GMK Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 I have been working on a 1/16 Boxer 8x8. As the Lance turret won’t be delivered until later this year, I’ve decided to move my CAD learning on to a new subject, the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle (PMV), in-service with Australia, Britain, The Netherlands, Japan, Fiji, and Indonesia. Measuring up a museum example, I’ve started drawing up & 3D printing the stowage bins. Drawing on lessons from printing Lance turret, I’ve decided to skin the most prominent surface with 1mm thick styrene to ease clean up & detailing. Part of the detail to be resolved was the exhaust grille - 40 slots on top & 36 triangular holes. After finishing the CAD, I asked a mate to print it on his resin printer. Turned out pretty well: Compared to the 1/1: Now on to the rest of the beast: 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper-30 Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 That’s cool have the 1/35 version 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 6 hours ago, viper-30 said: That’s cool have the 1/35 version I helped out with that kit, back in the day. Even got my name on the instructions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viper-30 Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 That’s impressive indeed mate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 How big will this be in 1/16 Greg? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said: How big will this be in 1/16 Greg? Hey, Ray, The combat Winnebago will be 48cm long, 15cm wide, & 26.5 high. Not little! Spent last night drawing up latches & hinges for printing. Essentially, this is like creating your own aftermarket parts from primary references. Modelling skills are still required once the parts are produced. Those parts will be 5.3125mm high, when printed. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 16, 2020 Author Share Posted May 16, 2020 Started the design of lower hull, which is unhelpfully asymmetrical! Thanks Thales! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 16, 2020 Author Share Posted May 16, 2020 (edited) Started the upper part of the monocoque hull, above the chine, to get a better feel how my reference dimensions & angles will interact, and whether they’ll look prototypical. Here it is, so far. Pretty happy! Edited May 16, 2020 by GMK Additional images. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 17, 2020 Author Share Posted May 17, 2020 Pretty much done the upper hull, will start printing test prints to confirm the transition from digital to reality. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 18, 2020 Author Share Posted May 18, 2020 The test print revealed some issues not apparent (to me) in the CAD previously. Have updated the model & will do another test print. It isn’t little! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 19, 2020 Author Share Posted May 19, 2020 More test prints. Progress continues. #GoodTimes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 More progress, including an update to the lower hull. This lower hull will be used to index & confirm the fit & location suspension components from the Trumpeter M-ATV. The hull is 125mm/~5” long so far. Visible here is the asymmetrical lower hull, with an offset base to encapsulate the drive train. Also visible (barely) is some stringing from me omitting print supports. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 21, 2020 Author Share Posted May 21, 2020 Back with an example of some advantages of rapid prototyping. There are two types of armoured antenna mounts on the Bushmaster, one for the side (four each) & one for the rear (two each). Including dimensioning, these took thirty minutes to draw. Once happy, I conducted a test print for fit & finish. 17 minutes later, this was the result: The recess that I’ll use to centre the AMUs themselves is a bit vague due to limitations of my FDM printer. Still, the dimensions check out and the basics have been confirmed. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 Looks good Greg, how long does it take to printer the larger components? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 21, 2020 Author Share Posted May 21, 2020 Thanks, Ray. Larger stowage bins are 10-12 hours, as are the upper hull quarters. The lower hull was 28 hours, with my longest print to date (on a different project) being 52 hours. Factors affecting print duration are % of infill, wall thickness, size, resolution, detail, and quality (fast vs. high quality). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 Cheers, this 3D printing stuff is new to me. I wonder if I should get into it, as if I need something else to take up my spare time! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M3talpig Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 7 hours ago, GMK said: Larger stowage bins are 10-12 hours, as are the upper hull quarters. The lower hull was 28 hours, with my longest print to date (on a different project) being 52 hours. Crumbs there was me thinking it was a fairly fast process, turns out it would be faster using plasticard and hand tools, i hesitate to ask but how much did the complete rig cost and how long did it take to learn the software? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 21, 2020 Author Share Posted May 21, 2020 2 hours ago, M3talpig said: Crumbs there was me thinking it was a fairly fast process, turns out it would be faster using plasticard and hand tools, i hesitate to ask but how much did the complete rig cost and how long did it take to learn the software? It’s a bit horses for courses, imo. The overall length of the Bushmaster in 1/16 is about 48 cm/18”, so it’s a big job. My initial plans for this (in 2009!), were to use 2mm-thick styrene. Still have the 2’ long sheets. The size of this monocoque hull exceeded the material strength of the plastic under the original plan. Lots of windows meant that bracing you’d normally use aren’t an option for this particular build. That’s why I’m skinning the parts With sheet styrene - the strength and precision is mostly given by the 3D printed parts, with the smooth surface finish and ease of working will be given by the plastic sheet. The software - Fusion 360 - is free. I downloaded it two months ago, so I’m still learning how to make it work. I’ve been told it’s ‘easy to learn but hard to master’, and I’d agree with that. Lots of other software options available. In normal circumstances, I’m on the road for about half of the year. CAD means I can now model while travelling. Printers vary a lot in price. Mine is a laser cutter, CNC mill, and a printer, but the working space is really too small for my preferred scale of 1/16. Still, there was no change from $800 Australian back in 2018. I used it mainly to print things from free CAD places, like GrabCAD or Thingiverse. Of course, that limited me whatever designs other people had done. I’m looking to upgrade now that I’ve incorporated CAD into the toolbox. HTH. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 Some Bushmasters are fitted with the EOS R-400 remote weapon station, known as the ‘Protected Weapon Station’ when fitted. This is the start of the CAD for the centre section of the PWS. A test print resulted in this (the yellow, resin piece is in 1/35): Need to work on the print quality for more detailed parts, as can be seen here. The styrene sheet background is Wave Corp printed grid. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M3talpig Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 On 21/05/2020 at 16:38, GMK said: Printers vary a lot in price. Mine is a laser cutter, CNC mill, and a printer, but the working space is really too small for my preferred scale of 1/16. Still, there was no change from $800 Australian back in 2018. I used it mainly to print things from free CAD places, like GrabCAD or Thingiverse. Of course, that limited me whatever designs other people had done. Well at that kind of money i don't think it will be something in my future but i do find the technology very interesting and you seem fairly at home with it, another question if you don't mind ....how much is the raw material you use to print with and how much do you use per average print? Sorry for the delay in response...broke a tooth and with no dentist's willing to make contact with anybody im looking at doing some modifications to myself shortly....lot of pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share Posted May 23, 2020 6 minutes ago, M3talpig said: Well at that kind of money i don't think it will be something in my future but i do find the technology very interesting and you seem fairly at home with it, another question if you don't mind ....how much is the raw material you use to print with and how much do you use per average print? Sorry for the delay in response...broke a tooth and with no dentist's willing to make contact with anybody im looking at doing some modifications to myself shortly....lot of pain. Yikes! Sorry to hear about your tooth. What a nightmare! You can get printers a lot cheaper than what I quoted, I just wanted the additional functionality that my particular one offered. The filament I use is $15 per 500 grams, with prints averaging 25-70 grams for the larger prints. “At home” is relative: it’s a process of experimentation and errors. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 Great work GMK. A very challenging subject with lots of weird angles and faceted faces. Nice to see that Wave Corp plastic sheet on the workbench. I think you will like it! Also really interested in your approach regarding skinning the 3D print. A very smart idea I think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 18 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said: Great work GMK. A very challenging subject with lots of weird angles and faceted faces. Nice to see that Wave Corp plastic sheet on the workbench. I think you will like it! Also really interested in your approach regarding skinning the 3D print. A very smart idea I think. Thanks for the kind words, @Bandsaw Steve - having watched your builds since the AE2, I appreciate the feedback. Each half of the top of the hull has a total of three segments, about 44 hours printing in total. Here’s what the slicing software looks like. The file is ‘sliced’ into gcode, gcode essentially the directions to the printer on how to print (speed, flow rate, infill proportion, wall thickness, etc.) the design. The purple is support structures, printed at 15% density, so that openings will maintain their integrity over the ~18 hours of printing. Looks like a Bushmaster. And with the support structure: Seems to be coming together. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 Well, 18 hours later, this: Resulted in this: Need to remove the support structures & glue the segments together before cleaning up. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 Back with a little more progress. The right side has been glued together, the support material removed, and the initial clean up commenced. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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