3D printed monster spitfire

3D Printed Monster Spitfire | Flite Test

by FliteTest | December 5, 2017 | (4) Posted in Reviews

3D printing has come a long way in the past couple of years. It's quite incredible that today, anyone with a 3D printer is able to print a working radio controlled 3D printed airplane. This time last year, we got the opportunity to review the magnificent P-38 from 3DLabPrint. This year, it's time to step the gear up even higher. Here is the 67" (1.7m) wingspan Supermarine Spitfire MKIX. The best part? This plane only costs $36 in 3D printer filament!

Spec

Check out the beasty specification of this thing. With a large wing area, decent heft in terms of weight, the plane behaves fairly similarly to the real warbird. 

• Wingspan - 67 inches. 
• Takeoff  weight (with a 6s 4500mAh) - 3.7kg
• Max speed (level flight) - 87mph
• Rate of climb - 5,500 ft/min
• Flight time 6s 4500mAh - Approximately 10 mins (although we found we could fly for longer)

Aside from the spec, the aircraft just looks gorgeous, even sitting still on the ground. The retractable landing gear, three bladed prop and details like the canopy just make the thing look magnificent. If you look at the clear version, like this particular bird, you can see all the way through the internal structure that gives the Spitfire its rigidity and strength. Stealth mode activated! 

As you can see, the structure is intricately designed to give the aircraft the required torsional strength. It does the job of the stressed aluminium skin of the real Spitfire. One highlighted feature in this model is the double skin of the fuselage which is required because of the sheer size of this airplane. This image was sourced from 3DLabPrint's website. 

Our Experience

As was clear in the video, our daring test pilot Josh Bixler was extremely impressed. Several times, he expressed his enthusiasm. 

"I'm in love" - Josh Bixler

It's clear to see why this was. Aside from flying like a charm, the Spitfire looked simply wonderful. Like the big scale gassers, the plane ripped by on it's several low and fast passes. 

The plane is a mix of old and new - heavy warbird-like flying characteristics with ultra-modern 21st-century manufacturing technology.

Cruising in for a touch and go, the big Spitfire settles down into the uneven grass without any issues. The 3kg takeoff weight makes landings like this very scale, the plane rolling along without too much deceleration. With the throttle back wide open, she regains airspeed and lifts skyward once more.  

Up at altitude, it's clear to see the intricacy of the fine structure of the wings as the internal shapes become shadows against the low winter sunlight.  

From Alex's 270 chase quad, the plane almost resembles a balsa model with tissue wings, sunlight pouring through the veins of the wings and the formers of the fuselage. 

As you can see from this shot of the underside, as the plane almost eclipses the sun, this model includes a retractable undercarriage. It is features like these that make  3D printed models like this even more impressive - there is little doubt that they aim to equal, if not improve upon, the alternative traditional building materials of balsa, plywood and fibreglass that are used to create most large-scale models. 

It is so scale you can almost hear that Merlin engine. 

One last pass before landing.

How you build a 3D printed plane

Wondering how it works? Here's the straightforward rundown of how you build a 3D printed plane like this Spitfire.

 All of 3DLabPrint's aircraft are easy to assemble without the need for complicated tools - it's simply glued together. In actual fact, the build process isn't a million miles away from our foam board DIY Swappable Series. Step by step build videos are also available on the website for you to follow along with detailed user manuals. 

For this aircraft, all you need is a 3D Printer with a nozzle of 0.4mm diameter and PLA filament (and of course your own RC gear). Lulzbot make some great quality printers, such as the Lulzbot Miniwhich is a great option for beginners. 

You can purchase the STL files from the website here. 

We're very excited about this next chapter of the hobby which is opening up. Along with full-sized aircraft builds, 3D printing opens the door to printing components for scratch building such as cowlings, motor mounts, tires, wheel hubs, canopies, cockpit details and more. Although a lot of this has been available for a while now, it's now that we see a step forward to the point where scale warbirds can be printed with plastic and flown with similar performance to their balsa and fibreglass counterparts. A new chapter has only just begun, and it's one that holds many opportunities for the years ahead. 

Further Viewing and Reading

You might want to check out our other experience with the P-38 from 3DLabPrint. Here is our video on that particular model and a link to the article that describes our thoughts in more detail.

Supermarine Spitfire MkIX – 3DLabPrint

Future of flying – Print your own plane

Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX

This is the Big Spitfire! Cutting edge project, featuring a lot of improvements  thanks to our huge effort and vast experience. So far (by 8/2017) this is the best one!

Now with optional “clipped” wing modification.

The first fully printable airplane with suitable files prepared for your 3Dprinter. Flight characteristics are comparable or even superior to classic build model airplanes.

Simply download and print it anytime you need only for $36 (filament cost). This is not a dream, now you can print this HI-TECH …. at home, print spare parts, and so on…

Both the wing and fuselage features extensive hitech 3d structural reinforcement, making the model very rigid, yet maintaining lightweight airframe and exact airfoil, even it is made only from plastic. This perfect and exact 3d structure is possible thanks to additive 3dprinting technology only.

Easy to assemble, without need of any extra tool or hardware. Just glue printed parts together. The rest of the assembly is very easy. Simply add brushless motor, ESC, servos and radio system. Don´t worry, a detailed step by step PDF/VIDEO is included.

Create account and download:

You’ll receive a link for all files to your email inbox and after checkout, the download button appears (in most cases immediately). Or login to your account and download directly from our website anytime.

Prepared Gcodes for your printer:

You can directly use our prepared gcodes, if your printer is Prusa i3 compatible. Simply save to an SD card and let the 3d printer do it’s job.

For further options take a look at the PDF/VIDEO userguide

Glue printed parts together:

Landing Gear:

Find active links for all equipment and much more in our PDF/VIDEO userguide :

Final setting:

!!!And check our Printing Guide/FAQ section (thin wall printing)

 Basic requirements:

3D Printer, nozzle 0.4mm diameter, min. build volume 195/195/150mm

PolyAir 1.0 (highly recommended) or PLA filament

Simplify3D (recommended)

STL file spitfire・3D printed model for download・Cults