14 DAY TRIAL // Having the option to produce fully functional devices and mechanical contraptions with the press of a single button will likely be possible in, say, twenty years, but for now we can only dream. Dream and gush over the instances where man comes close to achieving those dreams.
We dare say that seeing a Panzer IV Tank being 3D printed, fully functional, is an example of dreams coming true, in a manner of speaking.
Sure, it's not full scale and definitely not made of metal. It can't fire any shots either, not that they'd be large enough to do any damage.
But the point is that there is now a way for people to create a highly realistic tank (well, as long as you look past the homogeneous color) that can move the same way the real one does.
The 3D printed German Panzer IV Tank
In truth a 3D printable model kit, it was designed by a man named Elliot Viles using a software you might have heard about: Solidworks.
Being a huge fan of military history (his own words), especially of World War II, he chose to revive one of his favorite war weapon designs of the era.
The tank has a turret with built-in bearings that allow it to turn at 360 degrees once mounted on the main chassis. This alone would have been remarkable, but Viles also made sure that the cannon could move up and down easily.
The wheels / tracks are fully mobile as well. This literally is a fully functional war toy. All that's missing from the one in the gallery is a paint job, but then again, real tanks often were sort of green-ish themselves.
How the tank was made
We already mentioned that the model was created in Solidworks. The 3D printer Viles used was an Ultimaker 2, but any consumer printer should work, though you might need to cut the model if the print volume is too small on yours.
The tank can't be built in a single go, but you should be able to cram multiple pieces alongside each other if the platform is large enough. Also, you don't need to use any support structure, and thus, no scaffold material. At the end of it, assembling the different pieces is pretty straightforward.
And yes, the tracks were 3D printed too. Viles recommends NinjaFlex material for them, though, instead of the non-flexible PLA or ABS you would use for the main body.
