Print It, or Buy It

The files are the easy part

There are well made free R6 drone models on Printables, MakerWorld, Thingiverse and Cults, and the good ones are designed to print mostly without supports. If you have a printer, getting a recognisable drone shape off the bed is a weekend, not a project.

What people underestimate is the finishing. A 1:1 drone is a fairly large object, so it is 10 to 20 hours of print time before you touch it. Then it is matte black, which is the least forgiving finish there is for layer lines. Sanding, filling, priming and painting to something you would put on a desk is several evenings on its own.

Almost every free model is static

This is the important bit. The free models are shells. The wheels turn if you push them, and that is the whole feature set. The mecanum style wheels from the game do not work as modelled, and nothing in the file drives itself.

That is fine if you want a prop. It is a problem if what you actually remember from the game is the drone moving: the way it rolls under a desk, spins on the spot and puts light on a wall. A shell cannot do any of that.

What motorising one really involves

Turning a printed shell into something driveable is a different hobby. You need two geared motors matched for torque at that wheel diameter, a motor driver board, a battery and charging circuit, a 2.4GHz receiver, a transmitter, and LEDs with a current limiting resistor if you want the lights. Then you need the shell to be stiff enough not to flex under motor torque, which usually means reprinting it at higher infill with a redesigned internal mount.

It is a genuinely good project if electronics is the thing you enjoy. Several people have done it and posted their builds. It is a poor route if you simply wanted the drone, because the failure modes are all in the middle: a chassis that flexes, motors that stall on carpet, or a battery that lasts four minutes.

The real cost comparison

A printed static model, if you own the printer, is a few euro of filament plus your evenings. A printed prop bought from a marketplace seller is usually 18 to 40 euro, delivered, and still static. A finished RC replica is 69.99 euro and arrives built, charged over USB, with the controller in the box.

Framed properly, the question is not printed against bought. It is static against driveable. If static is what you want, printing wins on cost and on the satisfaction of having made it. If driveable is what you want, the print is step one of about nine.

There is no reason not to do both

Plenty of people print a display model for the shelf and keep a driveable one for actually using. They are different objects doing different jobs. If you are going to print, print for display and finish it properly. If you want the one that moves, the RCD-01 is built for that: twin treaded wheels, spins on the spot, working LED lights, 2.4GHz controller included.

Common questions