Mastodawn

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 11

Want to see all my 3D-printed 1:64 scale cars? No? Too bad!

Day 1/84: This is the first complete car I ever printed, a Volvo 760 Turbo wagon. There was obviously some learning curve involved; the wheels were too big, and I didn't make the front headrest supports thick enough to survive printing. Not bad overall for a first try, though. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 12

Day 2/84: My second 1:64-scale car was a variation on my first, which I had designed with this kind of adaptability in mind. Using the same bodyshell, interior, and steering wheel, a new dashboard, wheels, and base piece (with integrated bumpers and front fascia) transformed my 760 Turbo into a pre-facelift 740 Turbo. The scaled-down wheel size I used here became my standard size going forward. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 13

Day 3/84: Hey, it's not a Volvo! I swear they're not all Swedish cars...only about 25%. I may or may not be joking.

This Saab 900 Turbo was my first attempt at an opening part, and I took a big swing on the clamshell hood. I didn't get the hinge right on this first attempt, but don't worry—we'll get there. What did turn out awesome was the rear window insert with spoiler and oh-so-’80s louvers. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 14

Day 4/84: First successful opening part—the hatch on this AMC Eagle is simply held in by friction, but it works perfectly, has never fallen off, and even stays open. I'm also still very pleased with my woodgrain painting job. Matchbox has since come out with an ’80 Eagle wagon, but mine was first. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 15

Day 5/84: A successful opening hood—a very successful one, I think—on my Series III Jaguar XJ6. Forward-hinged hoods are easier to design at this scale, because you have a more solid structure at the front of the car for whatever the hinge mechanism is; the cowl area around the windshield can get delicate. But I think I'll have one or two that open the other way later on. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 16

Day 6/84: This was *the* status symbol car of my Orange County childhood, and a mainstream sedan with pop-up headlights is admittedly pretty cool. So, of course, my 1:64-scale Accord has pop-up headlights, too. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 17

Day 7/84: Another modular design—common parts that make it easy to build multiple variations. In the case of the Accord, both sedan and coupe use all of the same parts except for the bodies. The bumpers are integrated into the base piece as well, so I could theoretically also make a pre-facelift (1986-87) sedan with just one new piece, but I never have. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 18

Day 8/84: Second Saab—a new base (which includes the bumpers, rockers, and headlights and grille) and new wheels give me an ’87-91 SPG. Still hadn't perfected the hinge for the hood. This is the last car I made for which I cut tires from rubber tubing. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 19

Day 9/84: This Alfa GTV6 is my first car with printed tires, and the first to have any identification marks on the base. At the time I was still cutting brass rod for axles, and using tiny screws to attach bases to bodies, both extra steps and materials I've since eliminated from my assembly processes. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 20

Day 10/84: A replica of the first car I ever rode in, my mom's ’84 Chevy Cavalier. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 21

Day 11/84: Love a hardtop. This Benz was one of my more clever modular designs, but we'll see more about that tomorrow. For now, I'll just point out a couple of my favorite details: the fine job I did painting the headlamp wipers, and the rear headrests folded down into the parcel shelf. It's tough to see through the grain of the print, but on the trunklid you can also see that this is the first car I made with a badge—that star is so satisfying to make. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 22

Day 12/84: Yesterday a 300CE, today an E320. One of my trickier modular designs; the base piece includes the bumpers, center portion of the front fascia, and the hood, allowing me to do both pre- and post-facelift versions. Essentially, the body and base are two interlocking C-shaped pieces. Also, note that the headlamp wipers pointed in opposite directions before and after the 1994 refresh. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 24

Day 14/84: Here's my third and, to date, final RWD Volvo wagon, using many of the same parts as my first two cars to make a ’94 940 Turbo: the body and steering wheel are shared with both the 760 and 740; the base is shared with the 760; and the dashboard is the same as the 740's. Only the interior and the fun Hydra alloy wheels are new. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 25

Day 15/84: J-body, part deux—where there's a Cavalier, there must also be a Cimarron! My two J-bodies share a main body piece and a dashboard. Both were designed with opening hoods, though both of mine are glued shut due to a hinge design that needed refinement. @slirt, do you have the blue Cimarron? If so, you have the only one with a hood that actually opens as intended. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 26

Day 16/84: My focus is almost always on cars as they appeared in the US market, since those are what I'm most connected to. But for a longtime personal favorite from the "forbidden fruit" category, exceptions must be made, so I went Euro-spec for this E23 745i. Again, one of my favorite details is headrest-related: check out the stanchions for the rear headrests where they meet the parcel shelf! #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 27

Day 17/84: Of course a Euro-spec BMW E23 had to be accompanied by a Federalized version; this one is a pre-facelift 733i in Chestnut Red, a factory BMW color from 1979-81 or so. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 28

Day 18/84: Here's a landmark car in my collection. Not only is this V60 T8 the newest car I've modeled (still!), it was the first car I laid out to print as a one-piece kit, significantly reducing my printing costs—by about 60-70%—and paving the way for my old Shapeways store. Turned out pretty good, too. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 29

Day 19/84: I designed this Lancia Flaminia quite a bit earlier than I printed it, back before the Alfa GTV6 on day 9. I know this because this was the first car I designed tires for, and the tread pattern on these and every other tire I've printed since was the pattern developed by Pirelli in 1956 for the Flaminia's Cinturato tires. Another fun detail that's hard to capture in photos: this was the first car I made with a horn ring! #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Sep 30

Day 20/84: Yes, I know, at this point we are solidly at 25% of my cars being Volvo wagons; I promise this is the last one for a while! And there are far worse places to leave it than with a Flash Green over Atacama V70 R. I have only one regret with this model: later on, I made another one (for someone else) with open spokes on the wheels and it looked so much better it's not even funny. I guess I could do a swap... #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 1

Day 21/84: This is alphabetically the last car in my entire collection, and one of the smallest: the Zündapp Janus! Though, while most of the cars I make are truly 1:64 scale, this one is a burly 1:63. There was an unsuccessful attempt at opening doors on this one—the hinges were just too tiny, so they're glued shut—but figuring out how to make the pieces go together was a fun puzzle. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 2

Day 22/84: The elusive Jaguar XF Sportbrake! This one shows off my limitations as a painter, but I still love the color combo I chose—much better than the greyscale these all seemed to be in the real world. This is also the only time to date I've used structural tailpipes; they hook through the baseplate to hold it to the body at the rear! #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 3

Day 23/84: I believe this is the only one of my cars that I've modified from its original state—this E39 wagon no longer has its original wheels or interior. Those pieces will show up later, but this one got 2003 525iT wheels and front Comfort seats with articulated backrests—one of very few of my models where the front seats are not mirror images of each other. I also added some details later, rings on the headlights and reverse lights at the rear. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 4

Day 24/84: Yesterday's BMW got retrofitted with them, but this Lexus IS300 SportCross was the first car I printed with open-spoke wheels, and the effect makes a huge difference. The yellow paint pops, too, of course! #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 5

Day 25/84: Fair warning: the next few days will be a little Saab-heavy. My 900 convertible *still* didn't have a perfected hinge for the hood—that is coming soon, I swear—but it does have a removable top! #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 6

Day 26/84: The design for this opening dual-panel sunroof came to me one day while I was trying to take a nap. I'm not one to squander a missed nap, so I whipped out this BMW E34 525iT. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith

Day 27/84: Not a revolutionary model—it's just a combination of the body from my original 900 Turbo hatchback (day 3) and the base from my 900 convertible (day 25)—but here, at last, is the working Saab hood! Credit for suggesting the changes that finally got it to work goes to my eternally patient better half, Johnny. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 8

Day 28/84: A pretty significant reengineering effort went into turning my three-door Saab 900 into a five-door Saab 99 GLE. The 99 has a shorter wheelbase and front overhang, and in the nose job the model was simplified by eliminating the opening hood (just after I'd perfected it, no less). So there's some shared modeling geometry, most significantly the roof, A-pillars, and hatch, but there are no common parts between my 99 and 900 models. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 9

Day 29/84: Another fastback four-door, though unlike yesterday's Saab, the Lancia Beta had a trunk, not a hatch. I modeled this one with the bumpers as separate pieces—they slot in through the body, then are held in place by pegs coming up from the base plate—to leave open the option of someday doing a version with the more attractive (but far less rare) European bumpers. My grandparents had a ’79 Beta, one of roughly 330 sedans sold in the US that year. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 10

Day 30/84: When I opened my Shapeways store, I released models in themed groups of four; this is the third in my group of late-’70s fastback sedans, the ill-fated Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon. Like the Lancia yesterday, it had a trunk, not a hatch, plus the indignity of rear windows that didn't roll down, though the quarter windows did vent, I believe. Only lasted from 1978-80. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 11

Day 31/84: A couple of months after I'd added this Toyota to my Shapeways shop, I noticed the listing had disappeared. I put it back up, then a few weeks later it happened again. Finally, I figured out that selling a model with "Corona" in the name in 2020 was causing some weird problems—I suspect Shapeways was simply shutting down anything with that word, in case it was related to some quack treatment or something. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 12

Day 32/84: Corvairs incoming! I embarked on a project to model every Corvair bodystyle that hadn't yet been done in 1:64 scale, which, spoiler alert, was most of them. I started with the late model four-door hardtop, painted in authentic Willow Green touch-up paint. The interior was modeled in two pieces so that I could replicate the two-tone effect; this one has a gold dash, door caps, and carpet, and Fawn seats and door panels. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 13

Day 33/84: My second Corvair is identical to the first from the A-pillar forward, but after that, things get wild—this one's a ’65 Fitch Sprint, complete with "Astroroof." I was pleased with the Hands alloy wheels, my two-tone paint job, and most of all with the steering wheel, which I gave a wood-tone rim and silver spokes, barely visible in the second photo. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 14

Day 34/84: I noted a few days ago that morphing my three-door Saab 900 into a five-door 99 had been a relatively complicated endeavor; having done that, this three-door 99 CombiCoupe is kind of a half-step back, a much more straightforward hybrid of the earlier two. This one wears the trim of a ’78 EMS, the sportiest non-Turbo 99. Back to Corvairs tomorrow. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 15

Day 35/84: A pleasingly nautical color scheme for this ’67 Corvair Monza convertible. I don't do a ton of convertibles; making sure the windshield frame is sturdy enough to print is always a bit challenging. In this case, having the additional support of the vent windows helped. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 16

Day 36/84: Another dang Saab? Another dang Saab, the debut of my four-door 900 body. This is a twin to one I made for my buddy Kyle, who has since passed away, after I helped him buy a teal ’93 900S sedan. Don't tell anybody, though—the paint on the models is actually a Volvo color. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 17

Day 37/84: Can you believe there *still* hasn't been a 1:64-scale Corvair Greenbrier van? Me neither, but in the meantime I'm pretty pleased with mine. Still the only van I've done. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 18

Day 38/84: In the years since I made my Corvair Rampside pickup, Matchbox has come out with a version, also with working ramp (because how could you not?), that is very good. So this is one of the rare cases where my model can go into retirement because an alternative is now available. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 19

Day 39/84: Another authentic paint color, this time Aztec Bronze, for this ’66 Corvair Corsa coupe. The late Corvair coupe was done in 1:64-scale in the ’60s by Mego as part of their Jet Wheels line, but it's extremely rare; otherwise, there was a mid-engine V8 version done by Hot Wheels in the early '00s and a nice premium HW Yenko Stinger came out after I made this coupe, so a nice standard version of one of the prettiest cars ever seems warranted. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 20

Day 40/84: We've seen late model Corvairs and forward control Corvairs, so it must be time for early model Corvairs. First on deck is the ’61 Lakewood wagon; it's a cutie, isn't it? #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 21

Day 41/84: I finished my batch of Corvairs with the last version of the first bodystyle—that is, a ’64 sedan, in Monza trim. Amazingly, considering how influential it was, the first-gen Corvair sedan has never been done in 1:64-scale, though larger models were made in-period and many times since. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 22

Day 42/84: Mercedes E-class wagons are well-represented in my 1:64-scale collection, including the S124, but I'm a completist, and nobody's ever done the *facelift* S124. So I adapted my existing coupe into a wagon, which is a fair bit of work, since the wagon's wheelbase is longer. This is my only model to date with a rear-facing third row seat; additionally, all my W124s have asymmetrically-sized side view mirrors, because they had to. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 23

Day 43/84: Another variation on the Mercedes 124 E-class theme, this time the A124 cabriolet. Base, dashboard, steering wheel, wheels, and tires are all shared with my E320 coupe; body and interior are new. Not quite at the level of some of my Saabs, but I got a few good variations out of this basic design. I wouldn't have to design any new pieces to make a pre-facelift cabrio. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 24

Day 44/84: I based my exterior color choice for this Seville on the color of Betty White's ’77 Seville, which she called "Parakeet." Hers had a white vinyl top and white interior, though; I prefer the "sheer look" uninterrupted by the break at the base of a vinyl roof. Most of my bodies are asymmetrical due to the fuel filler cap, but not this one—like many ’70s GM cars, the filler was hidden behind the rear license plate. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 25

Day 45/84: Today and tomorrow are kind of retreads. After I opened my Shapeways shop, I adapted several of my pre-Shapeways designs to sell, and had new copies printed up to test the adapted designs for quality control. I gave most of these new prints away, but kept two. This one is a maroon copy of my Peugeot 505 Turbo wagon with opening doors. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 26

Day 46/84: Like yesterday's Peugeot, today's Mercedes 300CE is a duplicate of an earlier car, printed to test the quality of an updated version designed to be sold in my Shapeways shop. I don't usually paint cars black, but in this case I think it works well with the two-tone, and helps make the red interior really pop. I'm still delighted by the headlamp wipers, too. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 27

Day 47/84: My gazillionth Saab, but only the second one designed completely from scratch—not too far off from the story of the real Saab 9000, which was the company's third clean-sheet car. Matchbox did a nice first-generation 9000 Turbo in the ’80s, so this is the second-gen Aero version. #WeirdCarMastodon #164scale #3dPrinting

Fritz Adalis Oct 20

@autonerdery
Hi, how do you get the even texture on your prints?

@autonerdery I love the little ramp!

@autonerdery What's an astroroof?

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 13

@vwdasher it's the fiberglass cap on the rear half of the roof that gives the car a quasi-fastback/flying buttress look

@autonerdery Oooer that is quite stylish!

Kernel Bob Oct 14

@autonerdery Why do all of your cars have rough surfaces?

(I am very happy to see them in all their variety and accuracy; I just don't understand the surface.)

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 14

@kbob that's how they print. I could sand them to smooth them out, but I worry about losing details at this small scale, plus I don't have a ton of confidence in my manual dexterity, or patience. So they stay slightly pebbled.

@autonerdery 🤣

Someone here got themselves a CORONA plate and proudly rocked it on their Corona in 2020.

Eobard Toyotathon Oct 10

@autonerdery yeah, they opened like on a VW, but it did next to nothing. It was even worse because the seats were all vinyl

@autonerdery my friend Hiram actually has that car/color! Can this print still be ordered? He collects diecast, too #weirdcarmastodon

Nathan Avots-Smith Oct 9

@slirt I don't have a shop anymore—those died with Shapeways' bankruptcy last year—but special orders can possibly be arranged. I never did model the Euro bumpers, though, which isn't to say that I couldn't...

Eobard Toyotathon Oct 8

@autonerdery I don't think I've ever seen a 99 that wasn't a two-door.

Eobard Toyotathon Oct 7

@autonerdery Looks great