Could You Break This 3D-Printable RC Car?

Sometime in the ‘90s when I was just a boy, I got an RC car for Christmas and was thrilled. After waiting a couple of hours for its NiCad batteries to charge, I took it outside to play. I got about 5 minutes of elation out of that before I crashed and the flimsy car was immediately destroyed. If you can relate to that disappointment, then you should check out Eugene Tkachenko’s almost unbreakable 3D-printable RC car design.

Nothing in the real world is truly unbreakable, but Tkachenko’s MadBaxRC is pretty darn close and that’s really impressive for an RC car built from 3D-printed parts. It is meant to be a practical and usable toy, so it isn’t entirely 3D-printed — most of the suspension and some of the drivetrain components are off-the-shelf. But the body, frame, and some mechanical parts are 3D-printable.

Tkachenko’s most recent video shows off MadBaxRC and quite a bit of testing. That testing includes both performance metrics and durability (intentional and unintentional). The top speed is around 22mph and it can run for about 30 minutes on a charge.

If you like what you see, you can purchase the STL files from Tkachenko for $19.99. That includes a BoM with all of the components you need to buy for the project and a very detailed video assembly guide series.

While you shouldn’t expect MadBaxRC to be indestructible, you can safely assume it will be much more durable than those ‘90s RC cars that disappointed us as children.