The third and final factor is printing my own means I have control of the print dimensions. The website seems to host a lot of good ones. Quality varies a lot, but there is a thriving cottage industry growing up around the demand for unique body offerings. Credit the many authors out there creating new ones all the time. The second factor is, surprisingly, there are more options available in terms of bodies. I can print any number of bodies once I've made that investment. And while buying the print files is not free, it is typically cheaper, and only a one-time expense. Buying a body ready-made can typically cost US$20 to US$30. One, it is cheaper than buying them, given that I have a 3D printer already. The whole point of printing my own bodies is driven by three factors. Getting to a finished body may not be as arduous as I have feared. The good news is I've seen some pretty smooth surfaces in the areas where the printing went well. It'll be time-consuming, given it takes about 16 hours to run that print file. I expect I'll be on a learning curve for a while here. Probably install a new nozzle on the extruder and definitely re-level the bed. I'll try a different support scheme from the Cura slicer toolset, and maybe tweak the print settings. I'll be attempting to run that print later today. I contacted the author of the print file, and he has sent me a revised file - no extra charge. That, I suspect, is more a matter of my print setup.

The third issue was the top of the cockpit did not print successfully. Even if I had been able to remove the support structure without damage, the body was too thin and light for use in a slotcar.

And that relates to the second issue - the body was too thin.

One, the support structure was very difficult to remove. I didn't expect my first attempt would be successful, and I wasn't disappointed.

I obtained the STL file from the website. That changed a couple of days ago when I tried printing a 1/32nd Porsche 917 slotcar body in PETG. Up until now I have not attempted to print any slotcar bodies. Almost everything I print now is in either PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate - Glycol modified) or TPU (ThermoPlastic Urethane). Much of what I have been printing is slotcar related. I have owned a Creality Ender 3 Pro filament printer since January 2020, and been keeping it very busy since then.

132 slot car 3d printed