With recent advances in rapid prototyping, and especially with
Shapeways and opening a personnal shop there, it is now very easy to print plastic body and miscellaneous parts for Mini-z and Dnano.
Available materials have also evolved. The waxy and friable type of material has become some ultra-resistant, unbreakable (EDIT: unless you step on it :-° ) and ultra-light plastic. Way over what is required for a racing body IMO. The weight for a dNano body is just under 10gr while a Mz body is under 25.
There are two downsides. First and worst is the surface finish, which is porous and grainy due to the layering process, so a quite amount of work may be required to obtain a glossy paint finish. This should improve with time hopefully.
The second downside is the cost which is directly related with the amount of printing plastic required for a specific body, that will put the price of a MZ body close to that of a MZ autoscale, and a dNano around whay is paid for a dNano white body (here we take advantage of the lower material needs)
Therefore it will always be more economical to produce small bodies like the dNano or optional parts, for instance wheels will be quite cheap.
Having some experience with 3D modeling and passion for the cars both in MZ scale and full size, it is natural that I start this occupation of creation of bodies. My shop at Shapeways is now open:
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/fovea3d
I hope to develop a large collection of cars that will be available for both the Mini-z and Dnano. The cars by themselves will have no exact scale, they will be scaled to fit the pre-existing wheelbases and wheel offsets. No body will be "cartoon deformed" to fit a specific chassis, the proportions will always be as close too reality as possible. If required for some specific cars (classics), I will produce true to scale wheels for these (the tirewalls will be a part of the printed wheel itself, and the MZ tire will only be the tread. See
here and
here
I will also develop a selection of true to scale wheels for existing Mini-z and dNano autoscales.
Also later I would like to develop a line of custom bodies for the Motoracer, the Buggy, F1, etc. For the Motoracer, I see classic bikes of the 70's with corresponding biker figures...
hint
As something like a chassis tub is a perfect candidate for 3d printing, and because printing black plastic is possible, I also have these kinds of projects in mind, using Mini-z electronics and running gear:
-Front-wheel drive chassis using AWD diff and dogbones + MZ steering gear
-chassis with front engine and rear wheel drive with drive shaft and rigid rear axle containing an AWD diff (typical for muscle cars and of course with a printed muscle car body on it)
-rear wheel drive chassis with longitudinal motor and swing arms all around + AWD diff for the rear (in place of a motor pod) This would be the setup for a classic Ford GT40 for instance.
For now I will start with a collection of bodies, they will be available for both the Mini-z and dNano unless specified:
Fiat X1/9 Dallara
done, for dNano Mini-z version to come
Opel Kadett GT/E
done
Lotus Exige
done
**** Chevy Camaro 72
done
Shara MT1
done
***Plymouth Barracuda 71
done
Then I have enough documentation to start working on these (* = votes)
**Alpine A110
Aston Martin DB5 (the James Bond one)
** Audi R8 (Mini-z version only)
BMW 2002 Turbo
*BMW M1
Austin Haeley
*Bugatti Veyron
***Citroën 2CV
Citroën DS for both FWD and RWD with extension kits (wb126mm)
Citroën Mehari
Corvette 69
De Tomaso Pantera
***Dodge Challenger 70
Dune buggy (the infamous
Meyers Manx of the '70s > version for the MZ buggy chassis as well as RWD racer in RM)
* Ford Capri
* Ford Escort MKI
Ford GT40 (the early GT)
***Ford Mustang Boss 302 or 429
*Ford Mustang 390-GT 68 Bullit
*Gumpert Appolo GT
Jaguar E type
*Koenigsegg CCGT
Lamborghini Urraco or Jalpa
Lister Storm
Lola T70
Lotus Esprit
Lotus Seven/Caterham (probably for the F1 Chassis)
Mercedes 300SL
Mercedes 280 SL
Morris Minimoke the prisoneer
*Pagani Zonda
*Pontiac GTO the Judge
Pontiac Trans Am 72
**Pontiac Trans Am 77 Smokey and the Bandit
*** Porsche 917 K (Mini-z version)
** Porsche Carrera RS 73 94-98 + Fuchs wheels
Renault 12 gordini
*Shelby GT350
*Shelby Cobra (dNano version)
Spyker C8
Tesla roadster
Vector W2
Suggested
* 74 Nova SS
** 71 Chevelle
** Hot rod (race worthy)
** nissan 370z nissmo 94mm +1F/R
**69 Camaro
*82-92 camaro and trans am
** Porsche 914
** Alfa Romeo 155Ti DTM
* WRC Ford Focus 2008 - Abu Dhabi
**57 chevy truck
*80 full size chevy
*85 to 91 chevy s10
*KTM XBow for chassis testing
**1984 Honda Mugen Ballade Sport CRX
*1989 Honda CRX SiR (ef8)
**Dodge Charger 69/70
*99 civic hatch
*Jdm integra
*Eclipse 97-99
*Fiat 131 Abarth
*Lotus Elise (should be fast by editing the already done Exige)
*Toyota MR2 gen2
*Nissan Sil80/180sx
*Lamborghini Gallardo race trim 2N/2W offset (Mini-z version only)
*2000 Honda Insight
**Honda/Mugen CRX 90mm
*2011-2012 Mugen CRZ
*Sterling Nova Condorman version
*Dodge Viper Competition Coupe
*Short track racer
*Armored vehicle/jgsd for the buggy chassis
*Tamiya Hornet for the buggy chassis
** Cadillac cts-v coupe racer
* vw concept golf w12
* AMX Javelin 74
* Corvette C6 LeMans
*BMW M3 really wide
*Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
*ford raptor svt 2010 for Overland
**Mercedes Benz GT3
***BMW M3 DTM 2012
*BMW KS 850
*****Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype - 102mm LM? Tri-shock compatible
*87' Buick grand national
*'58 Plymouth Fury/Christine
*Honda s800 86mm HM
*Mini Cooper (early) 86mm HM
*Mercedes A class
*Toyota MR2 gen2 90mm
*RB8 for Mini-z F1
**Jaguar XJR(x) "Silk Cut"
*Peugeot 905 Le Mans
*Porsche 356
*Ferrari P330
*Peugeot 405T16 Pikes Peak
*Peugeot 205 rallye
*Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA
Parts------------------
-adjustable height side body clips
done
-Chassis that has batteries accessible without removing the body.
-Wide body/fender flares for specific bodies.
-Adjustable wing for MZ and MZ Buggy
I rely on you guys to list me the cars you would like to see done in priority. I will probably throw a vote to determine the order of realization because I will only be able yo work on these models progressively.
Some articles in my shop may be tagged "not for sale". This is only temporary, as this means that I made it print for myself in order to check is everything is OK. If not I will ugrade the 3d model until perfect, then make it available.
Here are some links you can get an idea of materials and possibilities of 3d printing:
The White Strong and Flexible material for dNano body
video
How it is
printed
Crazy guy finaly
brakes it. We don't do that with our MZ bodies, do we?
Stay tuned
Alain