I have been hired by 3D RC solutions who are new and small business that don鈥檛 have any experience with RC planes and instead having focused on land vehicles like cars, trucks and tanks but would like to expand into RC aviation. The targeted audience for RC aviation products are 16-36 year old's as they are the largest age market for RC planes. The Business hires people to design 3d printable Rc products like racing cars, tanks and trucks that can be 3d printed and easily assembled. They make money from selling fully assembled models with all electronics, assembled models without electronics, individual parts or the Gcode of the model so that the consumer can print their own.
3D RC solutions have hired me to design a 3D model of a WW2 plane that can each part be 3d printed separately. This plane will be the first plane in a new series of WW2 planes to kickstart the companies experience with Rc aviation products. Already existing designs like 3Dlabprints bf 109 while similar will be sold differently as 3Dlabprint only sells the gcode of the model and not already assembled models with all necessary Electonics. The final product has to be 3d printable, assembled and function as intended with all electronics installed and the gcode must be compatible with most other printers.
Some specifications that the client has requested are that the model uses plastic that can be primed to be painted on, the surface of the model should be smooth, the model should be quick to assemble (10 to 30 minutes), the exhausts light up like there is an actual combustion engine inside, the wheels should be sturdy enough not to break during land. The model should be scaled to be historically accurate (scale miniature) and that the cockpit glass panels are see through.
I believe that I should be able to fulfil the clients request of Prime able plastic, sturdy landing gear, correctly scaled and a see-through cockpit but the model won't be smooth as most 3d printers print rough models ,exhaust light effects will be too difficult as I would have to add on an additional battery and at least 2 LED lights which would increase wight and reduce available space. Another design spec that will be hard to implement is quick assembly time as its not within my control as much.
The target audience for this new product are 16 to 36 year old Rc hobbyists and enthusiasts that would like to avoid spending large sums of money on other plastic planes that break easy and are expensive. Updating the product overtime through improving individual parts on the product and selling the gcode and improved 3d parts can increase the income of an old product as an individual part will not cost much, and it will be a cheap improving for the client. Updating the product in such a way can improve the clients experience with the product by fixing old problems on the model for a rather cheap price.
7 SMART Specifications:
Constraints (Non-Negotiables):
- exhaust Light effects
- Smooth models
- quick assembly
Considerations (Must be done but designer decides how):
- Historically accurate scaling
- Cockpit glass
- Sturdy landing gear
- Prime able plastic