The not so Ratty, 1/4 Scale Rat Rod

Built in 2010, this fully 3D printed Hot Rod was built to highlight three major technologies.

July 5, 2016

TBill Gould (gouldstudios.com) a well respected medical device and product designer used CIDEAS for his prototyping needs. A love for anything automotive brought Mike Littrell and Bill Gould together in an off chance discussion one afternoon.

Among other things, Mike and Bill began discussing their passion for cars. Bill sent Mike a photo-rendering of a Model-T. Mike thought it was photoshopped or drawn freehand, but in fact, it was a Hypershot rendering from a SolidWorks 2009 model.

Thinking it would make a fun side project, Bill agreed to share his files. Originally it was intended to be built as a 1/8th scale model, but Mike felt 1/4 scale would be more appropriate.

The frame, engine block, radiator, body, rims and rear tires were produced using the FDM process. Due to the Body Shell being one large piece, it was 3D printed utilizing a sparse honeycombed interior, this greatly reduced the weight and build time, all without altering the exterior aesthetics.

The remaining components required a higher detail due to thinner walls, so Polyjet was enlisted in these fine features. For the windshield, tail lights and headlights, CIDEAS utilized Accura 60 SLA clear; Polished, tinted and clear coated these parts completed the realism.

Having seen parts of the car in primer at Rapid 2009 in Detroit (an annual 3D conference), enthralled with the concept, Design World felt the final car would make an excellent article for an Additive Manufacturing Insert in their next issue they wrote an article about the project which can be found here.