Max Team XL, part 6: Through the eyes of the one who conquered it…

… aka what the blog didn’t tell you – but Jirka did.

When the MAX TEAM XL blog series launched on 3D Sets, it was clear this wasn’t just another model for the shelf. This was an experiment. A challenge. A little bit of madness. And dozens of hours spent printing, building and tweaking.

Behind it all was Jirka – the one who dared to fire up the Original Prusa XL, take on a model bigger than his workbench… and stay cool even when it wouldn’t fit into the car. This interview is a kind of “director’s cut” of the whole project: what went on between the blog lines, what did (and didn’t) work – and what it’s like when a big idea turns into an even bigger reality.

1. When did you realize just how massive this was going to be?

Pretty much right after the first test print. I started with the seats, and when I put them together next to the standard Max, I knew this was going to be… something else. The first bigger piece was the front chassis – that’s when things got serious. Best moment? Seeing the look on Jakub Kmošek’s face from Prusa Research when he saw it for the first time. He definitely didn’t expect it to be THAT big. 😄

2. What was your longest “print marathon”?

Most parts took longer than a day, but the front doors were the absolute winner: 2 days and 9 hours of continuous printing. Three different filament colors, 36 cm tall, over 1.2 kg of plastic, and 1694 tool changes. Just for context – I printed the whole model at a 0.25 mm layer height.

That’s where the Prusa XL really shined. Tool changes are lightning fast and saved me a ton of time. For comparison: the rear body panels (Panel 4A bottom left/right) took 24 hours on the XL. On a MK4 with MMU3? The same part would take 1 day and 8 hours – and that was one of the simpler prints with fewer tool swaps.

3. A huge model needs huge “guts” – what surprised you most when bringing MAX XL to life?

Honestly, the RC components didn’t surprise me much. You can get 70+ kg servos easily, and motors today are powerful enough to go with something almost standard.

The real challenge? The shocks. MAX XL weighs about 30 kg – and that’s way more than standard RC shocks are built for. I ended up getting bigger 20 cm shocks and combining them with industrial springs. After swapping the springs, MAX finally stopped sagging and stood tall.

4. If MAX XL were a character, what kind would he be?

No idea why, but Rocketman came to mind. 🚀
A bit eccentric, definitely not fitting into a box… but impossible to miss.

5. What did your family think of this whole project?

They said I couldn’t have come up with a bigger nonsense. 😄 But deep down? I think they were secretly rooting for me. Or at least I hope so.

6. Did MAX XL teach you something no other model did?

Honestly? From a printing perspective – not really. The Prusa XL did most of the heavy lifting and produced results so clean it left me speechless more than once. The only thing that really changed was the handling – at one point I physically needed an extra pair of hands.

I followed the standard build guide – just doubled all screw sizes. The actual assembly wasn’t surprising, but I did have to dig deep into my patience reserves… mostly thanks to the suspension.

7. Would you take on another model in this scale?

If I did, I’ve got two top picks. One is our newest model – the Torq. And the other, maybe surprisingly, is the Rescuer. But I’d definitely have to redesign the drivetrain. I don’t think the original motor and gearbox setup would cut it.

8. You handed the finished model over to the Prusa team. What was that like? (You can be 99% honest.)

Pride. So much pride. And then the excitement – everyone was taking pictures, shooting videos… no one could believe it was not just huge, but fully functional too. So yeah – it was absolutely worth it.

Thanks, Jirka, for not only building MAX XL, but for sharing the whole journey with us

Projects like this need more than just skill – they need patience, creativity, and the guts to take on something you can’t finish in a weekend. It’s clear this was a massive effort… and the result speaks for itself.

Huge thanks also go to the Original Prusa XL – because while it handled a big part of the work, it still needed a pretty amazing operator to bring it all together.

And MAX? He’s already off living his own life now.