Cadillac ATS fender flares, printed in sections

The challenge

The owner of a Cadillac ATS had bolt-on fender flares that were torn and scraped. The flares are large, curved parts that run around the wheel arches and bolt to the body through a row of holes along the edge. The replacements had to keep the original curve and bolt-hole positions so they would line up with the car. Each flare is also longer than a printer's build plate, so it could not be printed in one piece.

Our process

1. Hung one of the original flares from a cord, covered it with scan markers and 3D scanned it.
2. Built a CAD model from the scan, keeping the bolt-hole pattern.
3. Split the model into sections that fit on the printer's build plate.
4. Printed the sections and joined them at the seams into one continuous flare.
5. Filled the joints, then sanded the joints and the surfaces between them.

The result

The flares were reproduced at full size, each printed in sections and joined into a single piece. They keep the original curve and the row of bolt holes along the edge, and the joints were filled and sanded. Splitting a model into sections like this lets us make parts that are bigger than the printer, without making a mould. The photos show the flares in grey, before any paint.