[Bazzer]

Jason

You are quite right and at that stage you would need to thicken the shell which is fairly easy and add internal features such as mounting posts if you wanted those in the print as well.

Unfortunately 3D printers are seen as 'Maker machines' which they are anything bit that if you want to do very creative stuff like a body shell.

B.

[MrFlippant]

Even if you did find a scanning service, wouldn't that just give you the outside shape, with no depth or thickness to the body shell?

I wouldn't pay for a scanning service that doesn't do a complete, real, 3d scan of all sides and surfaces. 
I can get a blob on a platform from photogrammetry.

[JasonB]

The word blob must mean something different over there.

[Bazzer]

Even if you did find a scanning service, wouldn't that just give you the outside shape, with no depth or thickness to the body shell?

I wouldn't pay for a scanning service that doesn't do a complete, real, 3d scan of all sides and surfaces. 
I can get a blob on a platform from photogrammetry.

 Mr Flippant

Your dollars are safe in your pocket, there are not many companies or people who can offer an inside and outside body/surfacing laser scanning service for hobby prices, there is a lot involved in stitching the inside and outside scans together neatly.

Offsetting the outside skin by 1mm is one thing but scanning the inside as well as the outside is another.

Do you know of such services on your side of the pond?

B.

[MrFlippant]

Nope. Have not done any searching.

But, let's say that the tech is only putting a thing on a platform and letting various lights and cameras do the scanning while that thing was rotating. Why not suspend it from a few strings? Why not stand it up on the end? It does not NEED to be resting on the "wheels" to be scanned, does it?

You're right, though. Just getting the outer surface and adding a thickness to it is usually enough for horseshoes and atom bombs.

[Kevan]

The word blob must mean something different over there.

I think it means exactly the same everywhere, a blob "bodyshell" is a non-descript shape like a jelly mould.

[JasonB]

That's what puzzled me, as from what I've seen, 3d scanners seem to be able to capture much more detailed and sophisticated shapes than non-descript jelly moulds.

[Bazzer]

Nope. Have not done any searching.

But, let's say that the tech is only putting a thing on a platform and letting various lights and cameras do the scanning while that thing was rotating. Why not suspend it from a few strings? Why not stand it up on the end? It does not NEED to be resting on the "wheels" to be scanned, does it?

You're right, though. Just getting the outer surface and adding a thickness to it is usually enough for horseshoes and atom bombs.

I might be barking up the wrong tree on the scanning but I have done some about 20 years ago, it is a hell of an ask to spin something around and get a 3D scan then to effectively spin it over and do the same thing again and for that whole lot to join up nicely.

I think what you are talking about is real high end stuff.

B.

[MrFlippant]

Most of the consumer/prosumer stuff I've seen uses some kind of light projection, either patterns or lasers, or just regular bright lights, pointed at the thing you're scanning. The thing is placed on a platform of some kind with a known dimension, often with registration marks or patterns of its own. That platform then rotates a small number of degrees between scans. This is repeated up to hundreds of times, to get every angle of the model. How the data is stored and interpreted is proprietary to whatever gadget is being sold, but some of them use open source photogrammetry.

My point is that the object, such as a slot car body, doesn't actually need to be set onto the platform as if it were sitting on all four wheels. One could create a frame, and suspend the chassis from the frame by whatever means necessary to hold it firmly in place "in the air" so that the scanning process gets both the outside (top) and inside (bottom) of the body. Yes, the results will have the frame and poles or string or whatever is holding the body up in the air (in my mind, vertically, as if it were a rocket ship on a launch pad), but that could easily be edited out in whatever 3d modeling program, such as the oft referenced Meshmixer.

The quality of the resultant model will depend entirely on the stability of the model being scanned, and the accuracy of the scanning system.

Whether you get a high quality model out of an expensive machine, or a low quality model out of a consumer system, there WILL be work to be done to get it to a point where someone can print it and be happy with the results.

When the day comes that what people believe is possible matches what is actually possible, and for a reasonable amount of money, I will rejoice along with the rest of you.

[Bazzer]

When the day comes that what people believe is possible matches what is actually possible, and for a reasonable amount of money, I will rejoice along with the rest of you.

MrF

I would say that you last paragraph is entirely accurate and reflects my personal experience.

Point and shoot 3D scanning at consumer prices is miles off as far as I can tell, very happy like yourself to be updated though.

I did do a quick Google search last night and Faro seemed to have a good offering.

FARO® Freestyle 2 Handheld Scanner | Hardware | FARO

I know of Faro from proper engineering contact inspection where their products are top of the tree, so would expect this to work, I could only find one unit for sale second hand at $10,000

B.