36" Northern Pike - 3D Printed Cuda Clone (It Flies & STL's are Posted!)

MicheleM

New member
Hi localfiend....i'm really really interested in these printed planes and i'm trying to design my own, but i have a problem that i'm not able to solve, as you can see in the picture the slicer does not print the external perimeter like your model, i think i should tweak the 3d model, what can you suggest? Thanks :)
 

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localfiend

I like 3D printers...
Mentor
Hi localfiend....i'm really really interested in these printed planes and i'm trying to design my own, but i have a problem that i'm not able to solve, as you can see in the picture the slicer does not print the external perimeter like your model, i think i should tweak the 3d model, what can you suggest? Thanks :)

The internal structure needs to be separate from the outer skin. An offset of .6 to .8mm is optimal for most parts.
 

MicheleM

New member
Wow...thanks for the answer! So you mean there should be a clear space (a gap) of 0.7mm approx between shell and structures? Correct? Certainly did not know about this!!
 

localfiend

I like 3D printers...
Mentor
Wow...thanks for the answer! So you mean there should be a clear space (a gap) of 0.7mm approx between shell and structures? Correct? Certainly did not know about this!!

Yep, that gap needs to be there if you want a smooth skin without the printhead diving in and out. Download meshmixer if you don't already have it, and import one of the STL's from the Pike. Should give you a lot of info on how stuff was drawn.
 

dingo007

Member
Hah. That's gigantic. I'm betting it'l fly amazing at that size. You planning on fixed gear of some sort?
at the moment its fixed, until i find the proper set of retractables for the size of the wing. then id probably need you to maybe make mods. maybe not. already ran into the issue with the engine mount being off a shade.
 

dingo007

Member

localfiend

I like 3D printers...
Mentor
Lol. Dual EDF's in addition to the motor pods? :D You could go from zero to stupid in half a second with something like that. I was thinking more of making a rocket pod inline with the CG under the tail. Less expensive, and possibly the same bad result.

It's actually more of a new design rather than an addition, as I bumped the base wingspan up to 40" to keep the wing loading down. The only thing I was really able to keep was the outer surface of the wing itself. There were also a lot of upgrades I wanted to implement into a new model of the Pike, and doing them all here was actually quicker than modding the old plane.

Internals.png


All the thinking parts are done. All that's left are spars in the fuselage, and the wings. Mindless, boring hole punching. The motor pylons, mounts, and v-stab are ready to print. If this works out, I may be able to do a quick and dirty retrofit of the original model with tractor pods like this, but I kinda dread working with the old file. The new file structure I've come up with is far more friendly towards modifications, at least without some sort of super computer.
 

OliverW

Legendary member
Lol. Dual EDF's in addition to the motor pods? :D You could go from zero to stupid in half a second with something like that. I was thinking more of making a rocket pod inline with the CG under the tail. Less expensive, and possibly the same bad result.

It's actually more of a new design rather than an addition, as I bumped the base wingspan up to 40" to keep the wing loading down. The only thing I was really able to keep was the outer surface of the wing itself. There were also a lot of upgrades I wanted to implement into a new model of the Pike, and doing them all here was actually quicker than modding the old plane.

View attachment 147655

All the thinking parts are done. All that's left are spars in the fuselage, and the wings. Mindless, boring hole punching. The motor pylons, mounts, and v-stab are ready to print. If this works out, I may be able to do a quick and dirty retrofit of the original model with tractor pods like this, but I kinda dread working with the old file. The new file structure I've come up with is far more friendly towards modifications, at least without some sort of super computer.
One of these and the rubber chicken doing formation would make my life complete lol
 

chris398mx

Master member
Lol. Dual EDF's in addition to the motor pods? :D You could go from zero to stupid in half a second with something like that. I was thinking more of making a rocket pod inline with the CG under the tail. Less expensive, and possibly the same bad result.

It's actually more of a new design rather than an addition, as I bumped the base wingspan up to 40" to keep the wing loading down. The only thing I was really able to keep was the outer surface of the wing itself. There were also a lot of upgrades I wanted to implement into a new model of the Pike, and doing them all here was actually quicker than modding the old plane.

View attachment 147655

All the thinking parts are done. All that's left are spars in the fuselage, and the wings. Mindless, boring hole punching. The motor pylons, mounts, and v-stab are ready to print. If this works out, I may be able to do a quick and dirty retrofit of the original model with tractor pods like this, but I kinda dread working with the old file. The new file structure I've come up with is far more friendly towards modifications, at least without some sort of super computer.

This thing looks awesome. Are you going to use the same hxt500 servos as the 27" pike? Hopefully not, as I am trying to finish up one of your 27" pikes and bought some of those servos from Hobby king as the 5gram servos are too small and the 9 gram servos are too big that I normally use on the FT foam planes. 2 out of the 4 servos don't work correctly. 1 does not center to the same place every time. It varies quite a bit and the other one hums and seams to be searching all the time. I would be afraid to put either of these in the plane and am worried about the 2 that seam to be ok. The hobby king servos are the ones you designed around or did I buy the wrong ones? Anyway, great design work.
 

localfiend

I like 3D printers...
Mentor
This thing looks awesome. Are you going to use the same hxt500 servos as the 27" pike? Hopefully not, as I am trying to finish up one of your 27" pikes and bought some of those servos from Hobby king as the 5gram servos are too small and the 9 gram servos are too big that I normally use on the FT foam planes. 2 out of the 4 servos don't work correctly. 1 does not center to the same place every time. It varies quite a bit and the other one hums and seams to be searching all the time. I would be afraid to put either of these in the plane and am worried about the 2 that seam to be ok. The hobby king servos are the ones you designed around or did I buy the wrong ones? Anyway, great design work.

This plane is a good bit bigger, it'l be using 9 gram digital metal gear servos.

The 27" pike is sized for HXT 500 cases because that servo size was pretty common, and anything bigger was not going to fit well at all. I've had bad luck with 5g servos (compared to 9g) in general, but the hobbyking HXT-500's while a touch noisy at times generally hold up to abuse better than e-max or turnigy equivalents. Of course that's just one persons experience. If you find a servo close to that size you like better, a little tweaking in meshmixer could make it work. Or you can bust out the exacto knife.
 

chris398mx

Master member
I finished the 27" Pike and maidened her today. I used a emax 2207 on 3S. It is a fast airplane and glides a long way on landing.
27 in pike 2.jpg

27 in pike.jpg


Here is the maiden video my daughter put together. you will have to excuse the music and the length. I didn't have the heart to have her change any of it. She did a pretty good job.

 

localfiend

I like 3D printers...
Mentor
I finished the 27" Pike and maidened her today. I used a emax 2207 on 3S. It is a fast airplane and glides a long way on landing.

Here is the maiden video my daughter put together. you will have to excuse the music and the length. I didn't have the heart to have her change any of it. She did a pretty good job.


Very cool. Think this is the first video I've seen of the 27" version. Looks like it flies exactly the same as the big one does, seemed pretty locked in. And yeah, glide slope is quite long. The plane is really slick in the air, and just doesn't decelerate like a foamy when you let off the throttle.
 

dingo007

Member
i meant EDFs/Jet Engines in the tail as opposed to props on the wings :) i hate props and the scale i fly at i need flexibility on engines. also motor mounts should consider the larger scale engines. if i were to scale this with 2 props, i surely need landing gear also. retracts would be nice to lower drag, also there should be a wiring tube front to back, for those of you who glued it together before wiring it up :) i know on 2 of you. :):) so looking at this design, if you designed a single / dual engine house back by the stabilizers, you could opt for either props on the wings or EDF/Jet/Gas alternatives. or also you could toss a couple of DLE Gas engines and use real motors instead of electric ones, I also prefer the dual rear stabilizers, so in theory done right you could have build options :) all about flexibility for whats becoming a very popular design. also, just make it a 1M wing span, inches... ughhhh :)
 
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rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Dale - awesome new design! I'm drooling over here! :D

Chris - great build and love that you've got your daughter engaged in the hobby too! :D