Lunar Patrol - 6 Wheel Rover by Merlin1974

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

This Lunar Patrol rover is inspired by the Irem / Williams video game Moon Patrol. This video game from 1982 is credited with introducing and popularizing "parallax side scrolling" as a graphics feature. Also, I remember this being one of the first games that allowed you to "continue" by adding more coins / tokens.
I styled this model from an Atari advertisement from 1983 which had a great retro 60's sci-fi feel to it. Angular and simplified, it resembles the original video game image pretty closely. The only thing that I styled to be a bit more modern are the hub-less wheels. This allowed for a bit more ground clearance, and a simplified way to connect the flexible suspension arms. Plus its pretty neat to show off what 3D printing can do with captive rings.
This model is printed in multiple parts, and will require the use of a flexible filament for the tires and suspension arms. I have used Sainsmart TPU and MakerGeeks Flex both without issue for these components.
The hub-less wheels have a print tolerance built in of 0.3mm. This prints easily on my Prusa I3 MK2s. However I do recommend you test print one wheel first before printing the entire model. I don't recommend scaling down unless your print tolerance is very good. Again, test any scaling by printing the wheel first.
I have included two body styles. The standard "body top" prints without supports and no additional parts. The second body, allows the use of separate printable windows and headlights that can be glued in. The fit tolerance on these parts in 0.1mm for a tight friction fit. Glue is recommended for assembly of the rear window, and two side windows. Glue will be required for the headlights. Both guns and front window friction fit in pretty tight, so glue is not needed for a static model.