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  1. #1

    Default About those 3D printers...

    [url]http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/23/peachy-printer/[/url]

    Alright, if the math here is too hard, you should just pack up and go home, because we're about to multiply the wave function by it's complex conjugate. That's right, **** just got real!
    "But I tell you, we were gods once, and we shall be gods again". - In defense of the future: a Logical Discourse.

  2. #2
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    This should be in the kickstarters or oubillete, it is not strictly 40k related.
    Fan of Fuggles | Derailment of the Wolfpack of Horsemen | In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

  3. #3
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    And it'll still be quite a few more years before games companies need to worry; the quality of the small desktop printers just isn't high enough yet to do smooth models. You'd spend more time sanding surfaces flat than designing the thing in the first place.

    I know Raging Heroes uses 3D printed masters but I wonder what sort of clean up they have to do on the models before casting from them? I also know they send them away to a different company to be printed, so presumably it is some professional business with printers that have higher resolution.
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  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Morgrim View Post
    And it'll still be quite a few more years before games companies need to worry; the quality of the small desktop printers just isn't high enough yet to do smooth models. You'd spend more time sanding surfaces flat than designing the thing in the first place.

    I know Raging Heroes uses 3D printed masters but I wonder what sort of clean up they have to do on the models before casting from them? I also know they send them away to a different company to be printed, so presumably it is some professional business with printers that have higher resolution.
    I did some work experience at an engineering firm earlier this year, and they had a 3D printer which was accurate to, I believe, 0.1mm. It might have been even finer. What I do know is that it was hugely expensive and broken when I was there, so I never saw it used.
    I think that 3D printing technology is also used in Formula 1; if they can make front wing parts from a 3D printer, they can sure make a smooth model!

    If you have the money, that is

  5. #5

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    There's also the speed consideration.....

    How long does it take to print something of suitable resolution and complexity that it doesn't look poop?

    Hours it would seem, and even then the results are touch and go...
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  6. #6

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    I don't know much about 3D printing, but presumably it could follow the same path as photocopying, black and white and colour printing. All of these were expensive at first and can now be done in the home, BUT it didn't have to reach the cheap enough for the home stage for us to make widespread use of it. We'd go to the library and funnel our coins into the photocopier or we'd go to the print shop and say "42 pages of this, please". When the cost can be spread between many people, expensive things can still be accessible.

    Sure 3D printing takes time, but that just means you'll place your order in advance and pick up some days later.

    I don't know if any of these will be good enough for figures, but I bet we'll see some fantastic terrain / building / vehicle designs going around.

  7. #7

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    I just genuinely doubt how well it will proliferate.

    In industry, sure, totally has a place for rapid prototyping and stuff.

    But for large scale production? Nope, I just don't see it ever taking over from current methods, which are faster, more reliable, and one assumes due to economy of scale, cheaper.
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  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Mystery View Post
    But for large scale production? Nope, I just don't see it ever taking over from current methods, which are faster, more reliable, and one assumes due to economy of scale, cheaper.
    Cheaper to produce, certainly. But do share with us what the mark-up on figures is by Games Workshop.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by knas ser View Post
    Cheaper to produce, certainly. But do share with us what the mark-up on figures is by Games Workshop.
    Depends what you mean by mark-up. If you consider the cost of the unit itself in raw materials then you will see a huge mark up.
    If you take into account the whole business behind it, the governance, the legal requirements, the staffing levels the shops, the wages, the benefits, the publishing, the web teams, the catering, the gas/electricity/water of all the shops and hq, the ground rent of all the shops, the local taxes, the corporate tax, the r & d, it is less clear.

    What no-one outside of the studio knows is how many scultps/pitches are turned down each day, how many man hours are spent building characters and models that are never used.
    Fan of Fuggles | Derailment of the Wolfpack of Horsemen | In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Muulka View Post
    I think that 3D printing technology is also used in Formula 1; if they can make front wing parts from a 3D printer, they can sure make a smooth model!

    If you have the money, that is
    Some chap here in the States is also making firearms with one as well. The final assembly is up to the customer to get around certain crazy legal issues (you know, the ones that prevent law-abiding citizens to possess a means to defend themselves).

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