FlyingFerret
New member
So after seeing the most recent VLOG0028 and the surprise parcel the guy received from Europe, of a 3d printed RC Lockheed P-38 Lightning. I thought I'd share my experiences with my 3D printed planes, from the same designer www.3dlabprint.com.
I have been 3d printing at home for nearly a year now, and earlier this year I got back into flying RC models, with the help of Flite Test. No seriously without the free plans the great guides and the community I probably wouldn't of got flying again, thank you ! I then saw some 3D printer files appear on thingiverse, a great collection of pre-designed models for hobbyist 3D printers, of a demo wing part from 3DLabPrint. I instantly thought "can this be ? A way to merge my two, now favorite, pastimes?".
After going and purchasing the files for a EASYMAX001, a guilder like design that boasted being beginner friendly and started printing. Sounds easy right ? Not quite I have a very basic budget 3D Printer Kit (self built) and every file I had printed previously did not need an overly well calibrated machine but these files where something precise and also single walled (one pass of the printer head lays down the wall). Time to start learning how to calibrate like a pro!
I won't go into the in's and outs of the calibration as it's out of context for this forum. About a week into the project and countless rejected prints its my little $200 machine was ready. Time to start printing the parts.
Over 30 Hours of printing later i had all the parts ready for gluing, with only a little sanding and, filling to get them together, the files also came with a comprehensive manual for assembly, bill of materials and videos showing the process. And what can I say the amount of detail that went into the design was amazing.
Here she is.
As for flying her, it took me a while to get brave enough but when i did launch her, as describe it flew brilliantly after dialing in the trim I was happy and soaring. For my first printed plane i was happy, only thing i would improve on next would be to do a little more calibration (yes yet again) on my printer as the wing was quite fragile, turns out i had missed a step and not enough plastic was extruded per trace as should of been.
So on to my next one the ME 109 ...... so far stronger already.
I have been 3d printing at home for nearly a year now, and earlier this year I got back into flying RC models, with the help of Flite Test. No seriously without the free plans the great guides and the community I probably wouldn't of got flying again, thank you ! I then saw some 3D printer files appear on thingiverse, a great collection of pre-designed models for hobbyist 3D printers, of a demo wing part from 3DLabPrint. I instantly thought "can this be ? A way to merge my two, now favorite, pastimes?".
After going and purchasing the files for a EASYMAX001, a guilder like design that boasted being beginner friendly and started printing. Sounds easy right ? Not quite I have a very basic budget 3D Printer Kit (self built) and every file I had printed previously did not need an overly well calibrated machine but these files where something precise and also single walled (one pass of the printer head lays down the wall). Time to start learning how to calibrate like a pro!
I won't go into the in's and outs of the calibration as it's out of context for this forum. About a week into the project and countless rejected prints its my little $200 machine was ready. Time to start printing the parts.
Over 30 Hours of printing later i had all the parts ready for gluing, with only a little sanding and, filling to get them together, the files also came with a comprehensive manual for assembly, bill of materials and videos showing the process. And what can I say the amount of detail that went into the design was amazing.
Here she is.
As for flying her, it took me a while to get brave enough but when i did launch her, as describe it flew brilliantly after dialing in the trim I was happy and soaring. For my first printed plane i was happy, only thing i would improve on next would be to do a little more calibration (yes yet again) on my printer as the wing was quite fragile, turns out i had missed a step and not enough plastic was extruded per trace as should of been.
So on to my next one the ME 109 ...... so far stronger already.
