I seen this earlier today and thought I'd post something here for you guys. I think this is a first step towards what's coming in the future and as these printers get faster and can print larger parts in different (and less expensive) materials. This car consists of nearly 2500 printed objects and with an average print time of about an hour per part, it's easy to see how this is still impractical. I also question how hard it is to line up and attach all of those panels together so there are no dips and waves where they join up (see the picture of the door). He's estimating the cost of the platic at around $2,000 which sound really low to me or he's buying the stuff in bulk and from a really good source.
3-D-Printed CarThe Auckland, New Zealand Aston fanatic Ivan Sentch has always been enamored with the marque’s older models, so he decided to recreate a 1961 Aston Martin DB4. With only 1,200 models in existence, each fetching anywhere between several hundred thousand to $1 million on the auction circuit, the chances of the software engineer ever owning one were infinitesimal.
So Sentch got to work, cribbing a CAD rendering from TurboSquid and then modifying it to suit his tastes. Then the really hard work began.
Using Autodesk 3ds Max modeling software and a Solidoodle desktop 3-D printer, Sentch began the painstaking process of printing out individual 4-by-4-inch sections, mounting them on the wooden frame and then gluing each piece into place. So far, he’s produced over 2,500 fiberglass molds and says he’s 72 percent of the way to completion, but that’s only the printing aspect.
He still has to develop the dash and other interior bits. Once the exterior is completed, he’ll start the long, arduous process of sanding, adding filler, sanding even more, prepping the exterior to a glassy sheen, and then finally applying paint.
While you’d expect Sentch to be some kind of 3-D printing savant, he’s actually only been using the tech since December, admitting to Solidoodle in an interview that he’s a complete “noob.” Still, he’s had some experience in the replicar realm with his home-built Ferrari 250 GTO. That car is donating its running gear and drivetrain — parts pulled from a turbocharged 1993 Nissan Skyline GTS — after which he plans to replace the 250′s engine with a BMW V12.
Sentch figures he’s spent about $2,000 on plastics for the 3-D printing, and plans to build a mold based on the body he’s created to make a fiberglass shell which will eventually form the exterior of the DB4. But it’ll be a while. Sentch estimates his makeshift Aston won’t be on the road for at least another four or five years.
Sentch isn't the only one printing vintage vehicles. The makers of the latest James Bond film, "Skyfall," enlisted the services of German 3-D printing company Voxeljet to build three plastic models of the legendary Aston Martin DB5 sports car, says 3-D printing news site 3Ders.org. One of the models explodes in the film. Sad.
http://gizmodo.com/5959717/skyfall-filmmakers-3d+printed-this-rare-aston-martin-so-they-wouldnt-damage-the-originalChris
