Your own 1932 Studebaker Indy car - now only $75

[garyash]

I arranged with the people at HUM3D.com to make a detailed CAD model of a 1932 Studebaker Indy car. I sent them about 200 photos, drawings, and some 3D files I had created of various parts of the car, including the engine with four carbs. They did an amazingly good job, detailed down to the spokes on the wire wheels and badge on the grille shell. They are now offering copies of the 3D files for sale, but I'm not getting a cut even though I paid for the work. If you want to download the 3D files for $75, here's the link: https://hum3d.com/3d-models/studebaker-indy-500-1932/

You can open them with many versions of CAD software. Fortunately, you can also open them with Microsoft 3D Paint (.OBJ file with associated MTL and JPG) which comes free with Windows 10. The files are large and take a while to open. Each component and body panel are separate items, so they can have the color changed or other modifications. Maybe some computer gamer could incorporate the car into the next video game.

HUM3D has thousands of 3D models of cars, including seven other Studebakers (2R5, 1953 Commander coupe, 1963 convertible, etc.).

https://hum3d.com/3d-models/vehicles/studebaker/

[t walgamuth]

Can they make me a model?

[stupak]

Apparently not. They only sell files. stupak

[sgriggs]

If you have the files, there are a lot of companies that will print it for you. Shapeways is one I have used.

https://www.shapeways.com/

[Jeff_H]

Well, I gotta say that is pretty darn cool.

[RadioRoy]

I did not see the scale listed anywhere on the website. Did I miss it somehow?

[garyash]

With CAD files, you can scale them to any size you want. The Hum3D files are essentially at 100% full scale with metric dimensions. For the Studebaker Indy car, the wheelbase is 103 inches, so it’s easy to check and modify. You can always select a view and print to fit on a page.

On my PC with CAD software, I saved the file in .U3D format, got an 8 MB file I can open in Acrobat Reader on my iPhone and iPad. Portable Indy car! Maybe I should make a YouTube movie to demonstrate how it looks from all angles.

[StudeRich]

OH! I get it, it's a VIRTUAL '32 Indy CAR!

[stupak]

If anyone that buys the file, I would pay for a 1/43rd scale copy. stupak

[garyash]

The current CAD files are not really set up for directly 3D printing a solid model but I will try to arrange for HUM3D to create a suitable file. In the meantime, here is a link to a YouTube video that shows the CAD model from different angles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_YNz6Hu_Ns

[sgriggs]

Very neat. Were the real 1932 bodies completely open under the engine like that?

[stupak]

Gary: Thanks for posting that You Tube 'movie' of the car. NOW I really want a 3D copy. Can you help? stupak

[garyash]

A couple of you said you wanted 3D printed versions of the Indy car, so I thought that I'd want one printed out. I was able to generate an STL file for printing and tried it out on my Creality Ender 3 printer at 10" long. Calculated print time was about 24 hours. After 6-8 hours, it was clear that the print was faulty because many of the parts, like the metal skin, were zero thickness in the file and would not print correctly, if at all. I went back and gave many parts a real thickness of .06 to .2 inch in the "real world". I tried a 7" long print, got pretty good results, but the hood and rear deck had lots of gaps in the surface. That's because at about 1/20 scale, the skin would be only 0.003" thick, not enough to be continuous. But, it's a pretty good start.

So, I made the skin thicker yet and made each printed layer 0.1 mm ().004"), less than a piece of paper. I also enlarged the scale to 1/14 to get a 10" long model, the largest that will fit diagonally on the printer. Calculated print time is now about 2 days. It's printing now, so by Friday night, I'll see what the next round yields. Here are some photos of the last attempt. I am very unlikely to offer these for sale, given the amount of time to print and finish them. It's just a technology demonstration.

[2R5]

That’s pretty cool Gary

[garyash]

After some more adjusting of the 3D CAD file, I was able to print out a complete car about 9.25" long. Using fine resolution on the 3D printer and relatively slow printing speed, I got pretty smooth surfaces. However, the print took 48 hours to do. Then I had to spend a few hours breaking off the support pieces for the overhangs. Only the seat bottoms weren't as solid as I had hoped, but the rest is pretty good. Think about driving one of these in the 1932 race, 87 years ago today. No crash helmets, no seat belts, no side impact beams, no roll bar - just guts!