Dash Trim 1966 Ghia and 3D Printing services

[sputnick60]

I've run this past John Moxon and he thinks is worthy of a heads-up for a previously unobtainable part and I should let you know these parts are now available for order on the web from a 3D printing service.

A few people have PM'd me about my 3D CAD drawings of the Dash trim. Some may already know I spent about $1000 to get a LHD set professionally scanned with a 3D scanner and some CAD drawings made. I've given a few people a copy of those on the proviso that they don't proliferate copies over the web but that was going towards being too hard to manage. For me, I took those CAD drawings and mirrored the object to create a Left Hand Drive set to suit my car. I had those 3D printed and they came out OK but I have to do more work to get the chrome finish perfect.

So what about anyone else who wants these made up? I certainly am not a business operator and I'm not interested in setting up an online payment scheme or mini supply company. I figured that anyone keen to have one can go ahead and make orders on Shapeways. I've added a margin for my efforts since the 3D scans cost me a big pile to create and capitalism is a cool, right?.

Have a look at the Shapeways shop here ...
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Sputnick60

This stuff here requires further finishing because it is made of simple white plastic chosen on the basis that it is the cheapest solution for now. You will do your own chrome coating in whatever way you see fit. I offer these with no guarantee of perfection. I do not control the printing process so cannot inspect the part you get. That's Shapeways problem. I strongly suggest you order one of the smaller and less expensive parts as a test sample and decide how to proceed from there. If people are nasty about this I'll just delete the service. If people are helpful and constructive I'll work with folks to improve the offering.

Shapeways does offer shiny polished finishes but none of those are able to be done in the length required for the glove box lid and centre piece over the radio delete plate. I could have tried the smaller pieces in another material but the complete set would have looked inconsistent and odd. So I stuck to "strong flexible white plastic" so it all looks the same.

The centre piece over the radio delete plate is uncut and is the full length from the clock to the inside edge of the glove box lid. If you have a radio, you'll need to cut to suit your installation.

Finally if we all play nicely together we can keep this thread going with clever ways of completing and finishing the part. This could be the start of a bewdiful crowd development.

Good luck everyone especially those who wanna play.

Nicholas
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'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[John Moxon]

Thanks Nick, most people will know how meticulous you are about everything you do so a professional product will come as no surprise.

This is a MAJOR breakthrough for a hell of a lot of '66 Ghia owners who have all but given up looking for the one-year only dash trim.

As Nicholas says...play fair and you will all gain from his selfless dedication to the hobby. If it turns out to be a happy experience it will encourage others to step up and produce more difficult to source parts.
_________________
John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
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[copellos]

Not a breakthru ive been making it outof alum for almost 10 years both lhb and the reg rhd. Have even the ultra rare radiodelete piece.
Kgpr and hog have carried them for years

[John Moxon]

[copellos]

By the way john ur black and white photos are the best..
Everbodys out because i havent rerun them yet..
When is bad camberg this year

[bobnorman]

That’s great news Nick! Congratulations on having these made. I like the 3-d printing idea and the prices you have listed are quite reasonable.

John is right, there has been no real source for plastic parts to replace the original. I managed to fairly quickly cast a few pieces from resin, which turned out fairly well, but as it is an exact copy, all the little chips, cracks and scratches also get reproduced.

Clearly not an issue with your process. If I was a bit more careful and spent a little more time at it, patching the originals, cleaning up the mould, perhaps fine-tuned the materials a little more it could be done really well. But with your pieces now available, I think that would be the best/easiest route to go, particularly if someone has nothing to go on to begin with. I will be revisiting mine at some point (priorities right?), and using a different mould making material, but only because I want to see if I can sort it out.

As for the finish on these, I had the same issue with the surface coating. I used “chrome” paint for the outer edges (which were very smooth) and aluminum paint for the inner rougher bits.

It worked out fairly well, again, with a bit of care and fine tuning I think a person could spray your bits with easily accessible materials to make them look fairly close to original. Good luck.
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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289807

[John Moxon]

[1966kghia]

Thanks Nicholas. That's a great resource which I might need to draw upon as I might not find all my bits in boxes from the PO.

Hans

[sputnick60]

I suppose a photo or two will help people see what this looks like.

So the next 3 pictures show examples of each type.
First one shows all three with the original part in the centre, John Copelo's masterfully hand made reproduction on the left and a 3D printed one from Shapeways on the right. The reproduction ones are for a RHD vehicle and the original is for a LHD vehicle.

The second photo is the Original LHD part against a RHD part.

The last photo is a close up of the same two.

This part is the most complex and would require a fair effort to make on a milling machine and is expensive to make. A 3D printer would only charge for the volume of plastic. The injection moulding is the most expensive way to do it but over large production runs is cost effective. There will never be a large run of these so a 3D printing service or experienced machinist are the two viable options.

Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[bobnorman]

Great job! Looks to be a very accurate reproduction. Congratuations!
_________________
Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289807

[andrigtmiller]

[jajajill]

This is excellent!!! Thank you!

I’m an industrial design student, so I’m very familiar with CAD and 3D printing, as well as finishing processes. I’ll definitely be purchasing a set.

As for finishing, SLA prints will be the smoothest and require the least sanding by default, but they are sensitive to heat, so if the interior of the car is often hot, they may not be the best choice.
SLS (not SLA) is shapeway’s default way. It involves fusing granules together, so they can be brittle.
FDM (pretty standard among home printers) is structurally ok, but gives the roughest finish. For parts like this, with fine lines, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Vacuum metalizing and plating would be the best ways to finish them, but also the most expensive.

Chrome paint is probably easiest, and vinyl wrap may be another cheaper option.

~Jill

[tommu]

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the community could crowd fund this development work for you - with the ultimate aim of open sourcing the drawings. I don’t have a ‘66 but would donate a little to help.
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[jajajill]

I have some resources if you’re looking to develops these further. Let me know.

[sputnick60]

[guidoamisano]

Hello,

I know it's been a couple of years, but has anyone bought this set of 3-d printed trim pieces and successfully had them chromed? I'm interested in buying a set. Any info is appreciated.

Thanks!

Guido

[c21darrel]

Saw these in the classifieds, may work for someone.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2444979
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GhiaBuild
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=481184
1967 DC build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=693583&highlight=67+dc
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[Disc]

Well I tried plating on Nicholas pieces. I must say that the parts came perfect from Shapeways, no to little sanding required. The problem was in the plating, something went wrong . We going to try again.

Radio face plate in the photo is 3D printed also, I've made it in CAD and have the file so if anyone need a face plate and have a access to a 3D printer - hit me with a private message. Making it cost me about an 2 hours time so no fee for the file - free for anyone who need it.
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The glory never gets old, just need new paint.
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Nick

[cmdrfire]

I've bought these some years ago and I've literally just finished spraying an enamel chrome on them!
I am quite happy with the result so far, but I haven't finished polishing them yet.

I looked into having them chromed a few years ago, and sent to a company who claimed to be able to do such things, but was told it wasn't possible with the material at the time... hence my spray-can effort.

I'll take a photo and upload it shortly.

[cmdrfire]

Here's what mine looks now, after about 4 coats of spray-on enamel chrome and a couple of wet sands in between... still needs a polish and possibly one more wet-sand and coat:

It's a bit colder in colour temp than some of the other chrome treatments.