So,

Once upon a time, when installing my GTACarKit Bluetooth module, I managed to scratch my console cover up pretty good:



I've replaced it since then, at great expense mind you, but I really don't like the gray paint on the clear plastic. Not a fan of painted plastic in any application.

Being the good and diligent OCD engineer that I am, I sat down in front of SolidWorks and designed this:




My lovely wife bought me a Bambu Labs P1S 3D printer for Christmas, so I converted the solid model to STL, and imported into OrcaSlicer and told it to print. To be kind, this is not a shape that is easily 3D printable. I'm on my 5 or 6th revision, and am not done, but, it's getting a lot closer:

The top:


And the bottom:



I've printed it face side down on a smooth PEI plate, but I'm still not really happy with the surface texture. And I'm still working on the design of the little "pocket" where the control for the door lives. The only way to get this looking better is to print is out as a separate piece and then glue it in a receptacle in the faceplate.

The buffer in the hole for the gear shift is chrome in the original, and I'm not excited about it printed in white. I need to explore what other filament colors would look like.

Cheers,

 

This is so much dedication and it looks great. One day when I grow up I want to learn how to do this. My son has a 3D printer. I should go talk to him.

 

This is SO awesome, Chris!!

There will be a market for those that have scratched that faceplate — it’s for the facelift years 2006-2010 right?

I’m sure your engineer mind will not let it go until perfect in your eyes.

Well done, you

 

Hello,

Not sure how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go, but thought I might as well throw my few cents into the ring as well..

I am quite sure that the Chrome insert in the original panel is removable, it's held on by simple clips, I do wonder if it would be easier to remove the white insert from your CAD Model and implement just the Mounts for the OEM insert, then simply reuse the one you have..?

Also, it's a well known practice to dip the 3D Printed parts into some type of resin to smooth out all the layers left by the printer, though it depends on the filament that you use for the print. The reason I mention the epoxy is because in the OEM trim, the Gear Shifter Lettering is actually translucent, such that the interior lighting can make those a bit more noticeable, at least that's the case with the majority of other Lexus models, and the epoxy would allow you to do just that, it would even allow for different coloring of each letter if you are careful.

The only issue is keeping the "islands" inside letter like P and R. What you can also do is lower those letters down into the part while leaving said "islands" lever with the surface to create a "bath" of sorts that would later be filled with epoxy, and once it cures, you can file down the 3D printed plastic from the bottom of the part, leaving just the translucent epoxy with the letters fully intact.

You did mention that you don't like paint on plastic parts, if the concern is more about the durability and not the general aesthetics of it, you can simply wrap the part in a Paint Protection Film, which would give you all the durability that you can hope for, they also sell the matte film that would do a much better job at hiding a lot of the imperfections.

Just some thoughts I wanted to throw on the fan, here's hoping that it won't end up kicking your OCD into high gear..

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

The chrome insert is indeed removable. There are four posts that are melted over to hold it in place. I cut them off with an exactly knife any the insert popped right out.

The crux of the issue is my reverse engineering is not 100% true to the actual part. The old insert doesn't really fit well in the new part.

I played with the letters and that's a whole nuther rabbit hole. Recessing them as suggested brings in the issue of supports, and they cause the surface finish to be a problem.

I'm not done with this, but I'm not certain how far I want to go with it. 3D printing these types of shapes is a bit of a challenge.

Cheers

 

Chris

You never stop amazing me on the attention to detail you have with your SC.

Dennis

 

If your 3D Printer is reasonably precise, I've had great success with using a basic Flatbed Scanner for regular paper documents to get a precise and very high quality image of parts, which I would then use to trace a vector drawing around it. If you have a scanner with at the very least a 1000dpi setting, you can get within a tenth of a millimeter if you are careful, at which point it's just a matter of some light sanding to get the fit to within factory spec.

The idea is not to create supports on the surface for those letters, instead, my suggestion is to create essentially a mold in shape of the letter like the one shown below, which would then be filled with epoxy. Once the epoxy cures, you can file away your improvised mold from the back side of the part, leaving just the epoxy and any 3D printed part that was level with it. That way you won't need any additional supports on the part, the "islands" inside of each letter will pretty much float inside of the part.



Well, more power to ya..

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Very nice. Instead of white, would you try a red filament than matches your exterior? Same could be done for the coin door **** area - print it as an insert which can be made shorter.

Edit: on a parallel note, for the same console area, could you please try to take a picture of the lever of the ashtray door mechanism which causes it to open? (Mine broke.)

 

Looking good. Nice and clean!!!!

3D printers can come in handy for many other parts as well.....