So with 3D printing actually reaching the point of putting out decent figures, how can we expect the dynamic of the miniatures market to change?
>b-b-b-but 3d printed things have lines and look like shit
No. Stop that. Filament Deposited Modeling (FDM) is the cheapy method where you melt plastic and stick it to itself. Stereolithography (SLA) involves curing resin with UV light and has a much finer resolution, and the prices on them is coming down.
The challenges we face are that it still take a lot of time to print things, and failed prints are still an issue of lost time and material.
Assuming all the kinks work out though, we're still looking at the fact that plastic injection molding is far cheaper on the macro scale and 3d prints may act as more of a price cap than an alternative production method.
It hurts things like Infinity, Malifaux, etc. Games that are played with about 5 to 15 models.
Wyatt Cruz
>one day everyone can print out fully painted miniatures from their replicator units >printing models that looks like partially assembled, unpainted grey plastic models with mould lines becomes an aesthetic choice, like using Rogue Trader era miniatures
Grayson Lopez
maybe the market will become 3D printing aswell so prices might drop in the future?
>prices ever going down >GW rather sink than drop prices
Jackson Rodriguez
Not any time soon because nobody has a 3d printer. Now if you had a 3d printer that could print 3d printers...
Austin Harris
>so prices might drop in the future
Yeah, just like with digital distribution. Oh, wait...
Zachary Clark
That's actually a good point. Triple A games still go for a premium, but the amount of indie shit that hit the market for cheap is huge.
Jackson Cruz
There are companies trying to do that.
Not there yet, but it's a neat concept.
Tyler Clark
The raw materials used on CDs is pretty negligible. Also the product is the information on the CD, not the CD itself.
Michael Perry
Ive always thought games workshop keep slowly increasing the scale of the models ready for the day they start 3d printing. If they slowly keep creeping up the size of some models then 3d printing will come around much sooner than otherwise.
