I’m not sure which hobby group is more creative – the people who build custom RC cars, or those who carefully work every little detail into their stationary models. Whatever it is, I think we just found a crossover hit that mixes passions into a jumble of beautiful 3D printed craftsmanship.
Meet the YouTuber equipped with a 3D pen called the Sanago. His niche? Build wild crafts from molten plastic, including this carefully designed Porsche Taycan RC car.
The car is built in several steps. First, Sanago sketches the car on paper and carefully creates a colored wire frame view of the top, side, front and back of the Taycan. After he’s finished, Sanago takes out his 3D pen and gets to work.
If you are unfamiliar with these pretty devices, think of them as a 3D printer that fits in the palm of your hand. The tiny heater melts and extrudes strands of plastic as if written on with a writing instrument, and instead of a fancy box of circuitry that dictates where the plastic goes, your brain guides your hand to form the correct shape.
With the help of the wire mesh, Sanago can trace the previously colored lines. This time, however, he uses the 3D pen to put a thin layer of plastic over it.
Once each side of the car is shaped, he peeled off the layer of paper and moved on to the next. After each page is ready, he begins to assemble them into a three-dimensional frame.
Next, Sanago fills in the empty air by moving back and forth in a grid pattern. These grids get smaller and smaller until it completely fills all the holes. Then he smooths the entire surface with a soldering iron and lets it cool down.
The surface is still rough and takes a little work to look more like German pressed steel. He then smooths the surface with a rotating tool and various grains of sandpaper before putting plastic putty on the body to level out any imperfections.
From then on, it kind of gets more complicated. Sanago carefully crafted the smaller parts of the front bumper and glued them in place. Then he sits on the headlights, builds their profile out of wood and forms a thin plastic film over them to adapt them to the factory profile. He even uses clear plastic to build a small lamp that carries the light in Porsche’s legendary four-point pattern. He also uses similar materials to make a lighted tailgate taillight and shaded acrylic sheets for the glass.
Finally, he builds up the finer details. Side mirrors, a license plate and the words “Porsche” – all before the entire car is airbrushed in a green shade.