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3D printed miniatures are the future.

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03 Jan 2015 12:18 - 03 Jan 2015 12:24 #193936 by Sevej
VonTush, I know about your buddy's venture. He makes great miniatures. And he's using the same method as other manufacturers using 3d printing. Those are the masters. All the mass productions are metal. IIRC, the first picture are first miniatures off mould, and washed. The white transparent one is not plastic, it's white-something-white, IIRC the most expensive materials you can get off shapeways. Frosted white or something.

It's a combination of both the method and the material. Most still uses a layer method, and it needs material that can maintain edges & details, while still being viable to be CNC-ed.

And yes, it works better for smaller scale miniatures. I know people who're buying 3mm tanks off Shapeways. They don't have to worry much about graininess, and the surfaces tend to be small. Larger scales such as 28mm or even 1/72 needs that comparatively large smooth surfaces. These large smooth surfaces can be a pain to clean up, especially if they're curved.

I know for sure Dreamforge Games, Malifaux, Games Workshop and Corvus Belli use CAD design, but only CB uses 3D prints because they use metal for the final miniatures. So I wouldn't be surprised if FFG uses CAD design, but not 3D printing.

EDIT: Please differentiate between 3D printing & rapid prototyping.
Last edit: 03 Jan 2015 12:24 by Sevej.

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03 Jan 2015 12:49 #193941 by VonTush
My point is detailing where we're at currently as far as production/development goes and where things will likely end up, as the title of the thread contained "The Future". Where I agree that 3D printing at home is the likely future of miniatures.

Early arguments were that nothing beats good old fashioned sculpting, so much of my counter point was that many are not sculpted in the traditional sense. And detailed that currently yes, we are in rapid prototyping and sculpting online.

I've always liked this photo:


Yes, there are limits to the technology now. You can see the lines and layers in it, but like all technology it'll get better.

So no, no one is mass producing on any meaningful scale via 3D printing (and I don't think I claimed that but I do know I'm horrible and making my point clear), it currently all prototyping and master production. I think by the close of the 20's though (which is what I theorized upthread) printers will be cost effective and provide the resolution to make 3D printing at home possible.

I think it'll happen sooner rather than later.


Sounds like you know quite a bit about mini modeling - What's the process of making a plastic mold? I'm very familiar with the metal process, but the plastic ones I know little about. Are they milled out of a metal block?

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03 Jan 2015 23:18 #193972 by Sevej
Heh, no. I just happen to have a friend that works in the industry (general moulding, not miniatures) and I like to ask odd things. Basically yes, they're milled out of metal block. But the process is called machining instead of 3d printed (although principally you can say they are very similar). This is done using a huge ass machine with a lot of safety standards, costing thousands of dollars for each mould created.

My counter point would that the 3d print trend that we have right now is actually a rapid prototyping method using a LOT of shortcuts. This method gives the impression that home made 3d prints of good quality (say, FFG's quality) is near. Although yeah, an amazing breakthrough could give us a high quality 3d printer at every home. But amazing breakthroughs are quite rare. This kind of technology *will* change how the world works.

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06 Jan 2015 19:47 - 06 Jan 2015 19:47 #194327 by Sevej
Heh, that's what I meant :p.
Last edit: 06 Jan 2015 19:47 by Sevej.

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