Click-2-Detail 1/72 CF6 Engine Set First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Over the last several IPMS/USA conventions, a company called Click-2-Detail would have a booth and present their latest capabilities. This company makes use of the 3D printing technologies to produce what hasn't been done before in a given scale. While some of their early offerings were crude, it is clear that they're evolving with the state of the art and here is an example of their current capabilities.

This is a 3D printed CF6 engine in 1/72 scale. The engine looks huge in my hand since it is HUGE in person. The engine is printed as three parts, the main shroud with the engine core shell and the bypass fan shroud, the compressor/fan face, and the engine inlet ring. That's it. If you look down the front of the main shroud, you can see the stator blades printed integral to the main shroud.

While 3D printing is still not quite ready for the average modeler, technologies like this can produce masters which can be cleaned up and used for casting production parts in resin. I picked up a set of these engines knowing that there will be a little preparation work required before using these. The surface of the parts have a slight texture like some of the low-pressure injection-molded plastic kits we've seen that will need to be buffed smooth before painting. You should be seeing these beauties in a special project in the near future.

In the meantime, keep an eye on this technology and if you're looking for something unique for a given project, you can hire companies like Click-2-Detail to produce those parts for you. While home 3D printers like Makerbot are improving their print resolution frequently, they're still not quite ready for the average modeler. Some day soon, just not quite yet...