3D Printed Car Propelled by an 18mm Model Rocket Engine Prototype

My partner and I designed a small car powered by a model rocket engine. We ended up deciding to make the car so that the final iteration can also be submitted for the Let There Be Speed contest. This is the prototype and will most likely be changed and altered at least a little before that project.

NOTE: Our print ran out of filament half way through, so it's two different colors.

3d printer

a flat workstation (like a table)

18mm Model rocket engine

Model rocket launch controller

Model rocket Starters

Model rocket Plugs

PLA filament

6x 8 by 32 mm screw-nuts (they can be found in Paxton Patterson hex machine screw nut assortment)

4x Kelvin dragster wheels and 2x matching axles, 64mm long and 46mm long respectfully.

NOTE: All model rocket materials can be obtained on the Estes website.

Sadly My Partner Designed the body and they are not available, so I can't give you step by step instructions. I don't know why they are not available, but they haven't responded to my emails. here is a link to the Tinkercad file. It is not the original however as I can't access that.

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/8e2XRN46JSg-rocket-powered-car-prototype?sharecode=gLnW8Lh6C3mosWObe_UqdFOBQkNDwBx8g1NZ0pzq2VQ

Once your car is printed, set one of the nuts on your workstation and line the car up with it. push down on the car in order to force the nut into the hole, repeat for the remaining wheel holes. You may need to hang it over the Table's edge in order to get the front nuts in. You should have 2 nuts remaining.

Attach one wheel to each axle. Slide one of the two remaining nuts onto the longer axle. Then put the axles through the centers of the nuts in the car body. Once the axles are through the car put the other nut on the half of the long axle without a wheel, then put the last of the wheels on. The nuts on the long wheels are to keep it more in place, as we didn't have an axle that was long enough to go through, but short enough to not leave gaps.

Sadly the video we took of the launch was in an unsupported format, so I have to just describe it. First to launch the car insert the model rocket engine. I left a video above on how to insert the starter and plug, skip to 1:44 in the video for the instructions. Once your rocket engine is inserted find a long, flat stretch of ground where the isn't anything that can be damaged. (we used an empty section of a parking lot.) Set the car on the ground facing away from you or anyone else, attach the launch controller to the starter (Also shown in the video above), and launch the car.

The current design sadly is too light and ends up in the air, but we are working on fixing that for the Let There Be Speed contest. We have brainstormed a few ideas such as putting small metal bits in the front to weigh it down, but we are still working in it. There should be an improved version by the time Let There Be speed's closing date comes around though.