my morane-saulnier MS-703 model will be 8.3 inches long, fuselage length. judging from my last plane, the main landing gear should be stainless steel so that it can bare the weight of the plane, so this time i am making the main gear to be printed in metal, staineless steel, so i made holes for the struts to fit into a little wider than the the metal strut diameter, but i dont want the main gear to loosely fit into the holes because i have carefully calculated the angle that the plane leans back on the gear when on the ground. so i hope to get a good fit, not too loose, not too tight that the metal main gear wouldnt fit in. do you think this nacelle hole printed in "ultra frosted detail" will be wide enough for stainless steel printed main gear to fit in? screenshots attached:
Hi Mike, Given the accuracy range SW quotes (and my own experience of them!) I'd make the hole undersize, and drill it out after with the correct drill bit. Also, the deeper the hole, the less critical a slight wobble becomes...
You could also make the actual hole considerably oversize, but add three equally spaced sacrificial splines inside it which would create a press fit in those areas, with plenty of space for the excess plastic to peel or "mushroom". This might avoid the customer needing to drill, but be cautious. You'd need to test this, being aware there can be variation between prints. Steve Hunter