Gravity Powered Toy Boat

thingiverse

This toy was originally designed for printing on a Stratasys machine, equipped with a dual extrusion head that always printed a raft and support structure using soluble material. Since I had never used any other type of printer before, ease of use wasn't a major concern for me. It did have some good qualities though - it was highly accurate, likely due to the heated chamber, and easy to operate. There were only two settings: hollow fill or solid. On the downside, it weighed 300 pounds and could only use ABS material that cost $250 per roll. Once I feared damaging the nozzle, but fortunately, the manufacturer said I could replace it for $2000. I bring this up because nowadays I would design it with support material in mind and provide a bit more tolerance for parts that fit together. While everything does fit perfectly, unless your machine performs much better than mine, you'll need to do some sanding and fitting before gluing the pieces together. It could have been designed with fewer parts, but I like having different colored parts and it looked its best this way. I've printed most of the parts in various positions and have some recommendations. The deck prints best when done vertically, as shown in the screenshot. Use a raft and a few support columns to achieve a smooth surface. Any attitude will work, but I was happiest with this setup. The hull should be printed with its transom on the build plate, so the bow is facing upwards. I didn't need any support material, probably won't even require a raft, depending on your printer's adhesion at the moment. There are left and right struts that support the water tank, which are slightly different - shorter on one side. Take a close look. The Exhaust Pipe and Struts have flat surfaces that can face the build plate. I printed the tank upright but supports created a mess of the bottom and its hole for the exhaust pipe either way. The support material is troublesome. I would glue the deck to the hull first, ensuring there are no gaps for water to leak in. You might need to sand the inside top front of the bow a bit. Then, glue the struts to the decks, making sure not to get them mixed up. You'll likely have to open up the holes in the tank slightly to accommodate the struts. Place all parts in position and ensure everything is level before gluing both struts onto the tank at once. Clean up the hole for the exhaust pipe and glue it in place. That's it. The original was printed in ABS, which is a bit lighter than PLA. I printed with 0.2 mm layers and 30% infill. Lighter is always better when printing. Once complete, it should be coated with a clear paint to make it water-resistant.