3d Printing Models?

[impervious]

I've played Warhammer on and off for about 15 years now. They produce some of the highest quality miniatures on the market right now. They have some of the best lore, and while I don't necessarily like the rule system they have come up with over the years (a lot of (please do not swear) is needlessly complicated and power creep sucks), it is fun.

But companies have been making them the same way for ages now. Create a mould, pour some kind of material in it that hardens at room temperature, let it cool, and you're good to go. The quality of the moulds is very impressive compared to what it was even when I started playing. They have made vast improvements. But that's like saying they're using a better abacus, when someone has already created a calculator. There is a tool that is coming into the picture that is going to completely revolutionize the industry, and I really, really hope they hop on board, rather than sink trying to defend what will eventually become an obsolete practice.....

[No One]

I believe the most important word in there is 'eventually'. Until it is practical and most importantly profitable, GW won't get behind it, because they'll have no reason to.

GW have lots of experience with injection moulding, and as such are very good at it - it's going to take a while for 3D printing to get close to that, both in terms of the technology and the skills.

[Hive Tyrant Qiln]

Yeah, I can back the rest of these guys up.

Sure 3D Printing is cheaper and can be done in your own home.
Too bad it takes a week to print of a min unit of termies.
I only use 3D printing because I have access to them at work, as a startup game designer  .

[cyaneye]

I myself have had some use of a 3d delta printer courtesy of 3d printing club at my college before I graduated. The printer was the biggest delta style printer we could come across, and thanks to the small number of members I was able to play around with it. The verdict is that the quality is lower than that of the ones sold by GW and that it takes a while to print things as the print bed is only so big. There's also the so far unmentioned issue of actually finding a way to print the model effective. Basically since the printer works from the ground up, it needs support for things like arms, lest it print the model in pieces, which requires modification on the digital end.

There is however a big benefit to 3d printing: printing unique models. You could very easily create a few custom bits to allow for a special one off kit bash of a specific model, which is excellent for lore driven armies centered around a specific character, or you could mass print specific bits for repeated use, such as generic bits of scrap metal for orky vehicles. The potential is certainly there, though my best bit of advice is to wait a little longer for the technology to improve and become more readily accessible.

Also not to procrastinate, otherwise you end up like me with half of a 3d printer warhound titan.

[Lilycat]

May 9, 2016 23:41:32 GMT impervious said:

What if, instead of getting these big boxes filled with relatively little plastic, most of which is useless anyways, we get a small box that contains all the individual parts that were 3d printed instead?  It would save a fortune in shipping and storage costs by taking up significantly less weight and space, and stores could have more of the product on the same amount of shelf space. 

Back when they did metal sets like the techmarine and sisters of battle you basically got them like this. You got a bunch of loose parts in a box pretty much the same size as most of the troop boxes, but thinner at least, and inside the box was this plastic container kind of with different compartments to try to keep most of the bits from bashing together. It wasn't that great really and I'd expect more fragile parts to break in shipping.

[Jabberwocky]

Give it 5 years and it'll be the norm.