As if 3D printing was not addictive enough, I am hooked on CAD design, too, as I am becoming better at 3D model design. 
So tonight, I finished designing an AN/PRC-117F radio. I started with an existing rudimentary design someone uploaded for free and added tons of more details based on some reference photos. Pretty happy with the final result. Let me know what you think:
Real thing:
At some point, I need to stop and reduce my 1/35 kit stash first. 
Regards
I am after a 3D printeable file for 117F. I am serving military and am after a load of radios for our modelling club. I have
Have you searched www.Cults3D.com for â1/35 radioâ? There are quite a few different types for free or low cost.
@Petition2God - Iâd like to ask you something, your CAD looks very nice, but if you wanted to scale it down to 1/35 and print it out, lots of the details would either not print at all or be so thin that they wouldnât survive cleanup and/or handling. Can you please comment on that? Thanks for sharing and have a nice day
PaweĆ
I wonder how you found this 3-year old thread. Message me for the purchase if youâre serious. 20 USD.
Hi Pawel,
First, could you give me more context as to which designs are you talking about? Did you buy any of my CAD files and experience these difficulties or is this based on your observation only?
To me, it sounds like a loaded question - a question that contains an implicit assumption about the respondent. The assumption can be controversial, biased, and may or may not be valid. 
Not to mention, in the last 4 years I have gotten into 3D printing, things have changed a lot - the technology, as well as my CAD and printing skills obviously. I must admit my earlier designs were not very good and I started selling too early.
It appears to be at least a complex question to answer because the details in 1/35 being lost or being too thin for handling can depend on multiple factors, including but not limited to:
which CAD is this referring to? I have over 165 CADs on my cults3d page alone - not to mention many I decided not to sell the data of. Some designs have a lot of âthinâ details and some do not. Iâm unable to answer for all across the board.
The quality of the print can depend on the quality of the machine, resin being used, exposure level calibration of the 3D printer, surrounding temperatures, skills of the person printing and handling the 3D prints, careful handling during washing, amount of UV curing done, cleanness of the FEP film, placements of supports, etc.
At least for the ones I have posted on my cults3d page, I have printed them all successfully and survived the handling - with minimal loss in detail. Many have survived a long journey in international shipping also. The print settings must be adjusted correctly for your machine obviously - and thatâs not easy because many are sensitive. When the prints failed, it was human error on my part and not so much the machine. So without specific examples, no specific response can be provided.
I try to keep the âprintabilityâ in 1/35 in mind whenever I CAD, which is true for all of us hobbyists. Why make something and spend all that time, which you cannot use on your kits? Not only that, I hate print fails and having to clean up the mess or replace the damaged FEP film. Money and time lost - wasted time, wasted resin, etc.
I only make things that I plan to use one of these days - well, the stash I have is unrealistic but thatâs true for many of us, âcollectorsâ. Anyway, there are obviously STLs out there with the thickness or size less than 0.08mm, and I scratch my head and say âWTH?! Thatâs not printable in 1/35.â
So yeah, Iâll need more specific, detailed context in your question.
Hello!
I donât mean a trick question here - Iâm referring to the pictures at the top of this page. From what I see you have a very nice and very detailed design here. Then again, 1:35 is the scale I work a lot with and I wondered if it is at all intended to scale this down to 1:35 and if so, then whatâs the plan to deal with eventual problems that might arise.
So for example the U-handles on the front panels - how thick would they be in 1/35? Other question - where would be the lower limit of wire diameter you would like to work with - is it 0,08 or higher?
To say it again - Iâm not asking trick questions here, not starting a war - I ask out of curiosity.
Thanks in advance for the answers and have a nice day
PaweĆ
OK, that makes sense - youâre only referring to the AN/PRC-117F design I made almost 3 years ago. This is one of my earlier attempts as a novice.
I had to go down to the memory lane and pull up the old CAD file. After 3D printing a couple of test prints, I realized the U-handles were certainly too thin to print so what I ended up doing was to double the size of the thickness for printability:
So instead of being under 0.1mm in thickness in 1/35, it became 0.2mm.
After that, I might have sold a few 3D prints then I took a break from selling. Plus, no one else asked for it.
This design is not on my cults3d page, and I donât plan on posting it there either.
As to your other question, the lowest level or the comfortable level of a diameter of a 3D print design is 0.1mm. 0.08mm if there is enough support around it or itâs just sticking out of a bigger background - risky to be a stand-alone.
I hope this helps.
OK, thanks a lot for the explanations - now it makes a perfect sense to me. Good luck with your design work and have a nice day!
PaweĆ
I did try but I couldnât see when I searched. Can you send me some links please
Search results:
248 search results for 3D models to 3D print with the keyword(s) â1/35 radioâă»Cults
Hi mate if you have any 3D Printed 117F and 117G Radios printed let me know and I am happy to buy some off you. Or even a CAD design. I am British Military still serving and am working on a few dioramas in 1/35 scale.
I currently use both radios and the newer 163 / 167 radios so if you have any scale models 3D Printed on the above or 3D CAD Printable file I am happy to purchase
Hi Mark,
Iâll PM you.
