[CaptainRudy]

Hey there, fellow petrolheads!

I'm just a teenager who's waiting to earn his learner's permit this year
But I'm also a teenager who's super into cars and miniatures! So after lurking here for a long time, I thought I'd finally post this.

My father and I have collected over 250+ miniature models of common Indian cars over all these years, and I am absolutely in love with our collection.

Pictured are a few: my Swift, Alto, Qualis, and yes the classic City and Palio (both among my rarest).

However, I was very disheartened to find out that my family's newest car, the Honda Amaze, had no miniature model available to buy! I knew I had to do something.


So, I set out on a path I had never treaded before. 3D printing.

Now, coming to how I did it.
I am a complete amateur at 3D modelling, but decided to go ahead anyway. After spending what was probably 4 or 5 hours watching Blender tutorials on Youtube, I decided I was ready to begin. For those who may not know, Blender is a free, open-source 3D modelling software.

Finally, after spending an unhealthy amount of days (and sleepless nights), my 3D model was ready after all. This is what it looked like:


This ladies and gentlemen, is my first ever 3D model, as well as my first 3D print! One could definitely say I'm more than a "little" proud of it

The wheels and mirrors had to be attached with glue post-production.
Though this model is purely static, I hope to build one which would be more interactive someday.

Coming to the process of actually printing out the product, I sadly did not possess a 3D printer of my own and thus had to get it done from a shop within my city which I found through Google Maps. The process was fairly simple, just had to mail them the file and complete the transaction.
The model was delivered the very next day (took about 6 hours to print)


I am very glad about how it turned out, and I thought I should share it here with my fellow BHPians. Suggestions are welcome!

[Turbojc]

Originally Posted by CaptainRudy

Hey there, fellow petrolheads!

I'm just a teenager who's waiting to earn his learner's permit this year
But I'm also a teenager who's super into cars and miniatures! So after lurking here for a long time, I thought I'd finally post this..

To sum it up in one word - Amaze-ing !

Hello CaptainRudy, welcome aboard Team-BHP! I too collect scale model cars, and the dearth of India-specific models such as the Amaze is a sad fact. Only Mahindra and Tata offer scale models of their cars. Centy is one manufacturer that makes unlicensed versions of popular Indian cars, but they are more toys rather than models.

I must commend the fact that you did not let unavailability stand in your way of getting one nevertheless. Kudos to you !

Your model looks pretty accurate. Could you walk us through how you measured your car and translated the dimensions to that of your model?

Great job, and keep up the good work!

Cheers!

[Dry Ice]

Wonderful result!

Are you planning to add some paint to bring out the details more? Model makers may comment on the appropriate paints, but I guess acrylics should work.

Since its 3D printed, you always have the option of printing another if it doesn't work out as expected.

[superguy282]

Originally Posted by CaptainRudy

I am very glad about how it turned out, and I thought I should share it here with my fellow BHPians. Suggestions are welcome!

Wow, Wow! Simply amazing! Reading has given me a sudden urge to try something like this out myself Especially seeing how good the print turned out! Could you please provide the tutorials or guides you referenced? Also any other tips or suggestions before the printing?

[sbenstewart]

That is truly wonderful. I used blender as well to create a virtual 3D model of the Skoda Superb I drive too, but never did I feel the urge to get it 3D printed till your post. Will try to downscale it from the 1:1 scale I have it right now, and source the printing in my city once the lockdown restrictions are lifted off.

And down below is the post where I have published the model of the car.

Originally Posted by sbenstewart

And, now to welcome our Superb, it can't be the usual delivery photos to support, it has to be of the current times, it has to be truly virtual, it has to be truly online, it has to be a webpage https://the-skoda.netlify.app/, a web page that is so big that it takes around 14MB to load (foreshadowing the mileage that the Superb delivers in kmpl), a web page with a virtual Superb which you can interact with as well, a web page whose code you can look at https://github.com/sbenstewart/the-skoda

Yours truly, being considerate of the mobile users on limited bandwidth not being able to experience the web page, has attached below a video of the same, but truly recommends to try out the web experience at least once. Please note that this is not the exact replica of the car, as the render was created from the blueprints provided in the manual, which had prints only of the MY2016, all thanks to Skoda's simply clever cost cutting.

[Fiestaboy]

Originally Posted by CaptainRudy

Hey there, fellow petrolheads!

I'm just a teenager who's waiting to earn his learner's permit this year
But I'm also a teenager who's super into cars and miniatures!

I am very glad about how it turned out, and I thought I should share it here with my fellow BHPians. Suggestions are welcome!

Hi Captain Rudy,
Congrats to your collections & this 3D printing Amaze model. It is Amazing I would say.

There are few guys in our planet who took the extra effort (for cars & bikes), when most of the population might give it up in similar scenarios.
We can see those "few guys" here.. say it be 3D printing this model, guy cleaning up the drive pedals of the car etc..

At times I think like, am I the only one overlooking my car & bikes. (esp when family members tell these statements, you would think twice)
Seeing these posts, I get myself satisfied that I have many friends in India roaming around.

[sam264_2000]

Superb!
It would be fun to see the 250+ miniatures that you have in your collection. Those would be priceless!

[pandabear]

Congrats buddy, it looks great! Just wondering the new iPhone 12 Pro Max has a LIDAR sensor that can be used to 3D scan. Would that work in making the modelling exercise easier?

[Jeroen]

Amazing job, well done. I am absolutely fascinated by 3D printing. I am convinced it has a huge potential in so many industries in the years to come.

So kudos to you to figure this all out by yourself. It’s a skillset that might come in very useful, be it in your professional or personal life for years to come. Nice looking model, nice finish and good amount of detail.

Of course, it would be great to have your own 3D printer. Having said that, part of the attraction of 3D printing is having the ability to send your file to different location and have parts printed. 3D printing is already used heavily in the western modelling world. Very few people own their own printers. Because you just can’t keep up with new developments. So most will invest heavily in the software and learning how to get the most out of it. The Model building forums are thick with discussion on who the best printing companies are, who has the latest and greatest 3D printer etc.

3D printing is making inroads in so many different industries and hobbies alike.

Many years ago, two friends and I invested in a 3D printer. I think we paid about Euro 1500 for it. Which at the time was the sort of money that would get you a top end DSLR camera. All three of us own several classic cars. Our idea was to be able to make parts for our cars. In particular parts that were discontinued. Many plastic fasteners and trim clips can be difficult to procure on older cars.

So we decided to make our own. It was an interesting experiment. At the time we found it was fairly easy to get the correct shape and size for these parts. The problem was getting the correct elasticity. They all turned out to be quite brittle. And thus would snap easily. There days the 3D printing technique and materials have made huge advantages. But it was good fun to fiddle around with it for a little while.

For the average hobbyist and even many professional application NOT having your own 3D printer is likely to be the way forward. I am truly amazed how complex shapes and form can be 3D printed for very little money.

Have a look at this model anchor winch: https://free3d.com/3d-model/anchor-winch-6168.html

I hope you continue your 3D printing adventure and develop your skills and understanding of this exiting technique even more.

Jeroen

[Guite]

For a first time effort the model turn out very good. Keep refining your skill, you will get immense satisfaction from a job well done. Currently I can see the bonnet edges, A pillar, roof line and C pillar edges being sharp. Moreover increasing polygon count will and smoothing maybe required in other areas of the model.

[DEEPSAM]

Wow, wonderful, and thank you for your idea spark, I’ll start finding 3D printing shops in my city and start small DIY projects.

Once again, awesome and thanks!

[vsaravind007]

Originally Posted by CaptainRudy

I am very glad about how it turned out, and I thought I should share it here with my fellow BHPians. Suggestions are welcome!

Your attempt looks great! I'd suggest you to get a 3D printer, it'll help you immensely while designing the model. Instead of making a block model of it, you can create multiple parts that fit together - this is additional work, but will help you get clean parts out of 3D printing. The print output does't look that great, but thats because the layer height looks a bit high to me, again not an issue with your model, but with the printing partner.

I strongly recommend a 3D Printer, you can get one under 20k these days.

On a side note, check this guy out, you might find him interesting: https://www.instagram.com/cart_kits/

Thanks for sharing your work!

[jothishX]

This looks cool. Do you, uhm.., want to hone your blender skills further and design, say a Kia Seltos? I got a 3D printer lying around.

[yuv3447]

Damn! that's really wonderful! I would like to do something like this soon too... probably with my ZEN or my Captiva.

[tirumalavoleti]

This is really cool and shows the passion.

Please maintain this well and give as a gift to your next generation.