May 27, 2015 | By Alec
Remember Maurizio "Mao" Casella’s amazing 3D printed replicas of classic car models? As 3D printing technology is not exactly known for its level of detail, we here at 3ders.org were blown away when we first learned of his the stunning quality of the 3D printed replicas he has developed of iconic cars as the Shelby Cobra, the Fiat 500 and the Ferrari F430. Fortunately, the Italian designer is now back for more, with an even more challenging project: a custom-designed Harley Davidson motorcycle.
While there are quite a lot of 3D printed miniatures to be found on the web, few possess a level of quality that makes you want to put them on display. But those by Maurizio certainly are, as you can immediately see from the photos above. For those of you who’ve never heard of him, Maurizio Casella is an Egypt-based artist with a passion for advertisement, diving and 3D modelling who was unsatisfied with the quality of many 3D prints he saw online.
Putting his money where his mouth is, he accepted the challenge of creating high-quality, yet perfectly 3D printable models of all those classic cars you found on posters and showrooms throughout the world. And as you can see in Maurizio’s web shop at 3DaGoGo.com, he has designed some of those most amazing miniatures for FDM 3D printers you’ve ever seen. What’s more, they only cost a few bucks each, so it’s very easy and affordable to download and 3D print them at home.
But Maurizio has been everything but idle over the past few months. As he explains to 3ders.org, he has been working hard to increase the quality of his designs as well as the number of designs available. ‘They’ re now really designed to be assembled as easily as possible,’ he tells us. However, he has also been working hard on the designs of the most challenging and iconic motor vehicle around: the Harley Davidson.
‘I’m currently working to finish printing and assembling of the most outstanding model I’ve designed so far designed, a custom-made Harley Davidson,’ he enthusiastically says. While all of the previous models, like the Ferrari and the Cobra, were based on photos to ensure they are truly replicas, this amazing Harley was entirely conceived and designed by Maurizio himself.
As he explains, the motivation behind this latest design was simple. He just wanted to tackle the iconic Harley. He even went as far as contacting Harley Davidson through their website, asking them if they were interested in 3D printable models. ‘I submitted the model to their “Idea department”, asking if they were interested about the possibility of offering official, customized Harley Davidson 3D printable models that could be either be used as gifts to Harley Davidson customers or sold to 3D printing fans. But unfortunately, no answer,’ he tells us.
As you can expect, there are a lot of separate parts.
So why not do it yourself? And as you might expect, the design process for this incredible model wasn’t easy. ‘I started with the frame and the engine, which are quite similar to the original, then I designed everything else from scratch, because I wanted to make the model exactly like I would have customized the real fatboy without passing by the OCC garage. So this means a monosit, tail cut, reverse steering, a new tank and so on. I tried all the possible details you could add.’ He says. And that really shows in the final result and the incredible number of 3D printed components: 75 in total (divided over 20 different STL files). This means that this isn’t exactly a model for beginners, but Maurizio has also written up a very detailed tutorial which will help you assemble the final model.
Just an example from the detailed tutorial.
The 3D printed miniature you can see above was 3D printed with an unusual beta model FDM printer called the Kentstrapper Volta, which some of Maurizio’s friends in Firenze, Italy, are working on. ‘It’s all made in PLA, at 226° sliced with simplify3d, layer 0.2,’ he says. Printing itself took a massive 48 hours, but that is understandable when so many parts and details are involved. Only the wheel axles haven’t been 3D printed, but are instead made from coat hanger parts to ensure everything remains balanced and stable. However that step is also fully covered by the tutorial, so this should be a fairly manageable project.
If you’re interested in this amazing Harley bike, be sure to visit Maurizio’s ever-growing web shop here. Meanwhile, we are already looking forward to his next project.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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