3D printing sounds neat, any examples of finished "prints"?

One layer at a time, a machine prints the 3D object in plastic, metal, resin...a whole range of materials. In fact, you can have the mini printed in metal on the site. It's your choice. We linked the plastic because it's the cheapest. I've got the first few ordered. I should have a painted version in a week or so.

So, basically you design the model via a computer program, in 3D, and you can have it manufactured individually for a lower cost than most unique minis are going online. Painting it is up to you. I have a guy here who paints minis professionally for $2 each.

We've got a version of an bird-like alien in monk's robes coming up next. Can anyone guess who that might resemble?

DC

I'm really excited to see your print. I've been eyeing shapeways for a while as a means to do Darth Maul Cybrog. I saw some "Frogens" on Shapeways that looked really good and that inspired me to think the printing was up to the task of making a decent miniature.

I didn't realize there was a minimum. Good idea to buy them in bulk. We ordered a dozen for the shop.

The site looks good but its horrible to try and log in too!

Hey all, I'm the artist who made this 'generic burn victim'. Noticed I was suddenly getting traffic from here, figured I'd pop in to see what people were saying.

I'm actually working on a whole set of these right now. I have a "bird alien monk" who I think most of you will recognize, and an "elderly space monk with lightning" who I've been informed should probably have more lightning and less lightsaber, because that's what an elderly space monk of this description would use. Not sure if this is supposed to be the original or the evil clone though. Guess it could be either? :)

(forgive the euphamisms, but I have to be careful about infringing anyone's copyright)



Yep, that's one way to go if you have access to a laser scanner. Ask your local college, particularly if they have an Industrial Design or Archeology program. (two areas in which these are often used)

Another way is to have a 3d modeler design the thing for you based on drawings or some photographs of a sculpture. I'm usually willing to do a custom sculpt for free as long as I think there's a market for it. (i.e. you get to order some of your custom minis, and I get to keep them in my store and get paid for my time in the long run)

EDIT: I forgot, there is also a site called "my3dscanner" that can generate a 3d model from a bunch of photographs. They do pretty well overall, but I suspect you'd have to mode a bit larger than normal (think action figure size) to get any sort of useful geometry out of this process, then scale the model down to 30mm size.

Looks very cool!!!

These are amazing. I have a bunch of ideas now, I just wish I had the knowledge and the software to create my 3D images. This process would definitely be much quicker than my sculpts from scratch process.

Anyway, in the process of reattaching the hands, I'm not familiar with the material these are made out of and you probably have your own process but when attaching small pieces like hands, I usually will use a fine drill bit to make a small hole in both the hand and the arm and then I will cut a leg of a paper staple or use a very fine piece of metal to strengthen the joint. I've had a lot of success and my joints seem to stay together better versus just using glue.

I don't know if that helps at all or I'm just rambling but good luck!! I look forward to seeing your final project.