Flying high with 3D Printing

Flying high with 3D Printing

Our 3D Printer is fantastic and is producing some great 3D prints.

One project that I have been working on to illustrate and prove full process cycle of this great innovation is the reverse engineering of the office RC Helicopter.

This helicopter has seen some action and lends itself to be the subject of a 3D printing overhaul and upgrade.

With some careful measuring and some advanced surfacing I initially produced the surface model of the Helicopter fuselage….

 

From here a solid model was created…..

 

The actual model, an E-Sky Big lama, has a fuselage length of approx 20″ and therefore is too large to be produced in a single print. I decided to 3D print the helicopter fuselage in 4 sections and fix the separate parts together after 3D printing was completed……..

 

Consideration was given to the locations of the split lines to ensure overhangs were kept to a minimum.

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Obviously with an R/C helicopter, weight is one of the main considerations. The printed wall thickness is thicker than the original. It was printed at approx. 0.8mm. The original is closser to 0.3.

The result is a much stiffer fuselage and hopefully a more robust one too, as for weight….. we will have to see if it still flies!

Esky Big Lama – Nose Section (6″ long)

Esky Big Lama – Mid Section

     

Esky Big Lama – Tail Sections

      

The fuselage sections were simply ‘plugged’ together and all joints bonded with Polystyrene cement and left to set over night.

The pins and holes printed to a high degree of accuracy and initially held together tight without glue.

Finally the old fuselage was removed and the new one installed.

The solid model that was 3d printed, included the 4 off screw holes used to fix the fuselage to the chassis, they lined up perfectly and so installation was quick and easy.

All in all though a pretty good result and a really good example of the diversity of applications that 3d printing can lend itself to.

The Fuselage was printed in PLA, also the skids have been re-designed, modelled and 3d printed in PLA.

When we get a new battery for the helicopter,  I will add the first flight video to show how it stands up to my rusty flying skills!

If you have any comments it would be great to hear them or if you would like to use our 3D printing service please contact us with your requirements