Building My RC Skid Steer… and Then a Fully 3D‑Printed Excavator

I recently designed an RC skid steer that’s fully compatible with MakerWorld Cyber Bricks. The whole project came together surprisingly smoothly — I wrapped the entire build in just 14 days.

Image featuring my RC Skid Steer

The best part is how accessible it is. Anyone who wants to build one can get the electronics for around $50, and it only takes about 10 hours of printing and roughly 190 g of filament. For a functional RC machine, that’s wild.

The project was such a success that I decided to push myself even further and take on something much bigger: a fully 3D‑printed excavator.

Image featuring my fully 3D‑printed RC Excavator

This one was a whole different beast. I spent somewhere between one and two months on it, with an estimated 230 hours of design time. It was massive, challenging, and incredibly rewarding once everything finally came together.

After finishing the excavator, I wanted both machines to really stand out. I’d had great experiences with Justway.com in the past, so I decided to give them another go — this time to make metal buckets. I originally considered steel, but I was worried it would be too heavy for these small machines, so I went with aluminum instead. The results were incredible. The quality and finish blew me away.

When I first tried Justway, I honestly expected the process to be complicated. It wasn’t. You upload your file, and their site gives you an instant real‑time quote. It ended up being far more affordable than I expected, and the quality has consistently impressed me.

For example, I designed a hammer mod for the Leatherman Skeletool, and Justway printed it in titanium. They even tapped an M2 thread into the part at no extra charge so I could mount it properly. The piece turned out beautifully. I also got the same part from a cheaper competitor, but they wouldn’t tap the threads — and when it arrived, the finish was noticeably rougher, with visible layer lines.