Thousand-Year-Old Egg Car

In the spirit of easter, delicious chinese food, and poor Frodo who really could have used a lift for the greater part of his unexpected journey, I present to you, the Thousand-Year Egg Car!

Things you will need:

• 3d printer (I used a printrbot simple metal with a heated bed)
• Computer
• Exacto Knife
• Toothpicks
• STL files (attached)

• Download the stl files and print them on your 3d printer.
  • I used PLA.
  • I recommend doing a test on the small wheel first. I had adjust my temperature and layer height settings slightly to make the wheels and car body print well. I ended up printing at 215C with a layer height of 0.15mm -- but do the test first, because the standard 210C may work fine for you.
  • For the egg car body, I cut off 1 mm from the base of the geometry for easier printing. I also used support material.
• When the pieces are complete, carefully pry them off the printer bed. Take extra care with the wheels! I crushed a few sets of mine by accident...

• Use the exacto knife to trim off any unwanted whiskers and support material.

Side note: I tried to sand the surface of my first car iteration, however it turns the plastic a dusty white color and is a very slow and laborious process. So don't do that unless you intend to have that kind of surface finish.

Back (LARGE) Wheels:

• Take 1 toothpick.
• Cut off the pointy ends of the toothpick with the exacto. The remaining length of toothpick should be at least 1-3/8" long.
• Push the toothpick into the center hole of one of the large wheels.
• Slide toothpick (with the wheel attached) through the holes in back of the car.
• Push the second large wheel on to the other end of the toothpick
• Adjust wheel placement on toothpick axles as necessary.

Front (small) Wheel:

• Take 1 toothpick.
• DO NOT CUT OFF THE POINTY ENDS!
• Place the small wheel in the gap at the front of the car. Try to align wheel hole to the axle holes in the car body.
• Push the toothpick through the first axle hole, then the wheel hole, all the way through the second axle hole.
• When the toothpick is firmly in place, trim off the excess length of toothpick with an exacto knife. I found it easiest to score the toothpick with the exacto and just break off the excess with my fingers.

Your vehicle is now ready for deployment! Take your favorite LEGO characters for a ride.