Few nations have as widespread passion for car customization as the US and, in this sense, 3D printing offers a growing number of possibilities to take this to the next level. Until the day when everyone will have access to advance customization options, rapid prototyping services like San Diego County-based Forecast 3D, is leading the way with the Harbinger, a custom car based on the 1969 Mustang (what else?) with over 45 fully functional final parts built with AM technology
Forecast 3D, which celebrates its 21 years of activity (it was founded in 1994 by Corey and Donovan Weber) this year, will show off its new ride at Rapid (Booth #749), one of North America’s most important events for manufacturing technologies, taking place in Long Beach, California, between May 18th and the 21st. The project was undertaken on assignment from race car manufacturer Agent 47 Competition Products and was successfully tested through an entire season of NASA’s American Iron race series, culminating in the 2014 National Championship at Sonoma Raceway.
“Working with Agent 47 on the Harbinger project has been very enjoyable and rewarding to all of us at Forecast 3D,” said Corey Weber, President and CEO of Forecast 3D. “Motorsports has always been a hobby of mine, so to be involved on a project of this scale and to see what can be done with Additive and ProCAST RTV in the custom and race car building business… to say it’s exciting is a gross understatement. I believe this is the tip of the iceberg as more and more custom and specialty vehicle shops embrace these technologies.”
Along with implementing several AM technologies from both 3D Systems and Stratasys (including SLA, FDM, DMLS, SLS and PolyJet) the ProCAST RTV process that Corey Weber is referring to is a trademark of Forecast 3D and allows the company to produce room temperature, vulcanized short runs of larger parts rapidly and inexpensively, using materials other than those compatible with AM technology. The prototype casting chamber at Forecast is capable of producing large, voice free castings up to 1200 cubic inches in size.
Through a combination of all these technologies, Forecast 3D provided parts in thermoset production plastics, with a variety of properties and cast in colors and textures. The combination of technologies, materials, and finishes enabled design verification, long term end-use testing, and the high level racing that was required by the customer.
