3D printer an RC crawler

[tourmax]

I'm always looking to practice my 3D printing skills and I enjoy low speed RC crawling, so why not combine the two:







Still early on in the build and I’m going to reprint some of the earlier parts now that I’ve refined my processes a little better. It’s mostly ABS printed, but there is some PLA in there too.

Should be a cool rig once done! I’ve been thinking about making an RC crawler “park” at the back of out acreage and finishing the Landy may be just the push to get it done.

Can’t take credit for the stl files though. I bought the land-rover kit from a site called “3dsets”. Also came with a two door variant, a pickup variant and a 4 door pickup variant. I chose the biggest, longest one to print just because I wanted more of a challenge to push my skills along..

The original file is pretty cool. Virtually everything can be 3d printed right down to the transmission gears and axles.

I wanted the all metal portal axles for extra clearance and "beef", an all metal 4 link suspension, 2 speed all metal transmission and the front axle "digger" transfer case, so I modified the kit to incorporate those. Basically, the body and chassis are going to be 3d printed. the rest is metal parts.

My other RC crawler build is a “mini”:




That one isn’t 3D printed though. That started out as a basic, all plastic “ready to run” kit, and then heavily modified suspension, drivetrain, electronics, etc. It’s actually quite impressive what it will scale and where it can go, considering its size.

I’m also working on a 3D printed rock buggy, but put that one on hold when I started the big Landy. The Landy eats up a lot of fabrication tim.

Anyone else working on crawler RC’s?

 

[sanford12]

Nice job. Looks like a lot of fun.
I have 2 big crawlers and a small one too. Here's the 2 big ones. The green one is Traxxas kit the other is a Red Cat IH that from the factory broke the steering knuckle in the first 10 minutes, fixed it then the other side broke in a couple of minutes. This was just driving around the backyard no crawling. Replaced all the suspension with aftermarket and now it's the best crawler of the 2. The green one got a lot better after taking all the decorative garbage off the bed.

 

[cason]

SUPER COOL guys. My nephew is really into slow crawlers and builds most of his from scratch and scavenged parts - very creative. If I were younger I think I’d have a new hobby.

 

[tourmax]

SUPER COOL guys. My nephew is really into slow crawlers and builds most of his from scratch and scavenged parts - very creative. If I were younger I think I’d have a new hobby.

It can be fun, but it's not exaclty "inexpensive".

I'd have that redcat Scout II model tomorrow, but they are quite expensive up here north of 49. You have to really want one, they started at 500 bucks plus tax. Kind of a moot point now anyways. As far as I know, every place is "out of stock" in Canada, so you're going to be shipping one in from the states (assuming they're still making them) and that is going to cost you even more after shipping, exchange, duties, etc.

I may do a 3d printed one sometime in the future once I get better at 3d building things. There's a couple versions out there on the net, but none of them are as nice as the redcat racing version....

 

[cason]

Yeah, after my last visit with my nephew I came home and started looking — chassis, motor, battery, remote controller, wheels, tires, body — gets expensive real fast.

 

[sanford12]

I wouldn't buy one. The quality isn't there. It needs suspension upgrades from the get go. Better off with a good one from the start. You can always get a Scout body.