navanod
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 28
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Post by navanod on Dec 12, 2013 14:28:47 GMT
Greetings, fellow crafters. I'm new here, having found DM Scotty and DMG on Youtube, and am already completely addicted to crafting. While checking out old threads, I came across a discussion about 3d printed minis, and Shapeway was mentioned. I've done a bit of tinkering with Shapeways, and got to wondering if there would be any interest in essentially modular minis - a set of various torsos, arms, legs, heads, etc. Rather than ordering a specific mini, one could instead buy a set of modular parts and assemble them however you wanted. That way, you could take a torso with platemail on it, add a head with different features/helmets, bare or armored arms and lets, and custom weapons. I'm not sure how the costs would work out, but I plan to sit down over the next couple of days and figure it out. Just thought I'd gauge the interest level to see if it was worth pursuing. I'll also be putting up some pics of my builds in the near future.
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Post by DM Misha on Dec 12, 2013 15:32:03 GMT
Interesting...
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Post by DMScotty on Dec 12, 2013 18:32:13 GMT
Very interested
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Post by adamantinedragon on Dec 12, 2013 18:50:48 GMT
What kind of 3D printer is it? I'd be interested if the detail level was high enough, but those are pretty expensive printers.
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navanod
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 28
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Post by navanod on Dec 12, 2013 21:22:15 GMT
I'd most likely set them up so you could just buy them on Shapeways; I seriously lack the funds for a 3d printer (although it at the top of my wish-list), but Shapeways isn't too bad. I also need to shop around a bit; I know there's other companies out there that do 3d printing, but haven't checked prices. I'll be sitting down to look at this more tonight.
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Post by gnomezrule on Dec 12, 2013 21:41:07 GMT
That would be cool. Epic level would of course picking the modular parts you wanted and getting back the mini as a solid piece ready to paint without having to assemble.
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navanod
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 28
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Post by navanod on Dec 12, 2013 23:29:07 GMT
That would be cool. Epic level would of course picking the modular parts you wanted and getting back the mini as a solid piece ready to paint without having to assemble. Probably doable. If you've got all of the 3d models set up, they'd just need to be joined and combined. Definitely food for thought.
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navanod
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 28
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Post by navanod on Dec 13, 2013 3:57:08 GMT
So, I sat down and tinkered with this idea for a bit tonight. On a whim, I knocked together a quickie Knight, 28 mm just to get an idea of the cost. The figure itself, in the second cheapest material (white, flexible, polished), runs $2.75. So thats kind of the baseline for a standard human sized figure. As for whether it's actually a printable figure remains to be seen (Shapeways can't print anything thinner than about 1 mm, so I have my doubts this will go through the first time). Still, it's worth a shot. The second pic below is another quickie kludge, more of a demonstration of concept. All of these heads will need work to make them solid objects, and some kind of mounting system (as will all the joints, if I go this route), but it does a good job of showing the variation that can be achieved. From left to right - standard head, groomed beard, wild beard, sinister head, and zombie head.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2013 10:35:10 GMT
Have you considered doing this in reverse? Use shapeways to make a casting mould that people could order, which they could use to cast figures made from... say.. resin, plaster, hot glue? I saw a link before about a kickstarter where you could buy a press mould that shaped Greenstuff stuck to the top of a miniature base, providing instant texture, contour and features.
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navanod
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 28
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Post by navanod on Dec 13, 2013 13:58:28 GMT
That's something that could work. There's going to be two major limitations, tho. The first is the material strength of the plastics - I haven't tried anything like that, and don't know how well such a mould would hold up. There are some other options (such as steel molds) but that will vastly change the cost. The second is just that, the cost. Detail plastic is roughly twice the cost of the basic type, and steel is 7-8 times as much. Soo, I figure a solid mold for my test figure is going to be about 13 cubic centimeters, which works out to $40 in detail plastic, or $104 for steel. It might be more economic doing molds of the body parts, but the structure for the mold itself is gong to be the big expense. Have to give it some thought and maybe try putting one together just to see.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2013 19:28:16 GMT
I would pay handsomely for a mould that allowed me to make regular townsfolk, I need a big bunch of them I can make crowds with.
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robagd
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 137
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Post by robagd on Dec 14, 2013 1:18:54 GMT
Heck I would be kinda interesting having a way to build a mini and have it printed and shipped How does scaling work with this type of stuff ? As an example if someone want a 1/2 Orc Barbarian that was say 6'8" in high and your standard human male is 6ft would the model scale for size ? or would you need to re build the mini for that size scale ? -R
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Post by adamantinedragon on Dec 14, 2013 1:42:36 GMT
Heck I would be kinda interesting having a way to build a mini and have it printed and shipped How does scaling work with this type of stuff ? As an example if someone want a 1/2 Orc Barbarian that was say 6'8" in high and your standard human male is 6ft would the model scale for size ? or would you need to re build the mini for that size scale ? -R My understanding of the 3D printing process is that the scale of the printed object is usually defined as part of the print job, so you should be able to print a figure at just about any size that the printer can support.
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Post by wilmanric on Dec 14, 2013 4:45:50 GMT
I would be very interested in developments in this project.
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navanod
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 28
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Post by navanod on Dec 14, 2013 4:59:45 GMT
You can scale it to whatever size you want, up or down to the limits of the printing resolution or the printer size itself. It's pretty easy thing to do in the software.
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Post by skunkape on Dec 16, 2013 16:03:11 GMT
Very interesting concept! I like the idea and am excited to see where you take it!
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Post by kokigami on Dec 16, 2013 20:27:32 GMT
what software are you using for design? I am guessing you have some background, as that figure is fairly sophisticated. I have purchased a printer (the Form 1 from the Kickstarter, but have no design skills. I was trying to learn blender, and need to get back to it..
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navanod
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 28
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Post by navanod on Dec 17, 2013 1:31:47 GMT
That figure (which has some issues that aren't easily resolved) was a quick kludge from Poser, exported to 3ds max and then to .stl format. I do have some background but I'm completely self taught. I've been messing around with 3d software for about 15 years, but only dug into it seriously in the last 5. In all honesty, each piece will have to be custom built, and people aren't exactly my strong suit. However, 28 mm is small enough you don't have to go insane with details. I think what I'll try next is one figure (head, torso, 2 arms, simple leg pose) to start getting the process in order.
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Post by wilmanric on Dec 17, 2013 13:59:07 GMT
what software are you using for design? I am guessing you have some background, as that figure is fairly sophisticated. I have purchased a printer (the Form 1 from the Kickstarter, but have no design skills. I was trying to learn blender, and need to get back to it.. Wow! That looks like a cool printer. I hope you got it for less than they are selling it for now (through the KS). Big bucks. I'm jealous; wish I could afford one.
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Post by kokigami on Dec 18, 2013 5:51:58 GMT
wish i could as well. it was about 700 less and a lifetime discount on resin.. Honestly, haven't even set it up yet. Don't have any models to print, though I am going to print the parts to build a Reprap of some sort.. I need to clean, and declutter my geek room..
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