[HWP]

Blender is my "axe" of choice... I've been working in it producing slot car bodies and custom figures for around 10 years. Steep initial learning curve, but incredibly powerful software for the price - FREE.

The hardest part of the modeling process, and worse - repairing other people's STL files, is thickening the mesh to make it printable. The solidify and displace modifiers are very useful as a starting point. But often you will find yourself running into the problem of self-intersecting geometry which can cause printing problems if not cleaned up after applying the modifier(s).

Here's a painted model a friend from SlotLodge made from a resin print of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang I modeled from scratch in Blender. She's 1/64 scale:

   

   

Check out http://www.facebook.com/hwpslotcars to see some of the other slot car products my sons and I make.