Gallery: 3D-Printed R/C Jets, Parts & Prints

How to read these photos

Photos are the quickest way to judge what FDM printing can really do, so this gallery sticks to straightforward pictures of finished and in-progress work taken in the home shop and at the flying field. They are not retouched studio shots. You can see layer lines, support marks and the printers themselves, which is the honest look of an FDM part. Each section below explains what to notice. If something here is close to what you need, mention it in your message on the contact page.

R/C jets and aircraft parts

Printed aircraft are the shop's favourite subject. The pictures in this section show full airframes outdoors and the individual parts that make them up. Notice how the surfaces are smooth enough to paint, how fins and tips are separate sections that can be replaced after a hard landing, and how the colour choices help builders identify parts during assembly. The R/C planes and jets page explains the structure and materials in detail.

Two 3D-printed R/C jets lying on grass, one grey with a black canopy and red tips, one grey and red with a dark nose — Two printed jets on grass: a grey airframe with red accents and a second jet with a red and grey wing.

A grey R/C jet with a yellow nose and blue fins on a wooden picnic table beside a black radio transmitter — A printed jet with a yellow nose and blue fins, with its radio on a picnic table.

Printed jet parts laid on glass: blue fin, red brackets, grey ducted-fan housing and a cut-away fin — Printed components including a ducted-fan housing, blue fin sections and red fittings.

A hand holding a thin grey tab inside a cut-open printed fin showing internal ribs — A cut-away printed fin showing the internal ribs that keep the airfoil shape light.

The printers behind the parts

Parts only look good if the machines are looked after. The shop runs several FDM printers, including Artillery Sidewinder-style Cartesian machines with blue frames and direct-drive extruders. Keeping them running smoothly is part of the job, and the same maintenance work is offered as a service on the printer repair page. In this photo, two printers are working at once, each with a spool mounted above for easy feeding.

Two blue and black FDM printers side by side in a home shop, both mid-print — Two printers running in the home shop.

Functional parts and replacements

The less glamorous work is often the most useful. Small clips, tube-shaped fittings, brackets and gears are exactly the sort of part that a business or hobbyist cannot buy separately. These images show typical examples. Notice the clean edges, the crisp holes and the way different colours are used to tell parts apart. The business parts page describes how such parts are measured and recreated.

Four small printed parts, two green and two black, including clips and tube-shaped fittings — Small clips and fittings in green and black.

A white printed gear and a black printed gear on a textured metal print plate — A pair of printed gears in white and black.

Purple and white printed brackets and flat parts on a print plate beneath a printer toolhead — Brackets and flat parts on the plate just after printing.

Colour, texture and display pieces

FDM can also be playful. Silk-finish and multicolour filaments give vases a shimmering look, and carefully designed geometry like lattices or relief patterns shows how much surface detail is possible with a 0.4 mm nozzle. These pieces demonstrate machine tuning as much as design: clean walls, tidy seams and consistent extrusion are visible at a glance. They also make excellent test objects for new settings, so many of them started life as calibration exercises.

A tan printed lidded vessel with an interlaced knot relief pattern beside a blue vase with a yellow lattice neck — A lidded vessel with a woven relief pattern and a blue vase with a lattice neck.

A print bed with a silk multicolour vase, a printed hook and a green gyroscope — Silk vase, hook and a gyroscope that prints already assembled.

Print-in-place mechanisms and articulated models

Print-in-place objects are printed with moving joints already in position, with small clearances that stop the plastic from fusing. They are a stress test for tolerances: if the printer is not well tuned, the joints weld solid. Articulated hands, flexible dragons and gyroscope rings are classic examples. They demonstrate that the machines are calibrated carefully enough to hold clearances of a few tenths of a millimetre, which is the same skill needed for a snug fit on a replacement part.

Articulated multicolour hands hanging from a printer bed with other colourful prints behind — Articulated print-in-place hands, with a crowded shelf of prints behind.

A printer bed with a vase, a gyroscope ring, an articulated dragon and an articulated hand — A mixed plate with a vase, gyroscope, flexible dragon and hand.

A green and yellow dragon-shaped print with lattice infill visible inside a green tray on a printer — A large print under construction, showing visible lattice infill.

Close-ups: infill, hardware and details

Close-up photos show how a printed object is built. The honeycomb piece below combines a hexagonal lattice with solid hex parts, a good demonstration of how infill patterns and hardware features fit together. Seeing the toolhead nearby is a reminder that every one of these objects was laid down line by line.

A close view of a printer toolhead with black printed hexagonal parts and an orange handle on a steel build plate — Hexagonal lattice parts and an orange handle on the plate, beside the toolhead.

Design renders from the case study

Not every project starts as a photo. The webcam mount was developed as a parametric model first, then printed. Renders of its three versions are on the case study page, with the dimensions and clearances used in each.

See something you need?

If a picture here resembles your project, email a short description and a reference photo. Jose can usually say quickly whether it is a good fit for FDM, which material to use and what to expect. For general questions, see the FAQ, or read how orders move from message to finished part on the how it works page.

Ask about a project