As the title states, I am looking for free to use software to learn on. I have searched on here and other forums but have come up empty. I like the layout of the fusion 360, and I have watched the 3 beginner videos that were provided in a post by Crius. The personal use download is free for a certain time frame and then of course there is the paid subscription which allows you to use their product to sell items that you design, the personal one it is not allowed to sell. As I stated I watched the videos and it simplified the procedure to design a model, something that was completely foreign to me. This will be a first stab at it. My question is, is what do you all recommend? I am just learning. But eventually I want to progress and be kinda sorta knowing what I am doing. I would like to eventually be able to sell products.as a side hustle... not just rc tank accessories, but items used around the house etc. as another form of income and fun factor...eventually.. I read the post by Gary 3d printing thoroughly and I am still undecided on a printer, but I will cross that bridge later, way later.
I am a true noob when it comes to this, but it looks like a lot of fun once I get the basics down.

Cheers
Wade

FreeCAD is a free option. I have installed it, but haven't really played around with it yet to see how it compares to Solidworks.

https://www.freecadweb.org/

It will be a big learning curve, if you don't have any background in 3D modeling, especially if you learn it on your own. Good luck. With 20+ years experience using AutoCAD, I found teaching myself Solidworks to be quite difficult.

Most of the better designers that I know, including Martin, who designed all those trucks, are using Fusion 360 and I believe they pay for it. I think that's because there isn't another software out there that's free that's better. As for printers, if you want an fdm printer creality seems to be the favorite. I have the cr-10 and it's a very good printer with a 12-in by 12-in bed but you can get the 500 and the bed on that is 500 mm by 500 mm. As for resin printers, I have the wanhao D8 it's not bad but I can't remember the name of the software that I used with it for slicing. I'd have to look when I get home if you need to know that. To be honest, it's been so long since I used either printer that I've forgotten most of what I learned. I'm sure it would come back to me in no time at all, all I have to do is get back into it. But, until then that's probably the best advice I can give you, is to ask around and see what other people like and what they're using.

Thanks Gary, at this time I am not really interested in resin at this moment, I want to get my feet wet first. I am eyeing up the Creality Ender 3 Max. Right now just looking to learn the basics on the software side of it. I might try the fusion personal use to get the hang of it and see if this is something that I want to pursue, I also have been looking at Tinkercad but it appears the fusion is more in depth with features and simpler to use. I guess tonight after I put my son to bed I will watch some vids on Tinkerbell um cough tinkercad for dumb asses

Thanks
Wade

The Ender is a very good starter printer, but if you can afford it I say you should get the cr-10s. That's similar to the one I have but the s means a couple of upgrades since I bought mine so the S is actually a better printer than what I have. But, if you can't afford it, like I say, the Ender is a very good starter printer.

I am also going to check out SelfCAD tonight

There is Onshape, but it does use a shared model so I'm not sure if it is the right medium if you want to sell your parts. The video explains all of that and I don't remember all the specifics when I watched it.


Derek

I use Solidworks at/for work and FreeCAD at home for my hobby. I also downloaded Blender but haven't used it much. I didn't know about Onshape and I'll be checking that out. FreeCAD is nice because it's free but I've had some issues with crashing sometimes but I can always (so far) get my part designed and printed.

Thanks TH….I will have to look into your recommendation


Cheers
Wade

Good ideal starting out with the lower cost Ender 3 Max I've got an Ender 3 S1 Pro and a Ender 5 pro and a ender 5 Plus and just picked up in Dec a Ender 5 S1 Ya they be like candy once you get the 3D printer bug just starting to get in to resin this week got the Creality Halot One Resin printer to try it out been printing the M60 Tank from cults3d.com .
thanks
Jimmy

Yeah, the 3D printer bug is real. I didn't want to go low end...more like mid-range and bought a Qidi iMates printer as my first. Great box. Prints ABS really well which is what I wanted it for, but then.....the Bambu Labs X1C Carbon hit the market and now the Qidi has been relegated to printing TPU... The Bambu Labs printer just prints everything so much faster and with little effort on my part screwing around with settings. I've had my share of failed prints with it, but most of those are using PETG which is really not easy to print fast. I'm about to print an IS-4 turret on the X1C and at a .16 layer height it is going to take 7.5 hours. Believe it or not that will be the longest print yet on it. Nothing else has taken that long and I printed an entire BMP-1 in less than a week of casual printing. I sliced the turret in my Qidi slicer and it would take 29 hours to print on a traditional printer. The Bambu is FAST, but it was also expensive. The P1P is much less expensive, but still not cheap. I think it would make an excellent starter printer, but like I said...not really cheap like an Ender.

Derek

I started with a Creality CR10S Pro and Simplify 3D. After countless Nickle and dime updates to printer and still unreliable, I almost just quit altogether. Then I bought a Prusa, assembled it and it worked, and worked and worked. I didnt use it for almost 6 months, turned it on and perfect prints, no issues. I got excited and got back on the CR10s Pro, more updates, failed boards 3 in all, failed thermos, failed SD card readers, just constant glitches. I almost threw it away. I finally have it working about 85% reliable now. I will never buy another Creality product. In the meantime I purchased another Prusa. I use both Prusaslicer and Simplify 3D V5. I use Tinkercadd and am slowly learning Fusion 360 free version. I print hobby parts and some parts for my business if they are no longer produced. Still Learning. I'm saving up for my next printer. Looking at a Bambu or Stacker S4. It is an addiction.

This is great info, thank you. I will have to take a look at the Prusa's. Until I take the plunge and purchase a printer it will most likely be awhile, probably a couple months. I am in the process of putting the house up for sale and don't want to assemble and then have to box it up and move it. I will also research simplify.

Thanks
Wade

Tell you the truth Wade, the Prusa and the Bambu P1P are comparably priced. The Bambu prints so much faster. Just an FYI. Prusas have a good, long reputation though. Nothing wrong with them.

Derek

Thank you. Whenever I make a purchase on anything valuable I always try to research and get advice. Thanks

I use Fusion 360 and run a Crealty CR-10 3d printer. It is really cool to be able to think of some part I want, design it, then print it out. I've designed and made everything from a scale Bailey Bridge for my tanks to drive across, to a scale ice chest to ride on my tanks. Imagination is the only limit.

CAD-Software:
Unless something drastically changed - Autodesk Fusion 360 for personal use remains free for as long as you want and as such the only realistic immediate drawback you'll be encountering for keeping it that way will be the 10 Project Limit which depending on how your desired workflow is may not really impact you at all.
Create a Project - Export it ready for Production - Retire it once you've reached the 10 Project Limit - Start new Project - Rinse and Repeat ( untested by me since I'm paying for it 😁 )

IMHO, paying for what one might consider an Industry Standard Software that makes you money shouldn't come with the question if it's worth when it costs like $1⁵⁰ a day ( Probably rich coming from an early adopter locked into paying a paltry $0⁷⁰ and not even making money of his designs but hopefully you still get the point 😏 )

3D Printers:
You'll first want to decide what you'll be using it for... Want to make intricate Scale Parts? SLA or MSLA it will be. Want to make your own large scale Tanks or Fancy Furniture? FDM will be your calling.
If it were like 4-5 years back, I'd have suggested getting a Prusa i3 MK3S I still have lying around collecting dust, but it is now 2023 and quite honestly for the price they're still asking for one ( Kit or Maker forbid Preassembled ) they're what I'd call plain outdated, slow and surprisingly Firmware locked Garbage ( also an atrocity to do maintenance on if something on the Tool Head goes south ).
Personally, I'd suggest getting a like 350% faster than an i3 Voron V2.4 or Trident ( this 200x305x165mm Box was made on a 350 sized V2.4 in 6h38min which would have taken 1d3h on an i3 ) available in various sizes and only using 100% nonproprietary parts, but you'll have to build one yourself and rely on the PIF Program to get a Basic Set of 3D Printed Parts you'll need for the build if you don't already have a 3D Printer to make them yourself.

If building your own 3D Printer isn't to your liking, then my next best guess would be running with the Bambu Lab P1P which arguably comes with the downside of using proprietary consumables ( like the Nozzles ) you can only get from them which is something to think about before putting your trust into them but at least they too will be in the same speed range than the Vorons.

If the prices of both the Voron and Bambu are a no go for you then obviously there'll only be the usual Prusa Clone Suspects out there for like 200.- at comparable speeds of an i3 but at least you'll not be feeling the taste in your mouth of having bought a total rip-off in 2023 ( that being the Prusa i3 ).
Also please don't buy into the E3D Revo System and their also super proprietary Revo design locking you out of the industry ( Uhm... Maker? 🤔 ) standard V6 Nozzle System that allowed for such innovations like the Bondtech CHT Nozzle Design enabling much faster throughput of the Filament and thus faster print times ( if the Machine is capable of supporting that ).

Very in depth response, thank you. I am most likely leaning towards FDM, to keep costs down, and to see if this is something that I want to do as a hobby and a side income. The Votron and Trident look interesting, if I stick with it...down the road printing parts to build one might be an option. Thanks again

Wade

For software I use Inventor, work Solidworks. I also use F360 and its pretty good. People make some amazing things with F360. It also has CAM for machining.
Printers: I'm one of the knuckle-draggers with a Prusa I3 for FDM printingi. I bought the kit. It took me a while to get it together, but it works well right out of the box. Although the Prusa technology is now dated I like their service and support and what they've done for the Industry. Would like one of those new Bamboolabs. I like Prusa-slicer software for slicing, its worked well for my parts.
I also hear good things about Flashforge Finder printers - don't own one but follow folks who make amazing models with em.
I also print resin - which for detail stuff cannot be beat - Elegoo Mars and Saturn. Nice machines for the money.

As others have said 3D modelling and printing bring a lot of new possibilities to the table for the tank hobbyist.
Bob

If you're planning to try and make money from this I wish you the best of luck, but you should remember one thing - if you want to have a business in RC, and you want to have 1 million dollars by the end of your first year, you need to start with 2 million dollars.

My other favorite is, want to make a small fortune in the RC business? Start with a large fortune!

It's a very tough market, and very few make it, but like I said earlier, I really do wish you the best of luck and I hope you're successful with it.

Personally I wouldn't start with a Voron. Great printers, great community to deal with, and STEEP learning curve. You literally have to program your Voron yourself. I've seen YouTubers with many 3D printers say it took them a long time to get their Voron dialed in. I'm one of those folks that said...wow, that Voron is for me. I tinker...check...it's big...check...it's fast...check...I can build it...check...I can program it...check (I think)....I have the time for all that....well....that was a definite no.

3D printing isn't a very plug and play even with my Bambu Labs X1C Carbon and it's a $1500 printer. I have gotten some great prints off of it and I've gotten some real crap. Sometimes the X1C's speed is it's own enemy and causes print failures. I've had the print head itself knock prints right off the bed. You still have to know something about how to print the different materials, what material is right for your project (strength, cost, heat resistance), which build plates to use, whether glue might help, why the print you just did failed, when/where supports are needed, and how to troubleshoot issues with the machine/prints. Some advice is good on the internet about printing and some is bad...for you and your machine/filament. Just because Joe's machine works one way doesn't mean yours will too in some cases. Your filament could be old...or need to be dried...or the temp of your hot end needs to be slighter hotter...or your bed temp needs to higher due to the temps in your printing area...or maybe your printer just sucks because the z axis isn't level...

I bought a mid range Qidi iMates for my first printer and it was a huge learning experience for me. I am going to keep that printer around to print stuff that can be lower quality or stuff my woman wants me to print for her. It actually prints PLA better right now than my Bambu for some reason I'm having issues getting the PLA to stick on the Bambu build sheet. I can't get the Qidi printer to print PETG worth a damn, but the Bambu can print it pretty fast. There is typically more printer tinkering than I have time for, or I would have a ton of 3D printed tanks already.

Whichever printer you decide on, you will learn a lot really fast or you will say screw it and put it on FB marketplace...

I do not plan on buying the Votron or any other build it yourself from the ground up, maybe down the road that will be an option once I feel proficient. Right now I am looking to dabble in the designing software.and not to sound cheap, but I won't pay for a subscription at this moment, if I am first starting out, I need to see how I like it before investing in a printer, and more then likely it will be a FDM, simpler then the other materials. Crius, I do not plan on just doing RC parts that would be the hobby side of it, the side hustle is more of things that consumers can use around the house, their vehicle, at work etc. And this wont be a full time endeavor just something to do on the side.I have been a JEEP guy, aficionado, enthusiast, off road nut since I first received my drivers license many many years ago, so I do have some ideas for all the jeep nuts out there.

Cheers
Wade

I Learned to Drive in a 1972 CJ7, so jeep has been a part of my life for many, many years. Hopefully this weekend I'll get the time to do some work on my latest jeep, the SAS desert radar.

See then you understand, people who never had or have a jeep .....well they just don't get it. My first Jeep was an 85 CJ7, followed by a 99 wrangler Sahara, a 2017 wrangler four door that my ex wife confiscated and I currently have a 2004 wrangler bought new and now has 315,000 on it, not the original engine anymore, I have a stroker motor in it which I built, headers, fuel management system etc 310hp. gets about an eighth of a mile per gallon lol.

I've never owned a Jeep (and never will because Chrysler screwed me in the '90s), but I get the Jeep thing. I'm a Miata owner and Miata owners are just as passionate as Jeep owners about their vehicles. I'm on my 4th Miata.

As far as the Jeep stuff goes though, Jeep actively and ferociously defends their trademark. Just be careful if you do get into making stuff in that space that you don't refer to them as a Jeep. Jeep has been known to go after small creators.

Speaking of that space and you wanting to design in it, there are others that are in that space: https://wcpmodels.com/

I would assume you are wanting to design something like what WCP Models did: