ2 with JConcepts front wing mount

He continued,

“I also use Shapeways printed parts from JConcepts on my modern Yokomo YZ2 buggies. Shapeways really opens the world up to designers where beforehand, production costs would have meant it was impossible for their designs to become a reality. Now it’s just a matter of uploading your file and having the design 3D printed at a very reasonable price. The public’s trust in 3D parts is growing as the materials used have become stronger. At the moment, only replacement parts are made for certain cars. I would love to see a whole car built from 3D printing, i.e. a Shapeways-branded car package!”

IconicRC Wheelie race line-up

2017 was a great year of racing for Kenny, who even organized, for the first time, his own event: Super Off Roader at Surrey and Hants Radio Controlled Car Club. Kenny has big plans for next year too, with the IconicRC Revival being the main event. But there are plenty more races on the calendar, like the IconicRC Cup and the highly anticipated Schumacher Challenge.

Kenny told us that even though he will try to better his race performance at upcoming events, meeting fellow RC enthusiasts means more than the results. So if you happen to go out to a race next year, look out for Kenny and his fleet of white RC cars and go have a chat!

The post Meet Kenny Mok’s Winning RC Car Fleet appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

At Recon G6 Belgium, a RC scaler and crawler event in the Belgian Ardennes, we were lucky enough to meet Christian Lorenz. He has been using Shapeways to develop his own design of a rock crawler chassis.

Christian and his crawler

Name: Christian Lorenz
Age: 35
From: Karlsruhe, Germany
Profession: Process Operator
Hobbies: Mountain biking, BMX, Running, Swimming
Years in RC: 8
First RC Car: Tamiya Manta Ray

One of the steep, rocky trails at ReconG6 Belgium

Christian made his way from his home in Karlsruhe, Germany to the Belgian forest for Recon G6. He brought multiple cars to the event, but the one we were most interested in is his Prototype Rock Crawler, designed by Christian himself from scratch.

After being out of the RC car hobby for some years, Christian caught the bug again and started with an Axial SCX10 scale truck. While working at a mold-making company, his access to CAD software and milling machines meant that it didn’t take long for him to start making custom parts for his trucks.

Christian’s unnamed Prototype Rock Crawler

The Prototype Rock Crawler is Christian’s second custom build truck. His first project, the Spilux, was a scale rock crawler truck with Pure Spider axles, a custom carbon chassis and a bunch of handmade milled metal parts, all covered by a bobbed Toyota Hilux body. The new crawler was designed to compete in the prototype class in the German Yeti Trial Challenge. Almost every single part on the car was designed by Christian himself and is either 3D printed at Shapeways or milled from carbon fiber plates or brass. It took about three months of development and designing in Cimatron to complete the crawler. It’s an amazing feat of engineering from just one man, one that looks like it’s from a big manufacturer.

The main chassis is a skeleton construction featuring many extra supports to make sure the chassis is strong and stiff enough to handle the abuse the car will go through. Christian told us he guessed how much support was really needed, and then doubled it just to be safe.

Inside the chassis is a completely custom-made drivetrain. The transmission housing is 3D printed and has steel gears handmade by Christian himself. It also contains a full interior complete with 3D printed racing seat, dashboard, fire extinguisher, and NOS bottle. Even the hood scoop on the front is functional — it has an electric fan inside forcing air onto the motor to keep it cool! Most competition crawlers don’t have any scale details like an interior, but 3D printing makes it possible to fit these components inside the compact chassis and still keep it lightweight.

The car features a fully 3D printed interior

This hood scoop is actually functional and cools the motor

Both front and rear axles are also completely custom-made. They are portal axles, again with steel gears handmade by Christian. He also machined some brass weights for each corner of the car to keep the tires planted on any obstacle. Both front and rear axles have 3D printed housings, but the rear axle is beefed up with a carbon fibre tube inside. This car really is designed to be bulletproof!

Fully custom axles, hubs and even the wheels

The chassis is unnamed at the moment, but at ReconG6 we joked about how it should be called “Skeleton Screamer” because of the way it looks and sounds. Christian powered the crawler with quite an unusual setup combining a regular car’s electronic speed controller with an outrunner brushless motor that’s normally only used in RC airplanes. The result is a small motor with a ton of torque on low RPM and a loud, high-pitched whine, making it sound almost like a turbine engine. The noise is unique to Christian’s car, and really gives it character.

The crawler after conquering the muddy Belgian trails

Now, with the Prototype Crawler (AKA Skeleton Screamer) finished — and even taking a podium spot at the Yeti Trial Challenge — we asked Christian what’s next. His current project is even crazier than the crawler: Christian is designing a fully custom-built racing machine on track plates, like a tank, but FAST.

Christian’s new project; A race vehicle on tracks

To follow Christian’s progress, get the first look at his new developments, and keep track of race results, check out his Yoyoyotapilot RC page on Facebook and @Yoyoyotapilot on Instagram.

What’s the craziest car you’ve ever designed?

The post Lighter, Faster, Stronger: Christian Lorenz’s Incredible RC Crawler With No Name appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Hetmanski Hobbies is an incredible place to discover parts and mods for your RC monster trucks and scale vehicles. Kevin Hetmanski, the shop owner and designer, is no stranger to the RC hobby, having spent 31 years in the RC world — and working at Horizon Hobby as a product developer. You might also recognize the name Hetmanski from his work for RC Car Action magazine, where he’s the Sr. Editor. Needless to say, the man knows his stuff.

Over the past year, Kevin has been adding a lot of new designs to his Shapeways shop, and as amazing as they are on their own, the best way to discover them is to see them in action. So we asked Kevin to show us a few of his personal trucks that use many of the shop’s goodies.

KOC 2.0

Kevin has been passionate about solid-axle monster trucks since the release of the Tamiya Clod Buster in 1987. It’s the truck considered by most to be the original RC monster truck, and it was the beginning of a journey that would start with project trucks. After building and modding several existing trucks, he decided that he needed to take things to the next level. Hetmanski then decided to design and build his own truck to get the performance he was looking for. In 2007, he created the King Of Crushers — using several poorly handmade parts. Still, despite its hand-hewn roughness, the truck’s performance was fantastic when compared to what was available at the time.

In November of 2015, Kevin was invited to the Monster Jam World Finals in Las Vegas to be a part of their very first RC monster truck race. For years, he had wanted to build a new and improved version of the KOC. This was the perfect time to make the KOC 2.0 monster truck a reality.

After 40 hours of computer time, the result was a truck that performed above and beyond the original KOC. This time, Kevin used a 3D CAD program to make the design come to life, enabling Kevin to cycle things like the suspension and steering to make sure they worked — before actually making a single part.

Unfortunately, the truck wasn’t finished in time for the Vegas event. Issues around getting the more complex aluminum parts made for the drivetrain meant that the build could not be completed. That’s when Kevin discovered Shapeways. After tweaking the design of some of parts, he had them printed through Shapeways. Finally, the truck came together.

3D printed pieces on the KOC 2.0 include axle caps, bearing blocks, and the transmission housing in the chassis, as well as exhaust headers and a rollcage for scale looks. With less than a month before another big race, the 4-link Nationals in Ohio, Kevin was a bit worried about the printed parts holding up. But, after some test runs, he was happy to find that everything was sound. The KOC 2.0 was ready to race!

The 4-link Nationals race weekend arrived, and with barely any time behind the wheel, Kevin got ready for the qualifying round. Thankfully, the truck performed well, qualifying at 11th place out of a total of 56 trucks in the class. With 3D printing still new to Kevin, his confidence in the printed parts only grew during race day.

Round after round, the KOC 2.0 proved its mettle. At the end of the day, Kevin had placed fourth overall. The performance and potential of the KOC 2.0 were now battle-tested — and proven.

Now, Kevin will work out the rest of the kinks, make a few tweaks, print more parts, and make sure that the monster truck can handle whatever his backyard (at least) can throw its way.

Yeti MT 3.0

Kevin embarked on his second big project after seeing the Axial Yeti rock racer for the first time. The rear end of the Yeti, with its tubular chassis, reminded him of a monster truck. And just like that, the Yeti MT idea was born. First, he put two rear sections of a Yeti together to create a solid-axle monster truck that performed very well when bashing, but needed some upgrades for racing. Version 2.0 featured a much stiffer carbon fiber chassis and a few other aftermarket parts to improve performance. That version worked much better, but after racing it at the RC Monster Jam World Finals, more updates were made to create version 3.0.

Kevin took the Yeti MT 3.0 to the 4-Link Nationals in Ohio to compete in the new 2.2-inch tire class. The truck obviously needed 2.2-inch wheels and tires to run this class. Kevin wanted to take the truck’s looks to the next level with a new set of wheels, so he turned to Shapeways again, this time designing a full set of 3D printed wheels and caps. These new wheels have a lot of detail and look exactly like those on full-sized monster trucks. Kevin added a little paint to bring out the detail and bolted them on after gluing up some Pro-Line Destroyer tires. The Yeti MT 3.0 also sports a 3D printed roll bar (painted to match the body paint), as well as a set of 3D printed exhaust headers.

At the 4-Link Nationals, the scale accessories did their job, and Kevin managed to win Show-N-Shine in the 2.2-inch class. Score!

What’s next?

Kevin is always designing parts for projects that are featured in RC Car Action magazine. Designs for his personal vehicles also find their way onto Hetmanski’s Shapeways shop. He’s always working on something, and he tells us that his next big project will most likely be a 1/10-scale Grave Digger monster truck using 3D printed parts to make it look as close to the real truck as possible. The chassis will be handmade, the axles will look just like the ones on real Monster Jam trucks, it will have larger versions of his 2.2-inch wheels, and much more. And of course, after the truck is done, all 3D printed parts will be available on Shapeways.

Make sure you also follow the Hetmanski Hobbies Facebook page to keep up with future parts, projects and race results!

Kevin Hetmanski and his KOC 2.0 truck

The post Monsters of Scale — Hetmanski Hobbies RC Monster Trucks appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

RC Nerds is a name you might have heard before. The Polish designer behind the brand, Pawel Krupecki, has one of the bigger RC scaler and crawler accessories shops on Shapeways, and we recently shared a model featuring RC Nerds parts on an incredible “Back to the Future” replica truck.

Now Pawel has built a new project car, and it’s a truly amazing transformation of, essentially, a toy into a hyperrealistic scale re-creation of a legendary classic truck. What’s more, it proves that 3D printing can help you achieve details that were once only possible for highly skilled scratchbuilders.

After releasing a bunch of upgrade parts for the Pro-Line Toyota SR5 HiLux body, Krupecki’s new project is again a body by Pro-Line. But, this time he chose the new 1966 Chevrolet C-10 truck body and the got busy drawing up tons of detailed parts to give the C-10 a more realistic look.

Pro-Line body shells are known for their durability, but unfortunately also for their lack of detail. Lights are usually just stickers, and the front and rear-end of the truck are pretty flat. Pawel has addressed this by creating a detailed, 3-dimensional grille with a mesh insert, Chevy badge, and working lights — with an additional bumper that matches the grille’s contours perfectly.

There’s a lot more detail added to the rest of the truck, too. The side mirrors, window wipers, rear lights, door handles and latches, B-pillar trim, badges, and even the fully detailed dashboard and steering wheel are all 3D printed and designed based on many detailed photos of a real 1966 Chevrolet C-10.

Krupecki is not only a 3D designer, but also a talented scale modeler, so he knows how to combine materials very effectively. He used a mix of different Shapeways materials for his parts, to make sure the parts are cost effective, yes, but most importantly, that they have the right surface finish and level of detail. After printing, all of the detail pieces have been carefully prepped and painted. Tamiya’s Fine Surface primer and some light sanding was used to create a smooth surface for further painting, which is a great trick, especially for Strong & Flexible plastic prints.

Since this truck is based on a model from the 1960s, a lot of the trim pieces needed to be chrome. This is where BHDA is the perfect material choice for the smaller pieces such as the lights, door handles and mirrors. As BHDA not only has great detail, it also has a very smooth surface perfect for painting chrome.

The body was painted in a metallic blue colour close to an original Chevrolet paint shade, and finished with a matte clear coat on the outside to make it look less like plastic, and give the car some patina.

Real balsa wood was used in the bed to add to the realism. You can also spot RC Nerds‘ 3D printed rear lights and door latch in the above picture. The lights use a lens printed in Frosted Ultra Detail finished off with a red clear coat to keep it nice and transparent.

The Alclad II chrome paint doesn’t work for the smaller pieces, so fine-tip pens were used to color in the badges.

Alclad II was also the paint of choice for the clear light lenses. A clear lacquer was used after some light polishing to make the Frosted Ultra Detail prints extra-transparent.

The body sits on an Axial SCX10 II chassis, just like Pawel’s previous builds. The chassis fits perfectly under the Pro-Line body, and combined with the small Tamiya tires, it has just the right stance. With all the added details, it’s easily mistaken for a real classic truck.

The photos were taken on the beach by the Baltic Sea. Despite being far from its American roots, the Chevy looks right at home!

Even though this truck was only just finished, Krupecki is already working on his next project: a Toyota 4Runner. Follow RC Nerds on Facebook to keep up with his progress as he develops the new 4Runner parts.

If this car has inspired you to build one as well, all items used in this build are now available in RC Nerds shop. What will you build next?

Pictures by RC Nerds

The post RC Nerds’ Unbelievably Realistic 1966 Chevrolet C-10 RC Truck appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

RCEveryday

The best part? You can buy everything featured in the video.

EXTREME SCALE PERFORMANCE RC

Featuring RC giant James Knight of Knight Customs! Learn more about his inspirations and insights in his Designer Spotlight.

Scale Builder’s Guild

Featured parts are available through Knight Customs and BowHouse RC.

Check out our full coverage of the Shapeways RC car community. Have you spotted any Shapeways 3D printed RC gear in the wild?

The post Congrats! Your RC Car Designs Are Getting HUGE appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

If this is your first time using Vectary, here’s a quick guide to get you started and learn the tool’s basics.

We worked with a Revell RC Police Car. So if you can get your hands on one of those or something like it, sign in to Vectary, then open this chassis template. Vectary is meant for remixing open-source models, so we all can build on one another’s creations.

If you can’t find a Revell RC Police Car or a similar Revell car, pick another RC car, strip it down, and measure the undercarriage.

To draw an outline of the chassis, set up your scene in Vectary: On the bottom row, you’ll see Snapping. Enable Snapping. Then Open the Snapping options menu and enable Keep Buttons in Dock, Snap to End, and Snap to Grid. Go to Settings, also at the bottom. Enable Grid, and set your Square Size to 1mm and the Grid Size to 200mm. Enable Dimensions also.

Rotate the grid to see it from above. If you’re using the Revell RC Police Car, these are the dimensions, in mm.

Otherwise, draw an outline of the RC car’s undercarriage, based on the measurements you took.

In either case, set your scene in side view and draw your diagram along the x axis — the green one.

Select the lines. Then select the Extrude button, hold the shift key, and drag to pull the edge to the desired width.

Select the line you created. You will see a semicircle and a set of arrows. This is Vectary’s transformation tool, aka the gizmo. You can use the gizmo to move, scale, or rotate your selection.

Move the green arrow on the gizmo to adjust the shape.

Now that you’ve created a base, you can move to designing the cabin. Click on the + icon to create a new layer. Turn off Snap to Grid. Using Draw Lines, draw the outline of the car’s cabin.

Again, use the Extrude function to turn the outline into a face. Adjust the shape of outline by using the gizmo to move, scale, or rotate the face while switching between points, lines, and faces.

You can also add faces to your model by holding the shift key while using the Extrude function and dragging the magenta arrow on the gizmo.

Turn on Snap to End. Use Draw Lines to create as many more faces as you like.

Select several points on the extruded faces and join them together with the Collapse button in the left toolbar.

Make sure you select only the points that you want to join. If you select all the points and click Collapse, it will collapse the whole shape.

Select Draw Lines and add in any missing faces. Using the Move arrows on the gizmo to adjust the shape.

Select +Add Plugin at the bottom right of the screen to open My Plugins. Choose the Mirroring plugin. Select the layers and axis that you want to mirror. When you are satisfied with your shape, select Bake from the dropdown menu at the top right of the Mirroring 1 panel.

The Bake command creates a new layer. Hide the old layers. At bottom left, switch the render view to Shaded to see the geometry.

Select the center line. Find Bevel in the left toolbar to create an additional faces. You can enlarge them with the cube on the gizmo.

Select the new faces and bevel repeatedly inwards. More lines will create a more angular look after smoothing.

Move the selected faces, then Select Delete Selection in the top toolbar.

Repeat Bevel, Move, and Delete on both sides of the car.

Use the Marquee tool at the top of the screen to select all the faces. Click on the white gizmo circle and switch the jog to Local. Extrude inward (by dragging the arrow while holding the shift key) to add thickness.

Choose the Select Lines button, then use Marquee to select the whole object. Select Bevel to create more edges.

In the left toolbar, turn on Smoothing and use the Colorpicker to choose the desired shade. (Note: the color of your rendering has no bearing on the color of your 3D print.)

Next, click +Add Plugin, and in My Plugins, select the Shapeways plugin and Check Geometry. We chose Shapeways Strong and Flexible Plastic from the materials dropdown because it is durable and relatively inexpensive; printed in white, the car cost about €39 (or $45).

Once ready, click the Send to Shapeways button.

Shapeways will send a confirmation link via email. (It may take a few minutes for the message to reach your inbox.) Confirm your order on the Shapeways site.

Give Vectary a shot and get your car ready for racing.

The post Vectary Tutorial 2: Make a New Body for an RC Car appeared first on Shapeways Blog.