# Tesla model 3



## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

I'm building a 1/25 scale Tesla. yeah, it's 3d Printed. pencil marks are where i'm going to enhance the door gaps with a scribe. The two halves are different color white because they were printed with different reels from different brands.








































DSCF8233 by aus_mus, on Flickr


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

:lurk5: registered


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

That's very cool.

I wish they had 3D printing when I was young. If a model company didn't make it, make it yourself. Maybe that's the future.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

terryr said:


> ...I wish they had 3D printing when I was young. If a model company didn't make it, make it yourself. Maybe that's the future.


I think it could be once the technology reaches the point where 3D printing results in nice smooth surfaces (i.e., no print "artifacts" to sand smooth) and the costs are more competitive with injection molded kits. Until then...well, we'll see.


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## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

terryr said:


> If a model company didn't make it, make it yourself. Maybe that's the future.


That's what i thought, but the reality is, unless you're a 3D whiz, you'll be limited in what you can print. There's not much quality meshes for free, and the 3d mesh of the car i want is $80!!

i painted the windows black, and found i'd missed the mark with the masking. oops, will have to redo it anyway, since the tape marred the finish. i then put on a coat of white, and then Red Metallic. 

















DSCF8242 by aus_mus, on Flickr


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## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

Painted the windows gloss black with a brush. also did the rims in silver.








DSCF8243 by aus_mus, on Flickr


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## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

Completed this for now. i'm thinking i might re-print the wheels for separate tire/rim as i found it hard to define them, and just painted them by hand. the chrome is bare metal foil, the paint is Tamiya metallic red, which is very nice under tamiya clear coat. i might also re-do the glass, as the brush strokes are still visible. How does 3d printing measure up? i'd put it about on-par with resin casting. not as sharp or detailed as styrene injection and quite a lot of clean up required.








































Tesla Model by aus_mus, on Flickr


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Turned out pretty well for a blob of plastic! 

I am guessing this is not your first build ever, but it looks like a Tesla so mission accomplished. :cheers2:


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## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

I decided to re-print the wheels as separate entities. it took several days and several attempts to modify the mesh into separate parts. The separate parts then needed to be closed off (all mesh must be a solid object to print) and once done they were printed out and spray painted. I also reoriented the parts to have the face at the top, where the print quality is best. The only issue i had was not leaving a tolerance gap, as the parts need to allow for paint and general fit. I stuck the rims in the drill and sanded them down a bit to fit. The separate brake disk was also a lot easier to paint without the rim in the way.
























Tesla by aus_mus, on Flickr


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

A lot of work it sounds like, but they look nice! :thumbsup:


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## whiskeyrat (May 7, 2012)

Oh the coincidence is too funny... I worked at Tesla until just about month ago... haven't seen a model of the 3 yet, but this is a pretty faithful rendition! No battery in it though, right? Ha!


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## Hobby Dude (Aug 7, 2019)

Nice job! I learned on talk radio, the infamous Tessie uses technology from Toyota and Mercedes Benz, their first models caught fire because they forgot or omitted a metal plate under the car to protect the batteries from road bumps. Interesting...:nerd:


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

Most manufacturers use parts from other cars. AMC was famous for that.

The first Tesla batteries were just thousands of laptop battery cells. Same exact thing. The Toyota Rav 4 EV uses a Tesla drivetrain. And so you get Tesla parts at Toyota for much cheaper, or at all. Tesla won't sell parts like a normal car company. [ I've been reading up on Electric Cars lately. There's plenty to see on Youtube and I'm way behind the curve. You think of EVs as slow but they can have 100s of horsepower, like the Tesla. Hot rodders are taking the Tesla AC motors and swapping them around.]

This guy has quite a lot of stuff;

https://www.youtube.com/user/jehugarcia/videos

A Tesla Platform Battery Pack;


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## Hobby Dude (Aug 7, 2019)

Cool! It's cool to have letrics running around, but its also cool to have petrol's doing the same! Like cats and dogs they both share the road in respect, or at least folks hope so...But for me, I am happy with petrol powered rides...."Don't crush em', restore em"....


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## yokelan (Mar 15, 2021)

wow this looks amazing!! haha you have some patience


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## kanan (Mar 15, 2021)

How much does it cost? I'd love to also have my Tesla in a 'mini' variant, hahaha. I'm literally addicted to my car and I want to make her this gift. This sounds weird, but it's a car that I've bought with my own money and I'm so proud. I've seen some figurines on graydonschwartz.com but yours look much better. The one you made looks a lot like my car, the color, the design, everything. Waiting for a reply. Gotta spoil my girl, right??? Haha, my girlfriend better not see my comment... She says that I'm too obsessed with my car.


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## Andy Oldenburg (Feb 16, 2021)

aussiemuscle308 said:


> I'm building a 1/25 scale Tesla. yeah, it's 3d Printed. pencil marks are where i'm going to enhance the door gaps with a scribe. The two halves are different color white because they were printed with different reels from different brands.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It looks like a very exiting project. Obviously you have a 3d-printer. Don´t know how big the quality spread is today, but the 3d stuff I´ve seen over the last years was usually quit rough. I guess the more you´re able to pay for a printer, the better the print and less work on the surfaces. 
What I would like to know is, how good of a computer nerd must I be to handle a 3d printer. Also, where did you get the software file for your Tesla. Is it freeware floating in the net? 
For a "one piece" model the result is quite impressing. The proportions look well balanced and close to the original thing. I suppose you did have to sand the body a lot to get that fine finish. Good job!


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## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

Andy Oldenburg said:


> where did you get the software file for your Tesla. Is it freeware floating in the net?


Yes, the files are all on Thingiverse for free, and there's a few sites around that sell better quality files.
Printing is not much harder than printing on paper, so long as you have the right tools and know the limitations of what the printer can do. 
If you want to build HW sized models, definitely get a resin printer for better detail. I made this one on a PLA (plastic) printer and is better for larger parts, but the surface is striated. This body was 1/25 sized and required a lot of sanding and filler to smooth out the surface.


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## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

kanan said:


> How much does it cost?


buy a cheap printer and print as many as you want. I bought mine for $350. If you are doing HW sized models, get a resin printer for better detail.


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