[woodcote]

I think 3D printing has been fabulous for our hobby and there's still plenty of scope for producing spares on demand that I don't think has been tapped yet.

However, there are different levels of 3D design and production.

When people talk about 3D printed chassis costing £6 to £12 - for example the JS Chassis Design and Amato products - these are chassis designed to convert mostly old cars to use modern parts. At that price point, they are produced on a decent home printer using bog-standard filament. What you get is relatively bulky and heavy - and a little rough. That is not to take away from what is a superb innovation and something that is good value (even adding in the cost of the parts to build up the chassis). Absolutely ideal for a home or club racing class specifically using these chassis. However, club racers I've spoken to who have tried out these chassis have been disappointed - but I think their expectations of getting a top-notch racing chassis for £10 were unrealistic. This isn't what they are designed to be. We gave an Amato chassis a good test for a possible new class at WHO/digital - and loved it. We didn't go ahead in the end, as it didn't quite fit with our plans for the club at the time. Using very cheap parts and a job lot of £1 bodies, we were looking at a basic kit that we could offer to racers for £25. After the chassis, the most expensive component was the Slot.it motor pod.

   

The likes of Slot.it, Olifer, CG Slotcars - all of whom I have bought chassis from - use Shapeways for their printing. The cost is between £13 (for unfinished white plastic) and £22 - plus £9 shipping per order. The Shapeways industrial printers are state-of-the art and produce slot car chassis that can be thin, strong and very light. The printing is incredibly accurate and offers a choice of stiffness (depending on additives). You get what you pay for... a chassis that is as good - if not better - than any injection-moulded chassis. We've built and raced an Audi R10 at the DiSCA Le Mans 24 hours using the Olifer chassis. We decided not to add up exactly how much we spent per car, but it must have been getting on for £100, including the £20 body. This isn't budget slot car racing!

   

Another avenue of 3D printing I've used is Andi Rowland's 'ARCO' chassis to convert Scalextric, SRC, Fly and scratch-built classic F1s to use the Policar drivetrain. These small chassis attach to the Policar motor pod. They are produced via Shapeways and cost £16 (plus shipping) or £13 for the unfinished white plastic. Not cheap, but a fabulous option to produce a grid of F1 cars that will race against each other with the same Policar drive train. Again, a Lotus 78 I built to race did cost more than a RTR Policar F1 - and that was including a budget £15 Fly donor car. I did it because I really wanted to, not because it was a cheap option. Great fun to drive and it is competitive...

   

Back to the Pendle chassis... These are racing chassis produced by Area 71 Slotcars in Milan. The Area 71 1/32 scale car kits are 70 Euros for chassis and body and are squarely aimed at serious racers with a comfortable budget. That's the area of the market Pendles have decided to pitch their Revoslot plastic option. That won't be the only market they are looking at for the PSR 3D print shop. Pendles also produce 3D printed parts to convert the Penelope Pitlane F1 bodies to use the Policar drivetrain and - I suspect - will be producing 3D printed chassis for some of their other resin bodies. I'm very much looking forward to see how the PSR 3D Print Shop develops.