I designed a tank for a Schwinn Cruiser

 I had some budget this year, and decided to bring my uncle's classic schwinn cruiser back to life. 

But not just any restoration. As a cyborg. Yup. Electric. I've been actually wanting to convert my folding bike since I found nero-e's kits. (around 5-6 years ago) But this will do for now. 

It took a little bit of convincing my father to go through with the project as he's really frugal. But in the end, he mostly did the work (I was the one funding it haha). Dare I say he was more excited than I was. 

Back to the tank - this bike didn't have one. It only had the wooden one made and carved by my uncle. 

I actually used this as reference in Fusion360 for the first iteration

Now I have to make something like that.. IN 3D!

b l o c k y

Welp, unfortunately, the first attempt didn't do well. My initial plan was to have a middle frame - just like the wooden piece - that would fit in the frame, then screw 2 halves of the tank to it. But up until this point, I was mainly doing hard-surface modeling - flat, rigid objects without any dynamic curvatures. 

After re-orienting my self on how I would approach this build, I learned how to use surface modeling on Fusion360

wow it has curves

2nd attempt didnt do well either, as you can see above. I think here I just started with a flat surface then inflated lol. I was still using the middle frame here and you can see the screw points on the edges. 

The shape isn't good, but at least we got somewhere. Now I have to rework the internals - ditch the middle frame and just have the 2 halves sandwich the frame. I think that's how it was done in the original tanks as well.

But before that I had to have a reference. I took a photo of the frame, imported it into Fusion, then modeled the frame. This way, I was able to model the tank, and have the frame cut into it.

okaaaayy let's goooowwww.

I went through a couple of iterations. Sometimes adjusting the frame, but most of the times adjusting for the shape of the tank. I wanted to replicate the shape of the original. 

needs frame adjustment

i think i need to adjust the frame, right?

 

Comparing the shape of the first in-frame print vs the latest one (at this point). Hmm, while I was looking at this, it made me a bit hungry.

It weirdly looks like an Ilocos Empanada

Again, correcting the shape

This was my workstation while I was working on the design

look at all those prototypes

I decided to bring my A1 Mini for this since it's easier to travel with

Testing the fit another time

This was when I printed the 2 halves and my father screwed them in

Once I got the shape dialled in, I worked on the details. My challenge here was getting the details to be embossed on a curved surface. Had to go through a couple of youtube videos and shorts to find a solution. 

I added colors so my father and I could visualize it. (he had to approve)

Also, since I was using the A1 Mini, it had to be split into 3 for it to be able to fit. 😯

I almost used 1 roll (1kg) of filament for the prototypes. Filament is HS PLA

Here is a literal side by side comparison of the prototypes. 

V3	Final (V5 I think)

I wasn't able to fully replicate some aspects of the original tank :( 

• The wings didn't have the grooves indicating the separation of each feather.
• It didn't have a vent on the front. 

This is a feature I definitely need to fix in a future revision. But now, as the prototype is finalized, I needed to get back to Manila to have it printed in a better filament - PETG, and so I can use my P1S. The P1S has a larger print bed compared to the A1 mini, so I only had to split it in half. 

wow so shiny

I really liked how shiny and clean it looked :( Unfortunately, it's supposed to be red and white. So, as the process goes, we had to sand and smooth it in preparation for paint.

And at this point, is where the falling action of the story happens. I was probably rushing things again, and didn't let the paint to properly cure. 

I used a Krylon Colormaxx Paint + Primer Semi-gloss White to do the initial primer coat since I thought it would be hitting 2 stones with one bird. A primer + base coat to hide the layer lines. But the color does not really match the one used for the bike.

If you scroll up to where I compared the V3 and V5 of the tank, the frame is already painted, and we used Bosny White and Bosny Red for the colors. The Krylon Paint + Primer was a little warmer and had a very slight cream tint to the color when compared to the Bosny White. This would've triggered my OCD hahaha. So I tried a layer of Bosny White on top of the Krylon and it reacted. 

it got old. lol

At this point, I was like, what the hell. I stripped the paint immediately. At times like these, I usually just go YOLO mode and do what needs to be done - sometimes even half-assing it. lol (and take no photos because my cortisol level would have been through the roof)

BUT! we recovered. I don't know how. I don't remember how long. But I had the receipts (photos) to prove it hahah. The body wasn't the smoothest, since I wasn't able to completely sand off the stripped paint. It turned gummy :(

Here are some photos of the masking before painting the body Signal Red (Bosny)

And here are some final, top-coated photos. 

I think it still looked decent. haha. I couldn't find any more photos since you know,  I haven't actually climbed up from the story's falling action. 😩

My father brought this home when he visited for a vacation.. Hmm.. 🤔 come to think of it, I actually haven't seen this yet attached to the bike! I'll ask him for photos and update this when I have them.

This is probably is my most complex (CAD wise) and involved project yet. I hope you enjoyed and learned (I don't think there's something to learn here hahah. maybe just be patient when painting?) something from this post. 

That's all for now. I hope you keep rising after your life's falling actions!

Take care, and Cheers!