Never have to pay for models again!

[Helonion]

WAIT! This means....NO MORE MOLD LINES!!!!?

[Thlaylie]

Even the older models would work.

They were called "Rapid Prototyping Machines" and only used one color of substrate, yellow.

[wormwood]

WAIT! This means....NO MORE MOLD LINES!!!!?

Only for the first one out of the printer. To be cost effective you really should make a flexible mold of that one and cast duplicates in resin.

[amec]

that's nice....but I think once you've bought it that you might as well have bought the miniatures...Because you can't sell the miniatures if you've made them yourself so I mean there's no way to pay back how much you spent on the machine.

[wormwood]

The machine would enable you to make better miniatures though.

[logic79]

My mate has a really basic 3D printer which he uses to make the parts of 3d printers to sell on ebay. We keep talking about using it to make Necron scenery based on DOW, but I don't have a CAD programme and he is lazy.

[Helonion]

Aug 19, 2010 15:28:24 GMT logic79 said:

My mate has a really basic 3D printer which he uses to make the parts of 3d printers to sell on ebay. We keep talking about using it to make Necron scenery based on DOW, but I don't have a CAD programme and he is lazy.

Well that's one way to get replacement parts. Also makes conversions easier as you can make your own pieces to magnetize or glue

[Thlaylie]

With GW's current and future prices, the machine would pay for itself in less than a year if you are a 40K player.

[wormwood]

I worry that one day they will go strictly virtual, and only sell virtual miniatures, at prices comparable to the current models.

[Thlaylie]

^If the market supports it.

A rapid prototyper would be awesome because you could add bits to a scanned in model to make them more like the artist's scketches.

Spikeyer Tyranids!

[code11]

I have one of these at my high school. The thing costs an arm and a leg to operate (the material the model is made out of is about 100$ or more a bucket), but will give you some very good models. Some details are too small for it. I think it is accurate up to 1/64 of an inch, but can't have unsupported things (arms or legs, beams, antennas) that small.

A friend used it to make some chess pieces. They turned out nice, and I'll look for some pictures.

Now, what you can use is a 3-d milling machine to make terrain. If whatever place that has it will allow you to use it for that. The milling machine is less accurate but the material is much less expensive.

[Thlaylie]

I could reprogram an aluminum mill....

Shiney aluminum Tyranids FTW!

[wormwood]

If you get a 5 axis EDM you could cut your computer generated models from stainless steel billets with an accuracy down to a single micron. Now we're talking Pricey!

[Helonion]

Its a frappuccino machine isnt it

[Thlaylie]

I was thinking more like the aluminum mills used for lathing parts like on American Choppers.