Anyone who has used an FDM 3D printer knows just how long the process can take, especially when you really start filling up the available print volume. Apparently [Ivan Miranda] has absolutely zero fear of insanely long print times, and is in the process of building a massive ridable tank (YouTube playlist of the whole build) that is almost completely 3D printed.
[Ivan] is no stranger to large prints, but this tank is on a different level altogether. The chassis, which is reinforced with aluminium and steel square tubing, took around 1200 hours to print and each of the wheels took 6 days! The rolling chassis with wheels and track weighs close to a 100 kg. Having built a few smaller 3D printed tracked vehicles before, [Ivan] used a lot of that knowledge to design the latest monster.
Connecting the tracked section together has always proven challenging for [Ivan]. This time he used plastic fish tape (wire puller) for the pins, and blocked off the end holes with screws. The bogies (wheel sets) are also interesting, with 3D printed springs that sit parallel to the ground. Almost all the parts are printed in PLA, which can be quite brittle, so it would be interesting to see how it holds up.
[Ivan] has been working on this project since the start of 2019, and we can’t wait to see it completed. We’ve featured his signature red prints a few times, including a RC car that drives on the ceiling and a water jet drive. If you’re keen to build your own tank on the opposite side of the size spectrum, check out this tiny tank for your crawl space. Watch [Ivan] finish the rolling chassis after the break.
his maniacal cackle makes this ridiculous concept palatable
It’s great to see whenever someone makes something BIG and ambitious. The last time I saw him, he was making a toy sized tank :)
For practice.
Wait until you see his NEXT tank project.
And youtube of course recommended other tank projects such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQngKXYZCKs
which is also awesome
And what do you do with this enormous amount of plastic once this toy will soon be unusable (which already seems to be the case since parts have broken)?
Well at least in theory you could chop the plastic up into pellets and use the pellets to make new printer filament.
Plastic shame, I have that too sometimes
Poly Lactic Acid
I was thinking the same, I feel sad when I see the chassis that might have required 10 Kg of plastic when you could just use wood witch is much much less harmful to our environment. Also using laser-cutted plywood would be much faster while having less impact.
Nevertheless this project is really cool.
PLA? Don’t leave it in a truck parked in the sun…
Since PETG is almost as easy to print as PLA, I really wonder why he chose PLA.
Habit?
Price?
Because it’s biodegradable?
It’s a tank. Don’t leave it ON a truck parked in the sun…
Just to hear his happiness as he completes each section. I know that sense of joy and its, great.
At $35 a kilo in Australia, you could buy a real one.
An advertisement with 11 offhand comments.
*not* clickbait.
I wish I had the time and patience to do this