I 3D printed a Tesla Cybertruck because...why not?

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  • Welcome to the Cybertruck 3D print

    Welcome to the Cybertruck 3D print

    After watching Elon Musk launch the Cybertruck and fly a little too close to the sun by smashing his unsmashable windows in front of a worldwide audience, I couldn't resist. I had to have one. A small one, made of plastic. But I also had to have one that was demo accurate. Let's get started.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz and Thingiverse designer aaskedall

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Thingiverse to the rescue

    Thingiverse to the rescue

    This project was made possible entirely through the creative 3D modeling of Thingiverse user aaskedall, known to his friends and co-workers as Andrew Askedall, creative director of digital products at MakerBot. Oh, the irony. If i'd looked up user aaskedall before running this print and sitting down to write this gallery, I would have run it on the MakerBot, another favorite printer in the Fab Lab. If you want to make your own Cybertruck, here's a link to the model.

    Photo by: Thingiverse user aaskedall

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Clean the printer

    Clean the printer

    The first thing I did was clean the Ultimaker S5. This print was small enough to print on any printer, but I had this sweet ColorFabb NGEN gray metallic filament, which I thought would be super-appropriate for Musk's brush-steel Cybertruck. 

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Prep the model in Cura

    Prep the model in Cura

    I brought the model into Cura for slicing. Please note that I chose to print in fast mode (so there will be very visible layer lines) in order to get the job done in a day. I could have printed a much finer model, but that would have taken longer than I had for this project.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Set the (wrong) print settings

    Set the (wrong) print settings

    Don't do this. I didn't pay any attention to what filament was in my printer (foreshadowing!) and set my temperatures assuming it was normal PLA.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Send to print

    Send to print

    Using Cura's direct connection to the printer, I sent it to the printer.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Model loaded on printer

    Model loaded on printer

    The model is loaded on the printer. It's using PLA print settings (foreshadow: this will be a mistake), and it's expected to take 2 hours and 45 minutes. 

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Prepare the bed surface

    Prepare the bed surface

    I've been amazingly successful at preparing the Ultimaker's glass surface with a simple glue stick.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • The print begins

    The print begins

    The print (the first time) begins.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • The print comes loose from the bed

    The print comes loose from the bed

    I didn't know this for about an hour. The result is... (see the next slide)

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Ah. Oops. RTFM.

    Ah. Oops. RTFM.

    Yeah, I have a tendency to forget to check the filament specs when initially queuing up a print. This is only the second time a print has failed on the S5, and this time it's also because I didn't set the proper temperatures.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Follow directions

    Follow directions

    Here are the actual instructions for the filament. Best practice tip: Always check the vendor notes for filament usage instructions.

    Photo by: ColorFabb

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Here are the correct print settings

    Here are the correct print settings

    NGEN requires a much hotter bed to stick.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Yay! It's sticking!

    Yay! It's sticking!

    Finally, once the bed got hot enough, the print properly stuck to the bed.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Cura monitor, partial print

    Cura monitor, partial print

    Here's the print beginning to take form, as seen through the camera interface in Cura.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Wheel wells

    Wheel wells

    You can see the wheel wells start to take form.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • It's beginning to be recognizable

    It's beginning to be recognizable

    The vehicle's hood is taking form.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • The truck bed

    The truck bed

    Here, you can see the Cybertruck's bed.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • The final shape

    The final shape

    You can see the final shape of the vehicle now.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Almost done printing

    Almost done printing

    You can see how pretty the gray metallic filament is in this shot.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • The finished body

    The finished body

    And here it is, finished, waiting to be removed from the printer.

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Preparing the wheels for printing

    Preparing the wheels for printing

    Before I start to clean up the print and prepare it for final assembly, I wanted to get the wheel print job started. It's ready to print, this time using the proper temperature settings.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Wheels beginning to take form

    Wheels beginning to take form

    The wheelset is taking shape.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Trim the flashing

    Trim the flashing

    While I was waiting for the wheels to print, I took a sharp knife and trimmed the brim flashing from around the model.

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Wheels: The monitor view

    Wheels: The monitor view

    Here are the wheels as seen from the built-in camera.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Wheels looking like wheels

    Wheels looking like wheels

    You can see how the wheels are forming here.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Wheels complete

    Wheels complete

    The wheels (and by extension, the entire model) is now fully printed. Let's see what it looks like.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Presenting the plastic Cybertruck

    Presenting the plastic Cybertruck

    Here it is, in all it's 3D-printed glory. But we're not done yet. There are two more steps to go.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Masking off the windows

    Masking off the windows

    It's been a very long time since I played with plastic model paints. But I dutifully masked off and painted the windows.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

  • Armored windows, really?

    Armored windows, really?

    OK, it's not nice to mock. But when Tesla lead designer Franz von Holzhausen attempted to prove how strong the so-called armored windows of the Cybertruck were, well, things didn't go exactly to plan. In the interest of accuracy (and my own twisted sense of humor), I reproduced the window holes in my 3D printed model. 

    Final admission: For some reason, I think the Cybertruck is cool, in a bad-to-the-bone Humvee kind of way. Who knows, a real one might be in my future.

    Photo by: David Gewirtz

    Caption by: David Gewirtz

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Prep the model in Cura

I brought the model into Cura for slicing. Please note that I chose to print in fast mode (so there will be very visible layer lines) in order to get the job done in a day. I could have printed a much finer model, but that would have taken longer than I had for this project.

Caption by: David Gewirtz

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