Rebel X-Wing

Hello everyone,

This is my version of Star Wars Rebel X-Wing that weaves from side to side that was fully created using Tinkercad. I got my inspiration from a youtube video someone made using Legos so i thought i would make a 3D printed version of it.

I made the mechanism using gears to move the aircraft left and right. The whole system is motorized by a N20 DC5v geared motor with a micro USB board to connect the power.

You can find more of my 3d printing stuff at https://www.instagram.com/fay3dlab/ or https://www.myminifactory.com/users/Fay3DLabs

Here's what you need:

1. N20 DC 5V 15RPM or 20RPM - https://amzn.to/3MLc8Cz
2. Rocker switch 2pin - 15mm x 21mm - https://amzn.to/43uotlP
3. Micro USB breakout board - https://amzn.to/42ijHX1
4. Dupont jumpers and wires to connect them all together
5. M3 screws - 8mm & 20mm

and of course a 3d printer.. any 200x200mm bed will work..

The design project is divided into 3 section:

1. The gears itself
2. The movement mechanism
3. The x-wing

Most of my time was spent getting the gear and mechanism to work together right.. a lot of back and forth printing and prototyping.. since i'm not an engineer everything i did was based on visuals and a touch of logic.. so forgive me if im using the wrong terms or names..

1- Gears

Since the motor i was gonna use is 20RPM, i had to slow the speed rotation about 2 or 3 times to around 6-7RPM.. so that mean i needed to use gears.

I started making the gears with 12 teeths since that is the easiest to count and divide into degrees.. and made the bigger gears in set of 12.. 24.. 36.. the motor uses the 12 teeth and the gear that drives the mechanism uses 36 teeths.. tried using 24 teeth but it was still too fast and the whole thing wobbles too much.

The gears was made using boxes.. added some radius and steps to get a smooth edge and cut the top and bottom to get nice teeths for the gear.. rotate and duplicate them every 30 degrees and you get your 12 teeth gear.. resize the box and repeat until you get your 24 and 36 teeths gear..

2- Moving mechanism

the whole mechanism transfer the rotation from the motor into a linear left right movement that in returns makes the aircraft sway left and right. since we cant put animations on tinkercad.. i had to duplicate shadow to simulate when it moves to get the right calculation movements

3- Making the base and X-wing

I design the base for the aircraft around the motor and mechanism and added some design to look like the deathstar's surface.. i also imported SVG files of the logo and star wars text and added into the base design. I had to add extensions front and back of the base to make it heavier.. its optional if you dont want to add them..

making the x-wing itself was a lot of fun.. i pretty much made it like carving onto a block of wood and bollean/group them into the shapes i wanted. I did have problems with the laser cannon on the wings.. since its too thin.. it kept breaking from the slightest touch.. in the end i separated the cannon and the wings.. so if you break off your laser cannnon you just have to reprint them and not the whole aircraft.

All 3d model stl can be found here at https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-rebe...

There a total of 23 3d printed parts divided into 2 sections.. the base mechanism and the x-wing..

tip: i recommend to prepare the electronics first before assembly so you dont have to go back and forth.. i used dupont jumpers to seperate the motor from the usb board and rocker switch.

Assembly of the mechanism is quite straight forward but its a bit tricky to fit everything together..

1. 1st step is to screw the 2 front extension with logo to the front base.. it need to be screwed from the inside with m3 20mm screws.. 4 of them
2. add the small gear and the wires onto your motor before installing it into the base.. the gear should have a tight fit.. if not glue them in.. once done put the motor into the motor holder and screw in place on the base.. you'll need a m3 8mm screw..
3. add the large 36 gear in the middle socket and the the linear rail on top of it.. make sure you put the large gear with the notch in the center so its easiler to assemble the other parts..
4. add the 2 stands and close up the base. you'll need 2x m3 20mm screw to hold the 2 half base together.
5. the rocker switch and usb board should be able to fit through from the switch hole and install everything before closing it up.. add some glue to the board once its in place..
6. close the top and screw using 4x m3 8mm screws
7. screw the back extension last after everything works.. using 2x m3 20mm screws

The aircraft assembly is quite straight forward.. the longer pins are for the bottom and to be inserted into the 2 stand parts.. the shorter for the top.. you could also add short 1.75mm filament on the tip of the wings so that the wings stay aligned front and back..

tip: paint the x-wing and base before assembly.. its makes painting a lot easier

make sure the aircraft is facing the right side before closing the 2 halves of the x-wing.. and that is pretty much it..

The whole project took me a month from design to final paint.. it was a lot of fun making it moves and i already have an idea for my next star wars project. maybe something with 4 legs..

Have fun making the x-wing and happy 3D printing