Insane number of new modern Releases...Company B

[Chuckaroobob]

Hi kids,  Yes, I would put my money where my mouth is and Kickstart/Club/whatever for some 1:56 M51's.  Probably 4, depending on price.  And yes, they would be in the bottom of the tupperware when I see you at Cold Wars or H-con!

[Arlequín]

The other solution is for me to just buy a 3D printer.  I'm thinking about that very seriously...

The BTR-152 is next on the casting list.  Though if folks were interested, I can look into offering all the new moderns up on shapeways as well.  That would also help as all funds go into future casting anyway.

I'm not totally 'up' on this new technology... so pardon any errors of understanding. All of these options sound fascinating and from what I can gather, the 3D printer option (short of the initial outlay), would be more profitable in the long run for you, as orders could be made on demand, without having to produce/sell a number of models to break even? The Shapeways option is less profitable for you, but there is no outlay on plant? Doing both is somewhere in between? Either option is essentially a case of you investing most time and money into building a master for each model?

I'd prefer a 'Club' option myself, where I, or others, can suggest a model, commit to buying a number of them and if enough folk want the same, you make one. Kickstarters are all well and good, but it's a case of you deciding on a model, or range of models and then seeing if we like them.

I quite like the idea of suggesting you build... say a M56 SPAT and committing to buy a couple, having it kicked around your customer base to see if anyone else wants them and perhaps in a few months, have it sat in my painting queue... or being able to check your list of stuff on Shapeways/Company B, if I arrive late in the day and just being able to order a couple spun up. It all sounds good.

From a customer point of view, how does 3D printing impact on price per item and quality, compared to the current resin castings?

 

[mpennock]

Shapeways is a printing service. If you upload a 3D model in a stereolithography format (.stl - this is the machine language that the printers read), they will print it for you for a fee. Cost depends upon the material chosen and the volume of the model. Their cheapest option is a nylon that they call White, Strong and Flexible, which costs $1.40 per cubic centimeter plus a $1.50 handling fee. If you choose a material that holds more detail, it will cost you more; as an example the material they call Frosted Detail costs $2.39 per cublic centimeter plus a $5.00 handling fee. As a creator, you can make your models public and allow other people to buy them. Shapeways charges the same amount no matter who orders the model, but the creator can open a 'store' on the Shapeways site and add a markup to the model, which Shapeways will pay to them following shipment of the model to the customer. Since they print to order, there is no need to carry inventory.

[6milPhil]

Beayties, but it's what we've come to expect tbh.

[carlos marighela]

I'm not keen on the idea of  Shapeways or digital printing from what I've seen (unless of course the G-Wagen FAVs are an example). Maybe fine for 1/2400 but for this scale there seem to be too much granularity in the surface and I'm not thrilled about having to sand every flat surface. Looks like it would be a particularly thankless task if the vehicle has lots of angles or a lot of moulded on surface detail. That said I would probably go with Brent's earlier idea of a few pre-production examples. Grainy surfaces look like they would be an aid in simulating rust so I might buy an example and turn it into a wreck.

[Arlequín]

Shapeways is a printing service. ...

Sorry, I should have been clearer, I know the basic principles, it was cost/outlay/quality I was unclear of. I do visit your 'shop' on Shapeways from time to time, just in case you've got round to doing a 1/100 NiD52 or Breguet 19 (hint)... your 'Air Racers' thread put me on to it.



Like Carlos, I'm wondering about surface finish too, but I'm guessing from your post that this depends on the material you order the model in... you get what you pay for, in other words.

[mpennock]

Pretty much. It seems that the speed at which they print the models can effect the finish as well, and I also suspect that operator experience can play into it.

[CompanyB]

there are many types of 3D printers on market.  Shapeways uses a system in which many local venders and services contract out the printing. It's the cheapest option, but results vary.  Luckily, you can always return items, and I do have a paint process I've discovered that pretty much eliminates the texture from the prints.  You also need to purchase "polished" as an option to speed things along. If you search the forums for my pictures of the early G wagon paint ups, the Toyota Land Cruiser, German Katchzen and BTR models, these are all shapeways prints, as is the Shi-Ki walker on our website. I'd say shapeways is a tier 3 printer. 

I use two other services in the states though.  Moddler prints out much higher resolution prints that shape ways, but also at an increased cost.  So say a GK Valkyrie full sample master at Shapeways would be about $60, ad high res print at moddler would be $150.  The difference though is that I'd never use the shapeways print as a master for casting.  My moddeler prints are usually reworked a bit as final masters with more details as there is some residual texture that needs to be removed on certain areas. This would be Tier 4 printing.

Now, Another shop in the states just sent me some samples of the new 2012 printers.  These prints are astounding.  No texture at all, and the resolution is there to print out 15 and 20mm miniatures.  Simply amazing quality.  The price however is 3X the previous services.  The exception here is that the print is the master with no further work or cleanup needed.

You can purchase a Tier 3.5 printer now for about $4000 US.  That's literally about the same price as I paid for my black and white laser printer 15 years ago.  It's about double what I paid for my current color laser printer.  In any event, some friend have also purchased a makerbot 3D printer. I have access to one at work now...and since my full time job is sort of becoming similar to my "hobby"  getting a 3D printer is just inevitable. The prints at work though are much better that the shapeways prints and a little more rugged.  I think it's because the printers we have use a type of liquid resin as a base, whereas the shapeways ones seem to use a powder.  In any event, my thought is to only 3D print portions of the model..say the hull.  And the rest would be cast metal details, etc.  On the side the printer would pay for itself by being sourced to friends that need something printed.  I have a lot of enthusiastic buddies who could use it.