Hi everyone. I'm trying to 3d print an rc car body to make a replica of my car, but im running into a few issues..  I've only been able to find a couple of files that have my exact car, but the files were pretty much garbage. I found an untouched model file that I was able to open in Blender and modify (like adding my hood vent, removing interior components, etc) and get it to where I could actually slice it without it having a bunch of missing layers. 

I opened the file in blender, edited it the way I wanted, exported it as an stl, and then reimported the stl file so I could thicken the mesh so I could print it.  the problem I'm running into is that no matter what I do, I can't seem to get the file to come up in the slicer as more than just a single thin line of filament. 

I've tried importing the file to solidworks to convert the surface mesh to a body, and that's helped me keep the detail on the car, but it's several hundred surface points, and it won't let me import it as one solid object. 

I've tried repairing the file in programs like 3d builder and meshmixer, but then it creates a bunch of artifacts over the car and gets rid of a bunch of the detail. The only solutions I've really seen involve opening the file in blender and using the solidify option (which I did initially to get it kind of printable) but all other techniques I've been able to think of get rid of all the detail I'm trying to keep or just aren't working. If I import the STL into blender and do a solidify modifier like I've seen online,  I can't set the parameters too big because it distorts the detail on the file. I'm really just trying to get the surface on the inside of the shell to expand inward so when I print the file, it's a couple of mm thick.

I'm not sure if I'm overlooking something simple or if it's even possible,  but I'm on day 3 of trying to figure this out, and I'm losing my mind. 

Right now, the process I'm doing is:

\- open model file in blender and remove unwanted objects (interior, wheels, etc)

\- export blender file as stl

\- open stl in solidworks as a graphics body and remove any other parts/artifacts that I couldn't get rid of in blender

\- convert mesh to body, then save as an stl

\- import stl back into blender so everything is 1 model

\- do solidify modifier, then export the stl again

I've tried the manifold repair trick where you put the object in a cube and do a boolean modifier,  and that just makes the file size massive and bogs down every other process I try. 

I have very little experience with Blender, so I'm not sure if I'm missing something simple like a step somewhere or if I need to try exporting/importing as another file type. I've tried STL, OBJ, and 3MF  between all the programs.. nothing seems to work. If anyone can help or guide me in th right direction, I'm begging at this point. lol 

Need help fixing model