Ryan, you’ve overestimated my CAD skills - mine is at elementary school level when that’s for a graduate school level work.
This doesn’t look too bad though:
You’ll need to send me lots and lots of reference photos - like at least 50 of them from all different angles and exact measurements of various parts however. Even with that, it will probably take me a year to model one.
Rather, I’ve been wanting to model SCWS on M1A1 for a while:
Not sure how they’ll hold up when you break them off the supports.
You’ll need at least 14 of them to cover an M-ATV or MRAP. I’d sell it $4 each to get my ROI.
The mounting brackets and poles would need to be scratch-built though b/c their sizes would differ depending on the vehicle.
Some interesting stuff being made on here.
I am thinking of buying a 3D printer.
One thing I would want to try for example is making a replacement barrel for a T-90.
A word of caution though, Catsrcool on printing a long barrel like that in 1/35 with an SLA printer. It is one of the most difficult objects you can print in 3D correctly - at least based on my experience.
The reason being - 1. Like other traditional resin AM products, resin can warp. That’s why tank barrels are not best represented with resin AM items.
2. You’ll see some fine lines on the print’s surface even at the best resolution.
There are 4 ways to print them -
a. Flat horizontally
b. Angled at like 30 and 45
c. Vertically going up
d. Separate it into several parts (like you see in many Abrams kits)
Option a will be the worst. b will help but will warp depending on the climate.
c. May work but lines will probably show up the most. Not immune to warping
d. May be the best option but you may be compromising the details and assembly required.
So it may not be the best candidate to print. Personally, a metal barrel with some little resin and PE additions may still be the best looking option. My 2 cents.
Thank you for your reply and explanation.
I would rather use a metal barrel and PE but I have issues manipulating it so a 3D printed one is better for me.
I would use the printer for making the typical fuel drums on most modern Russian/Soviet MBT’s as another example.
What software would you suggest I try for designing as a newbie please?
I have had a play with Blender but it seems overly complicated for my needs.
Catsrcool, there’s always scratch-building or improving with the venerable Evergreen plastic tubes (if that’s available in your region - not sure which country you are). Those have worked the best for me frankly for tank barrels. Fuel drums should work out OK with a 3D printer however.
Blender is a good one if you want to put some effort into it. FreeCAD is good - also complicated to use but powerful. I mostly use 3D Builder to modify existing OBJ and STL files.
If you take time to get used to the interface, Blender is very nice and free, constantly updated. I’m currently making some weapons with it, and is very easy. There are lot of tutorials for Blender in Yotube also.
Wanted to let everyone see the Henry rifle that James printed for me this past week. He printed 7 Henry’s and 2 Winchesters for a very, very agreeable price and shipped them to me.
This is the Master Box Bounty Hunter “Pedro M.” kit that I did a lot of modification to. The kit rifle appeared to be an 1895 Winchester, which is what I wanted to replace with the more recognizable Henry rifle. Now he looks like a “Let’s get down to business Bounty Hunter.”
Jame’s prints are amazing with hardly any cleanup. You can even see the lever opening in the top of the receiver. A top quality job worth every penny.
Thanks again to James for an amazing job.
As to the radios, I will only make per order. Serious buyers only. I have said this too many times.
No flaky requests or suggestions b/c I’ve had too many of those. Please don’t make me waste my time if you’re not serious about paying.
