Taking a car print and chopping in into two parts of a print? Thoughts?

[tateconcepts]

Hello all,

I'm trying to do something that I have never done before, therefore pardon me if I am lacking some knowledge. I downloaded a really neat print that I would like to use, however it is too large for my print bed of 6x6x6. First of all, this is for my son's new derby car race in scouting. Many are no longer just using a block of wood but instead moving to more creative and engineering concepts. I'd like to basically add a shell over a solid block of wood (doesn't matter what size but ideally I'd like to keep as much of my block as possible and fill it in where needed with other materials and designs. I downloaded this print, but it is both too large and would be too small to print. One really wants to keep as much of 2 3/4" width and 7" length allowed.

In this print, it is all one piece and would be difficult to print.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:282393

In this print, this designer considered the size of the print bed usually available and split the design into three parts, with the mid section as one print and the front and tail of the car as another print (obviously my print wouldn't have a driver to result in air drag).

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:735561

I'm wondering how one would go about this? How can I take a print design and turn it into three pieces of two prints?

On another note, I know I can take a picture of a design and turn that into a print - but I wouldn't have a clue how to hollow it out. I'm not opposed to using any specific software as XYZware is not really that great. At the moment, though I'd totally appreciate if anyone has any thoughts on how to do this or tips?

Thank you!

[mikaselm]

Have you played at all with Tinkercad? It seems like it might be a good option for what you're trying to do, if I understand correctly.

Download the STL, import into Tinkercad, and cover half the print with a big fat cube. Make that cube into a "hole" and group the objects. Same process, but with the cube on the other side to get the other half of your car, if that makes sense.

There are a ton of tutorials and youtube vids that explain the basic Tinkercad concepts. Assuming you just want to chop this model in half, it should be pretty easy.

Tinkercad has the benefits of being free, simple to learn, and easy to use. It does have some limitations. It's not nearly as full-featured as many modeling software and lacks a lot of the options that you might find elsewhere. It's a good way to learn, though, and an easy no-risk way to start.