{"id":68677,"date":"2016-08-24T06:00:51","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T04:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e52.nl\/?p=68677"},"modified":"2016-08-24T06:00:51","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T04:00:51","slug":"how-to-build-a-joint-strike-fighter-with-a-3d-printer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/how-to-build-a-joint-strike-fighter-with-a-3d-printer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to build a Joint Strike Fighter with a 3D printer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday we\u00a0talked to Albert Falck<\/a>\u00a0about his company Lay3rs and his 3D printing ambitions. Today we meet Joel Vlashof, a regular customer at Lay3rs\u00a0and\u00a0in the middle of quite an ambitious 3D printing project.<\/p>\n

First ones in Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vlashof is a service engineer by profession. He works at a company in medical equipment. Model building is just a hobby. \u201cOne that has gotten quite out of control\u201d, he smiles. After building several other model airplanes and radio-controlled helicopters, he and a couple of friends have now teamed up for something bigger: the building of a scale model of the Joint Strike Fighter – type F35-B. They are the first ones in Europe to do so.<\/p>\n

Buying a 3D printer<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>From the landing gear to all the different covers, Joel needs many, often unique, items for the construction of his JSF. Its a pretty pricey affair. He therefore decided to invest in a 3D printer so he can print the stuff he needs in PLA and ABS (types of plastic) for just a few cents. \u201cThe only problem is that I don\u2019t really have room for it in my house.\u201d He has placed\u00a0the printer in the kitchen for now.<\/p>\n

The makers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The core team of the project is formed by Joel and Ingmar \"Screen<\/a>Hendrikse. Ingmar writes the software for the flight computer, Joel does the mechanical part and the designing on the 3D printer. They work together with Jolmer Tilstra, who previously made a F-35A model (one of the three other versions of the JSF). They recently joined forces as f35model.nl to build the F-35B<\/b>\u00a0model, the JSF variant known for it\u2019s vertical takeoffs and landings. Peter Coers – “the<\/i>\u00a0model builder of The Netherlands,” according to Joel – is helping the team in making the molds.<\/p>\n

And then there are the online groups where the men share information and receive advice. Forums like RC Groups and RC Universe. Here people are looking forward to the moment the model will not only hover (we\u2019ll get to that in the last paragraph), but also perform a normal flight.<\/p>\n

Video of the test flight<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the team is already testing prototypes at model flight base Ornithos in Geldrop. Watch the video of the latest test flight:
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