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

Wow! I have been looking at the very same setup for the rascal which is a Eric pirate foam board design. Have you found out what went wrong because those combination should produce somewhere around 1,700 grams of thrust Max. I love that combination and if a flight test 2207 will produce over a thousand and go out of sight vertical then the combination of you and I have been looking at should be amazing
 

whackflyer

Master member
@localfiend, I've got a problem. I don't know if it's my slicer, or incorrectly designed wingtips, but at the top of the wingtips, it's actually leaving a gap, and you can see it in layer view in Cura. Any way to fix this?
Screenshot (60).png
 

localfiend

I like 3D printers...
Mentor
Lower the layer height and add a few top layers. Do the same for the vertical stabs.

This is where simplify3d is nice, as I can have changes like this start higher up the print towards the top.
 

sam2b

New member
@localfiend , I'd like to say thanks for the Northern Pike. :) Today were the maiden flights and WOW this plane flys very smooth and also fast! And it lands like a dream! I'm using an FrSky S6R receiver in it which has stabilization, and self-leveling as a rescue feature on a momentary switch. I was having so much fun with it I forgot to try it without stabilization. I kept giving credit to you each time someone came up and started conversation about it. :) The journey of 3d printing air craft, flying it, and taking it home in one piece is quite fulfilling; more so than an ARF, in my opinion. It really moves quick!!
 
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localfiend

I like 3D printers...
Mentor
@localfiend , I'd like to say thanks for the Northern Pike. :) Today were the maiden flights and WOW this plane flys very smooth and also fast! And it lands like a dream! I'm using an FrSky S6R receiver in it which has stabilization, and self-leveling as a rescue feature on a momentary switch. I was having so much fun with it I forgot to try it without stabilization. I kept giving credit to you each time someone came up and started conversation about it. :) The journey of 3d printing air craft, flying it, and taking it home in one piece is quite fulfilling; more so than an ARF, in my opinion. It really moves quick!!


Cool man! Glad to hear it flew well for you. I agree on the diy thing. Way more satisfaction and fun out of something you build yourself for sure.
 

tamuct01

Well-known member
Has anyone here used 3D Gloop (https://www.3dgloop.com/) to assemble their 3D printed planes? I heard about the stuff from Joel at 3D Printing Nerd and his tests showed lots of promise. On my 3DLabs Spitfire, the CA glue becomes brittle over time. I'm going to try it out on the 36" Pike I'm printing now, but I wanted to see if anyone else had experience with this type of adhesive.

Edit: I completed printing the parts in Hatchbox PLA using the supplied gcodes on my Prusa Mk2.5. Aside from a few small gaps in the wing part 1 where it transitions from the fuse to wing, the parts look flawless! Thanks so much! I need to get a CF arrow shaft and then I'm off to assembly.
 
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whackflyer

Master member
Here is a snip from his thingiverse page, hope this helps

View attachment 158480
I guessed and maidened it with about 4mm. It just needed a little down trim. It flies insanely smooth, fast and locked in and is very predictable. It glides better than any plane I've ever flown. I was running it on a RS2205/2300kv and it was a bit underpowered but I ordered an Eco 2306/2400 that should be plenty. Great job @localfiend!
 

localfiend

I like 3D printers...
Mentor
Congrats on the successful flight!

I've actually been running my latest ones without any reflex at all. Once you're comfortable you can move the CG back behind the marks by about a half an inch without problems. Then it'l fly very close to perfect without any need for reflex, and you gain a bit more maneuverability. The flight envelope and CG range is so large, that you can just set it where you like the handling the best.
 

RustySocket

Active member
I am getting ready to start printing this tonight. My printer is a Prusa Mk3s. I have black and red PETG. I have cura installed but am unsure about using the slicer programs as I am really just learning.

If I understand everything correctly, because I have a similar printer to @localfiend I should be able to use the gcode files as-is and get a decent result without having to use Cura to slice the stl files?
 

localfiend

I like 3D printers...
Mentor
I am getting ready to start printing this tonight. My printer is a Prusa Mk3s. I have black and red PETG. I have cura installed but am unsure about using the slicer programs as I am really just learning.

If I understand everything correctly, because I have a similar printer to @localfiend I should be able to use the gcode files as-is and get a decent result without having to use Cura to slice the stl files?

Yep, assuming no weird filament differences, you should be able to get decent results with the g-code as is. Make sure your filament is dry. It can have more moisture than you'd like even new from the package.

Lots of ways to do that. Dehydrator, vacuum chamber, oven (if it actually goes low enough). No more than 165f.

I like to dry all PETG rolls I get before I ever bother printing with them. 165f overnight is generally good enough. Longer if you still see issues.
 

RustySocket

Active member
Hmm, I'm going to have to come up with something to dry filament I guess. I started printing the wingtips in black and I'm getting some little blobs showing up. I'm not positive I don't have my Live Z setting a little too low. I have a hard time evaluating what I'm looking at. When I look at the circle supports that are in that file they look a little squished now. I will take a photo of them before I remove them and have you take a look at the defects. I can see now that I am getting a buildup on my nozzle and have had 4 collisions.

Our oven only goes down to 170 and who knows how accurate that really is? We use it on that low setting to keep bacon warm and such but I's sure hate to have a pile of filament in there. I do have a vacuum bagging system, but simply pulling a vacuum in a closed system isn't going to remove the moisture without a dessicant. Probably the easiest thing to do is find a food dehydrator and go that route...or maybe my old little chief smoker would do the trick. I'm committed to getting this figured out and learning as much as I can so I'll do some googling and see what I can figure out.

I am trying to learn a little about fusion 360 each day. I don't have the mindset to come up with my own designs like you are making but I would love to be able to take a three view plan and make a printable model someday. For now I am content using it to make simple brackets and things to use around the house. I know earlier in the beginning of this thread when you were discussing doing the 27" version you had said something about having somebody help with lightening holes and things like that. I'd be happy to help do some of that type of work if it would help you and allow me to learn at the same time. I'm retired, have some medical issues, so I have a ton of free time on my hands and could always use something to keep my brain busy. Let me know if there is a task I could do.

Thanks again for your help.

EDIT:
I came across this:
https://www.thingiverse.com/make:679191
Which makes a 35$ dehydrator look like a pretty attractive solution.
 
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localfiend

I like 3D printers...
Mentor
Hmm, I'm going to have to come up with something to dry filament I guess. I started printing the wingtips in black and I'm getting some little blobs showing up. I'm not positive I don't have my Live Z setting a little too low. I have a hard time evaluating what I'm looking at. When I look at the circle supports that are in that file they look a little squished now. I will take a photo of them before I remove them and have you take a look at the defects. I can see now that I am getting a buildup on my nozzle and have had 4 collisions.

Our oven only goes down to 170 and who knows how accurate that really is? We use it on that low setting to keep bacon warm and such but I's sure hate to have a pile of filament in there. I do have a vacuum bagging system, but simply pulling a vacuum in a closed system isn't going to remove the moisture without a dessicant. Probably the easiest thing to do is find a food dehydrator and go that route...or maybe my old little chief smoker would do the trick. I'm committed to getting this figured out and learning as much as I can so I'll do some googling and see what I can figure out.

I am trying to learn a little about fusion 360 each day. I don't have the mindset to come up with my own designs like you are making but I would love to be able to take a three view plan and make a printable model someday. For now I am content using it to make simple brackets and things to use around the house. I know earlier in the beginning of this thread when you were discussing doing the 27" version you had said something about having somebody help with lightening holes and things like that. I'd be happy to help do some of that type of work if it would help you and allow me to learn at the same time. I'm retired, have some medical issues, so I have a ton of free time on my hands and could always use something to keep my brain busy. Let me know if there is a task I could do.

Thanks again for your help.

EDIT:
I came across this:
https://www.thingiverse.com/make:679191
Which makes a 35$ dehydrator look like a pretty attractive solution.

The 27" version is up on thingiverse now, so if you wanted to try the tiny version you could. I've got a plane I plan to release with all CAD files to the community. Just waiting on a few things first. Should be a good way to jump in to the 3d modeling side if things.

Black is one of the hardest colors to print. It can vary a lot between manufacturers. Seems to be more temperamental on temp settings. You may be able to solve a lot of issues by dropping the temp 5 degrees. The red is probably an easier place to start. Work on some fuselage pieces.

Some ovens are accurate with their 170 degree settings. Even more so if they have a connection setting. I wouldn't trust it though without verifying the temp with a digital thermometer.

Yeah, for vacuum to work well, you need a pump that can run constantly. Lots of people go the cheap dehydrator route. Make sure that print you linked to will fit on a prusa print bed.
 

OliverW

Legendary member
The 27" version is up on thingiverse now, so if you wanted to try the tiny version you could. I've got a plane I plan to release with all CAD files to the community. Just waiting on a few things first. Should be a good way to jump in to the 3d modeling side if things.

Black is one of the hardest colors to print. It can vary a lot between manufacturers. Seems to be more temperamental on temp settings. You may be able to solve a lot of issues by dropping the temp 5 degrees. The red is probably an easier place to start. Work on some fuselage pieces.

Some ovens are accurate with their 170 degree settings. Even more so if they have a connection setting. I wouldn't trust it though without verifying the temp with a digital thermometer.

Yeah, for vacuum to work well, you need a pump that can run constantly. Lots of people go the cheap dehydrator route. Make sure that print you linked to will fit on a prusa print bed.
Can I have the print settings for the 27" Pike? Or is there somewhere I can find them? I plan on using pla
 

RustySocket

Active member
I will take a look at the gcode for the hatch pieces and edit it to drop the temp 5 degrees and see if they come out better.

The red is fresh, still vacuum bagged and was just made in december. I'll print the next set of fuselage pieces and see if it does better.
I will figure out a dryer solution sooner rather than later. Wife wasn't to keen on putting it in the oven ..

Looking forward to what you have coming in the future.

I went ahead and stopped the print of the tips. Here's some photos of whats going on:

20200310_185025.jpg
20200310_185036.jpg
20200310_185230.jpg
 
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