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

localfiend

I like 3D printers...
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Silver paint dried so I could fit up the part. Pretty nuts how smooth it got with very little work.

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localfiend

I like 3D printers...
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The rest of the parts should finish printing today. Think I'll start gluing stuff together before painting. And I think I need a darker red accent, this one is a bit bright. The main bits are just gonna get hit with a light coat of metallic aluminum, no big sanding job for the prototype. Got some carbon fiber embedded polycarbonate in the drier for that.

Hopefully I'll be able to get a test flight in this weekend.

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Wildthing

Legendary member
The rest of the parts should finish printing today. Think I'll start gluing stuff together before painting. And I think I need a darker red accent, this one is a bit bright. The main bits are just gonna get hit with a light coat of metallic aluminum, no big sanding job for the prototype. Got some carbon fiber embedded polycarbonate in the drier for that.

Hopefully I'll be able to get a test flight in this weekend.

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Very cool, excellent work you have done
 

localfiend

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What is it your doing to prep for paint? or are you just painting it? PLA or PETG? having a tough time painting PLA here.

It's PETG. Lots of different paint types seem to stick to it without issue. This time it's enamel. For the really shiny test piece, it got hit with 120 grit to knock down the layer lines. Then a coat of primer followed by 240 grit. Then one more coat of primer and some 400 grit before painting with silver. Would have come out even better if I paid better attention to making sure I removed all scratch marks from the previous grit. A new can of paint would be good too, this one is old.

Got some carbon fiber poly-carbonate parts printing now that I plan to test painting next. The internals aren't the cleanest, but I should be able to fix some of that with more tuning. Probably a bit less retraction, and maybe a lower print temp. It's at 280c right now.

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localfiend

I like 3D printers...
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Test fitting parts and doing a CG check before I finish painting. Doesn't quite balance with a 2200mah 4s battery shoved as far up the nose as possible. I have yet to install the power wires, BEC, Receiver, and servos, but the locations of those make me think they'll cancel each other out.

Not terrible news though, as it means you can just use a bigger battery, I left a lot of room. A 2800mah 4s pack was a lot closer. A 3000mah 4s would possibly be perfect. I'll have to see after final assembly.

The addition of an FPV camera in the nose would help with CG, and of course, you can use multiple batteries. A couple 3s 2200mah packs and bigger props wouldn't be a bad option.

Bigger packs also means you can get away with a lower C rating battery (cheaper). At WOT these motors pull almost 50 amps. I've got some 45a blheli_32 esc's with a 60a burst rating, so I'll want to have good power available.

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Also, silver paint makes every printing flaw show up. Might be better off just finding a more silver filament. Or if I had more artistic skill, weathering effects could really minimize that. Might be something to experiment with in the future.
 
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Wildthing

Legendary member
Test fitting parts and doing a CG check before I finish painting. Doesn't quite balance with a 2200mah 4s battery shoved as far up the nose as possible. I have yet to install the power wires, BEC, Receiver, and servos, but the locations of those make me think they'll cancel each other out.

Not terrible news though, as it means you can just use a bigger battery, I left a lot of room. A 2800mah 4s pack was a lot closer. A 3000mah 4s would possibly be perfect. I'll have to see after final assembly.

The addition of an FPV camera in the nose would help with CG, and of course, you can use multiple batteries. A couple 3s 2200mah packs and bigger props wouldn't be a bad option.

Bigger packs also means you can get away with a lower C rating battery (cheaper). At WOT these motors pull almost 50 amps. I've got some 45a blheli_32 esc's with a 60a burst rating, so I'll want to have good power available.

View attachment 148152

View attachment 148153

Also, silver paint makes every printing flaw show up. Might be better off just finding a more silver filament. Or if I had more artistic skill, weathering effects could really minimize that. Might be something to experiment with in the future.
That's going to be a fun guy to get the balance spot on .
 

localfiend

I like 3D printers...
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That's going to be a fun guy to get the balance spot on .

Actually, if it's anything like the original pike, the CG location should be quite broad. The original could vary the CG by .5 to .75 inches in either direction and still be stable. You'd just have to adjust your elevator trim.

We will have to see if a single (albeit larger) vertical fin and some motor pylons has much effect.
 

localfiend

I like 3D printers...
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So, the maiden went great, and the second flight went even better. Flat spins are nuts. I even got it to explode midair on the last pass before the battery ran out. :D


The plane is quite stable, and slows down really well just like the pike. It's definitely going to be getting a set of floats. The failure won't be able to happen again. It was a bad print section to begin with, but I'm going to really beef up the fuselage area and attachment point. I need more nose weight anyway, and this is a great way to add it. As cool as it is breaking apart in mid air, I want this thing to be able to withstand serious levels of mid-air abuse.
 

OliverW

Legendary member
So, the maiden went great, and the second flight went even better. Flat spins are nuts. I even got it to explode midair on the last pass before the battery ran out. :D


The plane is quite stable, and slows down really well just like the pike. It's definitely going to be getting a set of floats. The failure won't be able to happen again. It was a bad print section to begin with, but I'm going to really beef up the fuselage area and attachment point. I need more nose weight anyway, and this is a great way to add it. As cool as it is breaking apart in mid air, I want this thing to be able to withstand serious levels of mid-air abuse.
Now that was funny.