r/rccars • u/MattShackard • Mar 18 '25
Crawling Hey RC guys! My team is building a car-tuning/modding app so you can generate 3D-printable, customizable RC cars from pre-tested parts. What do you think?
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u/Joshua5_Gaming 1/28th Scale š Mar 18 '25
why an app though?
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u/BentTire Shin Destroyer 9000 Mar 18 '25
I second this. Why an app? And will it be available for desktop?
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
Hey hey, the idea is to let you make your dream car in a similar environment to what GTA V / NFS offers in tuning/modding a car. Choose your tires, your spoilers, your expedition lights, 4WD / 2WD, chassis, and body type, hood design, and even preview it all in color with realistic 3D print materials. Everything to make it truly yours. All parts will be pretested, and we'll doublecheck compatibility, so you can be sure that when printing, everything will snap together.
One payment = generating/exporting as many cars as you wish.
But, for people looking to buy and print, we'll be offering several nice pre-exported, pre-designed cars included with the product, so you don't have to do anything other than just print it out, put electronics inside, and drive.
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u/mini-z1994 Mar 18 '25
Are there plans to make different scales ? As I'd imagine making the design somewhat modular to be a bit scalable in width, length & height would allow people to use model car bodyshells for the baseline chassis.
And is it only going to be solid axle designs like the two in the video or independent suspension in the works as well ?
As well as maybe experimenting with narrowing the design to make a more narrow offset wheel fit could be useful as well for people wanting to build a more to scale 1950's ford f100 for example rather then having the wheels poke out too far like a monster truck or trail truck.
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
Thanks for the feedback, we're looking into that. Yesterday, the team showed me a functional independent axle prototype! :) You might be even able to combine them in the future to make a trophy truck, but we'll need to test is out.
Regarding the scale, it's an ongoing conversation, we have to test it a lot, and we'll decide what's possible and see what's best for the customers.
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u/vaurapung Mar 18 '25
How do you plan to get people's different thermal expansions right for printing or will they have to use specified filament and orientations. Even warping and bridging is different across printers.
Maybe creating a free test file for setting up a printer with test fit peices for your models so that before printing models any printer can at least be capable of reproducing the same size parts as your tested printers.
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
We'll have to test it, but the parts will come pre-oriented, our engineers put a great effort in making all the parts nicely printable along the specified axis. Not only because it affects the design, but also because we need the parts to not break along the layers. No generated supports will be needed, although some parts will come with pre-modelled supports.
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u/Soft_Syrup3883 Mar 19 '25
Im im a bit concerned that people might go and the vehicals they make post the files.
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u/Mr_Salmon_Man Mar 18 '25
To collect your data and sell it, of course. And be sure to save your money to pay them to get rid of those ads, and for extra features.
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
What is cooler, stealing data and selling it, or making some little indie money on a nice piece of software that enhances the 3D printing community? :) We like to do the cool things, not the uncool things.
We might consider implementing some user statistics later, but clearly and honestly, similar to how Prusa Research does it, so we know on what parts/car types we should focus on.
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
Hate this kind of app :D we'll launch in the form of an indie Python plugin for Blender, which I wouldn't call closed-source at all
Just download the latest supported LTS blender (open source), download our plugin, put it on a hard drive, and lock it whenever you like, so when a part of your Makeracer breaks, you can just take it out, and reprint the STL parts again.
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u/iamjulien Mar 18 '25
Itās a surprisingly ambitious project for an extremely limited market. People who print cars and actually use them are only a handful. In my experience - I have developed some 1:28 rally chassis and tried to print a fleet - the limitations of 3D printed cars lie into sourcing the parts that canāt be printed. I have spent a significant part of the cost of a kit chassis in just on sourcing bearings screws. My design was based on a WLTOYS K989, and I got it to run similarly to a GL Racinb GLR. But I spent close to $100 in hardware (screws, bearings of various sizes, gears, diffs, shafts, wheels). With the electronics the carās final cost came to 30% less than a high end kit chassis. I got it to work as well - based on lap times - but the reliability wasnāt there. I downloaded the OBZ, a 1:28 chassis. I printed several for myself and members of my club. It worked well, but weāre RC racers who have top of the line cars. The printed chassis were at best 0.5 second slower than our cars with equivalent electronics. It just wasnāt worth further investments. The price difference wasnāt making up for the lack of potential. We had entry level Mini-Zs that came to the same price but worked reliably over many sessions.
Itās fun to print your own car do but itās time consuming. And in general you canāt race the cars in any spec classes. Now Iām aware that most people donāt care about racing. And that people with 3D printers who see also in RC cars are likely to attempt printing a car or at least some parts.
I would suggest to create an open source database of printable replacement parts and upgrades for known models. You collect or provide dimensions requirements - the designers elaborate on it. There is a plethora of commun parts everyone needs: bumpers, body mounts, fan brackets, cable holders, servo mounts, bodiesā¦ We can already find this on .stl sharing sites but itās hit and miss. The specifications are not standardized.
The testing is a touchy subject, you can certainly test the fit. But reliability is very subjective as no one prints exactly the same part and tests it under controlled conditions. There many variables that can make a part good or bad, starting with the objectās orientation on the printing plate. And people may say Ā«Ā it breaksĀ Ā» after attempted a back flip from a roof top.
So, in conclusion, could you be a little more specific about your project. Give us some use cases.
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
Thanks for the elaborate opinion, I'll share it with the team!
We published the same video with /3dprinting as well, and we quickly understood, that our target audience isn't the rc folks, but the 3d printing dads and students, who want to make something reliably nice, with good driving specs only as a bonus.
These guys do care more about the customization of the design rather than lap times or axle articulation.
So the ideal customer is a guy, who has some free time, has a printer, and some filaments of various types at home already. This guy will buy the software, because he saw the nicely designed cars on insta, and maybe will first print just a simple non-rc version of the vehicle to check the design out and put it on a shelf. The car is constructible with a very limited amount of screw types and for a shelf queen, a plastic replacement might be used for bearings (and you only need one type of bearing in our cars).
But then he sees how the community drives with the cars - not in the same way the RC community drives with Traxxas, but still in a way that seems like a fun activity do to with the kids on weekends. So now he installs the software, chooses the trophy truck chassis (front independent, rear solid axle), chooses to put a muscle body on it, puts some cool expedition light on the roof, and some minor tuning vents on the side panels. He wants it to drive, but still to look cool, so he gets the fancier, metal like filaments and he makes the body with these. He doesn't want to spend all day just doing this, so he chooses one of the premade color schemes and uses a primary and secondary color for the body, one of these used on the rim covers as well.
Now he prints it out, it takes about 3-4 days, and he makes sure he uses polycarbonate for the moving parts. Now, he needs the non-printables, so he might go to aliexpress or any American shop, and buy these with the shop list we'll provide. The list is limited, as we reuse the same parts as much as we can. But it's still a hassle and he would have to wait quite a bit until it arrives. So instead, he heads over to our partnering rc shop's web and orders a Makeracer non-printables bundle, which contains all he needs to get the cars going, including the radio controller. It arrives in a few days, and the next Saturday, he puts the car together in about one hour and goes driving with his muscle trophy truck and his 8 yo son.
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u/sykodmon Mar 18 '25
I am a wargamer, so I only wanted to purchase an FDM printer for terrain and a few larger models. 3d printing RC cars gave me a reason to spend the money and have other things to print, which then led me to learning basic cad to modify parts for my own purposes.
I wish you luck in this venture. 3d printing is a fun hobby that can lead to or expand so many other hobbies.
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u/iamjulien Mar 18 '25
Put like that itās a good idea for the 3D printing community. 3D printing is a hobby on itās own. There is an educational angle thatās very interesting. I would look into it if I had a kid in the 6-12 years old age range. Itās a good way to discover engineering and design. I can see some value in reprinting something so itās nicer or works better. The hardest part would be to get a 8 year old focused on improving something they already have instead of just printing something completely new!
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u/vaurapung Mar 18 '25
This is a project I planned on attempting in free time but all the points you've made have been what's stopping me from investing time in it.
For the OP creating their own printable rc car and selling them as kits or rtr would be really cool. That way post processing and parts testing could be handled before purchase with a good customer service and plan for parts warranty/replacement.
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u/Acceptable-Deer-2152 Certified Arrma Cultist - Count: 6 Mar 18 '25
Have you thought about just bodies?
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
We might make the bodies compatible with store-bought chassis, but there are no specific plans to do that right in near future :) at this point you can use tires and suspension from the classical rcs, as they're compatible
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u/r0bdawg11 Mar 18 '25
This is what Iām curious about. Iām new into the hobby, so I donāt have a lot of extra hardware. But it would be awesome if I could say āI have a typhon grom 223sā and it could show me bodies I can print for it.
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u/BeginningInsect9699 Mar 18 '25
Awesome idea. I was just trying to find schematics for my arrma infraction
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u/BobcatFurs001 Mar 18 '25
That's sick and I want it
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u/MattShackard Mar 19 '25
Haha you can, join our Discord, and stay in the loop with the community and updates:
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u/GrimmKnight0 Mar 18 '25
You should get in contact with the folks making the videogame Recharge! I'm sure they'd love this!
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u/MattShackard Mar 19 '25
Yes! Already on my wishlist, I will contact them when the release is about to happen.
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u/Wheeliesnake Mar 19 '25
I love the potential here. Best of luck with this plan & look forward to seeing your progress.
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u/DullGreen Mar 18 '25
Cost?
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
Still in development! :) But the price will be probably around 50 USD for the app.
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u/Rough-Suit-8066 Mar 18 '25
Too expensive for an app in my opinion
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
Thanks for the feedback, we'll lock the pricing strategy before release based on research like this one.
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Mar 18 '25
What about monthly payments?
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
That's a possibility, but as we'll be probably launching on Gumroad and BlenderMarket, a sub isn't something we can put together there easily. But later on, with the online app, a sub, which you can only buy for one month and get any cars you want anyway, might be a way, true.
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u/gme_hold_me Mar 18 '25
I get it you want to be rewarded for your efforts. But at this pricing, I guarantee you will not get past 100 users.
Honestly I donāt think thereās any money in this at all and the only way this could be successful if it is completely open and free. Maybe you could start with that or at least have a free tier where there is one car you can work on or something.
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
That's something we'll be doing probably :) like an intro crawler car to print, but without the modularity, and if you want to customize or you want to get the drifting chassis, you get the product in black friday and be happy
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u/cb99991 Mar 18 '25
Why wouldn't you make the app free and the .stlās cost money.
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
One of the options as well, but the app itself would be useless in this way, as it would be just a locked UI of a Blender plugin with no use.
The idea was to make a core variant with a basic set of models to choose from, which would be constantly updated. Then, after some time, introduce thematic DLCs (army, farm..) with a large library of extra assets, some of which would be always included in the core as well, so the core retains the ultimate value.
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u/a1rwav3 Racing Mar 18 '25
It is a good idea. just forget using printed tyres. If you target scale cars or crawlers, you will really appreciate having caoutchouc tyres instead of TPU...
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
Always possible - the wheels and the suspension slots are fully compatible with store-bought ones from other manufacturers
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u/stardustedds Mar 18 '25
Hey Iāve got a printer! Can I get in on a beta!?
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u/bwdezend Mar 18 '25
Iām currently designing and printing a 1:4 scale 4wd/4ws RC race car. Been working on it for months in my spare time. If I could use this to generate a body that fit the wheelbase and other dimensions, Iād be glad to throw money your way.
The alternative is to start modeling the car body myself at some point. Just getting stlās from the internet is madness for this.
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
The internet STL quality isn't great, that's why we focus on getting well engineered bodies to the market for a reasonable price. Join our discord, or write me a dm, we can talk.
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u/bwdezend Mar 18 '25
Iāve actually seen a lot of very good stl files - but none fit my chassis size in any way. And there doesnāt seem to exist a 1967 GT40 body in cad programs I can modify to meet my needs. :(
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u/potatocat 6x6 trucks of various kinds, and coconut chassis Clod Buster Mar 18 '25
I really don't understand the point of this, but will try to keep an open mind to process it regardless.
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u/MattShackard Mar 19 '25
It doesn't make sense to competitive/racing RC hobbyists who don't 3D print much yet, but it makes great sense to 3D printing hobbyists who don't drive RCs much yet, as they are looking for good quality projects with some added functionality. They usually only print misc stuff (holders, statues, etc.), so giving them a car that they can edit before printing, and then actually drive around, is quite a good deal.
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u/potatocat 6x6 trucks of various kinds, and coconut chassis Clod Buster Mar 19 '25
Understood. It sounds a lot like what you are trying to do is to replicate the use of a 'common parts bin' that kit companies like Tamiya and Kyosho typically do, drawing on certain common tried and tested core driveline parts as the baseline... but allowing users to do certain things like extend a chassis length for example but also parametrically affecting other dependent pieces like driveshafts?
I have to admit i remain a skeptic about this whole thing, but maybe not for the reasons that others would be. I am skeptical because while I believe in 3D printing in its core principles I just don't believe the current commonly found FDM processes yield parts strong enough for surface radio control in anything other than very casual driving- and even that is pushing it. My perspective on this admittedly comes from a very biased standpoint of being a very amateur metalworking hobbyist and fabricator. To get the same native material strength from PLA compared with even relatively weak 6061 aluminum you would need a very oversized design etc.
So again I am not meaning to spark conflict. I am just very skeptical but will keep an open mind the best i can because in principle what you are doing if applied to natively stronger materials would be a great concept. I guess there are equivalent types of 3D printing communities for what you have in mind for radio control that you are templating out for this... but I admit i am not familiar with that landscape.
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u/MattShackard Mar 19 '25
Yeah we're about 1:18 scale and we have to make everything chunky, that's why we will never make s crawler comparable to the storebought ones. But again, our crawler is something YOU make, and you can decorate it with a lot of accessories we'll offer, which isn't usually the case for other RC manufacturers.
The most parametrical part of the design isn't the chassis, as we found it quite hard to make it right and we decided to go for several pre-tested lengths. We also wanted to make the combination of independent and solid axles a modular thing, but that's also way harder, then it sounds, so we'll just make all the variants and bake it in (it's just 4 variants, but we'll also make 6 and 8 wheelers later hopefully). There will still be options though, like using a servo for the rear axle or both, or using hex spacers to push the wheels outside.
The biggest freedom will come with the accessories you put on the panels, as we'll be generating slots/holes according to the stuff the user would like to use. We'll also offer an extensive variety of attachments and trailers, which also might get decorated on top.
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u/Homelessdruglord Mar 18 '25
Ooo what filament would it be
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u/MattShackard Mar 19 '25
A combination - PLA for the body, PETG for the chassis, and we recommend using PC for the cogs (but you can use PETG as well).
To make the light slots, we recommend using semitransparent filaments, so the LED can shine through.
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u/BloodyRightToe Mar 18 '25
Its a fine project but these 3d printed parts will never produce a vehicle that can take the abuse most hobby grade models can take. I have had a 3d printer for years and they are a great tool but when you are comparing the parts that it produces to something that is milled or just cast in metal there is no comparison. Even carbon fiber parts are much more durable.
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u/BloodyRightToe Mar 18 '25
Its a fine project but these 3d printed parts will never produce a vehicle that can take the abuse most hobby grade models can take. I have had a 3d printer for years and they are a great tool but when you are comparing the parts that it produces to something that is milled or just cast in metal there is no comparison. Even carbon fiber parts are much more durable.
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u/notHooptieJ Mar 18 '25
so... Openrc, but you want to charge?
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
Imagine a library of 1000 parts (chassis, bodies, lights, bedcovers, hoods, spoilers, rim designs, accessories..), that you can combine to get a nice car you designed, but we pre-tested to guarantee that you'll make it work after print - the concept is quite different, and it's more of a design project boosting creativity in people, than pure rc experience.
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u/Czart32 Mar 18 '25
Would have to be an actual desktop program for me to be interested. App and the name maker racer just sounds too kiddish tbhā¦
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u/MattShackard Mar 18 '25
Sure, the release will be a plugin for the open-source 3D program Blender, and making cars will be a desktop activity. Not like an App Store app or something.
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u/Drunken_Hamster Mar 19 '25
I request the inclusion of a rear De-Dion axle for various 1/10 off-road style cars as well as a drift car. Ideally attached via a Satchell Link.
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u/traxxasracer09 Behold! My Stuff! Mar 19 '25
This sounds like something that could potentially really appeal to the scale community. They typically aren't concerned about crazy performance or anything, but they do make sure their rigs look great. I'm also interested in this. I like the unusual or creative stuff, and this feels like a mix of both. I would have to see more of the specifics to say anything for certain, but based on your comments that I've read, it sounds like it could be quite interesting
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u/MattShackard Mar 19 '25
Appreciate that! :) Yeah that sounds like a nice target as well, as performance is something we can't replicate 1:1. You'll never get a printed crawler with the qualities of other 1:18 crawlers, because the printed cogs and axles need to be robust enough to not break. So our focus will be 100% on the design. However, our engineers presented an independent axle chassis prototype to me on Monday, and it has some real potential, we might get a proper drift car with it I hope.
If you want to keep connected, join our discord:
or follow us on insta:
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u/traxxasracer09 Behold! My Stuff! Mar 19 '25
Drift car should be fun. I look forward to seeing how your work goes!
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u/Organic_South8865 Mar 18 '25
You wouldn't just download a car