Why are we not working on creating models to 3D print that will at least moderately approximate overly expensive GW...

Why are we not working on creating models to 3D print that will at least moderately approximate overly expensive GW shit, and posting them on torrent sites? Or selling them from Russian hosted whatever don't give a fuck servers for bitcoin or something? Emphasis on at least moderately; we're talking about just fitting the bill here (remember, back in the day GW literally said "use whatever minis you want" before they were all about the jewgolds) not replicating every nook and cranny. It's a large project but /tg gets shit done/ and all that. Would people sperg out if you brought them to the table? Are we afeards of the lawyers? Or is it just too big of a task and not feasible?

3D printing will kill miniature wargaming, do not fall for their tricks

First, copyright would kill us. There's enough money in play that they'd track us down and wield enough power to close down the torrent sites, or at least the posts.

Secondly, we'd need actual sculptors with actual 3D modelling skill, which isn't exactly easy to come by, and those with those skills are using it to make money on their own projects or work for their own hobbies, rather than put their time and effort into an initiative that will never allow them to make money on it, and could potentially bring negative consequences.

And thirdly 3D printing is so expensive and time-intensive at this point that it's less of an expenditure of money, effort, and time to just up and buy the minis. Even at GW prices. Although by this point, 3D printers that can produce approximate quality are becoming quite cheap.

Boils down to:
>There's no saving to be had
>No money to be made
>No reward for effort
>Little infrastructure for or ubiquity of 3D printers
Plus probably a few factors I haven't considered off the top of my head. Toxicity might be a factor since the plastic hasn't exactly been tested for it, and apparently it causes some very bad birth defects in some small animals (guy 3D printed some aquarium bits for his Lionfish tank, and it killed all of the baby Lionfish).

Yeah, everyone acts like 3D printers run on freedom juice or some shit, but the fuckers are expensive. Sure you could print yourself off some useful bits on demand, but would you want to print a big ass tank or a whole unit? It's not so clear whether it'll actually be worth it, price-wise.

by destroying revenue? I think companies would adapt, as music industry has. Fluff is a huge industry.
quality post
Most important I'd imagine is the lack of people and motivation. but maybe starting small with a few popular models and getting some money for them, by selling the printed product, not the model, at a discount, on darknet sites for bitcoin or whatever--I mean, they sell drugs there ffs--although I dunno how many people would buy it for it to be worth the initial capital outlay to get the thing started--and for that matter there's a fuck of a lot more money in software and movies music than wargaming and it's still torrented--although granted that is completely effort free for the most part
I'm sure people have thought this out before or perhaps even attempted it (I'm sure there is at least one guy out there probably one of us who has at least one 3d printed figure in his army) but the scale, yes, scale is the motherfuck

yes. not scaling well is the big obstacle. you could eventually I'm sure get some chinaman to make millions of whatever at a good price but you'd need people to buy them and make sure that the quality wasn't utter shit

Just a few basic infantry models for 40k might run you (and this is widely ballparking it here) between $5 and $20. That's for material that approximates common nylon plastic, as opposed to more brittle printing resins.

Given the height and design complexity increases in new models, it's likely to trend much further towards the more expensive estimate, since those parts require a scaffold when printed.

We've been having this conversation on and off on Veeky Forums for several years now, I'm sure somebody has tried it and gotten it to work out for some models they give a shit about, but I think it's a really tough sell for a lot of people, still. (especially the people needed to make it work on a large scale)

Agreed, I'm a draftsman with 3d CAD experience and I've worked on numerous machinery prototype 3d printed parts.


I charge $40/hour, with a minimum of 10 hours per project, and I'm often on the cheaper end. As a freelance draftsman, I'm usually booked about 2 months out.


I've also played around with some sculpting, and while it's a little easier, I prefer CAD. That's why I create a file in a sculpting program, and import it into CAD to check for things like minimum tolerances and stress areas.

Would you say there's viability in the idea of traditionally sculpting a model (greenstuff, plasticard, etc.) and then scanning it into a 3D file to do cleanup for 3D printing?

Because the material quality, level of detail and surface finish of 3D printed models is so poor it would have been considered barely acceptable in the early 1990s.

>remember, back in the day GW literally said "use whatever minis you want" before they were all about the jewgolds
No, because GW has had a no non-GW miniatures in GW stores since around 1994. If you're implying that you were a hobbyist since before then you're probably in your mid thirties, so how the fuck do you consider GW miniatures expensive, don't you have a job?

If you compare the pricing of GW miniatures to similar products GW miniatures are either similarly priced, or priced better, or have a massive quality lead over their competition. RRG and star wars legion is, for example priced worse than GW miniatures with individual unit boxes providing fewer or smaller miniatures per dollar spent and with boxed sets providing dramatically worse total savings vs buying miniatures separately. Mantic games on the other hand provide more miniatures per dollar at the expense of models generally being mediocre sculpts, this is pretty much what you would expect from a company marketing themselves as being affordable. GW produces a premium product within their industry and their pricing reflects that.

The only area you can really claim GW is charging an unreasonable amount for their models is individual character models, which seem to be very severely overpriced.

Because I'm neither poor enough nor pathetic enough to get this angry over overpriced but still laughably affordable toys.

Or just scan an existing GW mini

>3D printing will kill miniature wargaming

Even if we get to the point of private 3d printers with the required fine detail to match press molded plastic, and that's still a big fucking IF, I don't the hobby will go out of style.

People still like to paint and play.
It just lowers the barrier of entry and makes companies focus on rules systems and fostering community play.

>Why are we not

What are YOU doing to contribute, user?

3D lab tech here. Ideally we want a standardized process because different machines want to slice in certain programs (usually proprietary). Personally I'd use a form2, it's got great z resolution and good x/y resolution and the process favors a fully loaded build plate. This machine is sensitive to the positioning of the files in the setup software, which sometimes needs special consideration to ensure the model will print, but once it's setup right its consistent. I made a few bfg escorts a while ago, didn't quite post a package for Veeky Forums though

if you're reproducing multiple minis for selling traditional castings would be cheaper and easier for mass production. Just have shapeways or some 3d printing service with on of the really good printers print your master mini for the moulds.

though at this point you're just another 3rd party mini producer doing things the same way a lot of other ones already do. even GW did it this way for a bit with some of their late metal/finecast period sculpts.

its possible. but a 3d scanner that can get the kind of quality you want isn't going to be cheap either.

if you just want to duplicate existing miniatures recasting with silicon and urethane resin is going to be much cheaper and easier.

If 3D printed plastic kills Lionfish, we need to drop some off every part of the Florida coast.

>so how the fuck do you consider GW miniatures expensive, don't you have a job?
Having disposable income does not mean you're happy to hand over ridiculous and unjustifiable sums you support GWs dividends. How is it you fucking retarded fan boys never seem to be able to grasp this.

The prices are what the market will bear. There's nothing fanboy about it. You can choose to buy them or not.

That in no way rebuffs our even addresses my point. Nice try though.

It's ok, user, I'm sure your communist utopia will become reality one day.

Why do you idiots fixate on 3D printers so much? They're a fucking meme and will remain so for at least another five to ten years. If you want to get minis for cheap hit up eBay you stupid faggot.

the main reason this isn't getting done is that too few people give a shit.

anyone with a browser, µTorrent and VLC can watch a popular movie that someone with good software and mad skills rips from DVD, and many thousands of people care.

by contrast, someone would need a super expensive 3D laser scanner setup to "rip" e.g. the sprue in OP pic, and there probably aren't five people in the world who have a 3D printer and also care. there is nil motivation for anyone to use their expensiveass 3D scanner to rip this shit or go to the trouble of sharing it. they would not receive widespread acclaim or thanks. they don't care about you.

Is that rate per each model?
If so, is each model a minimum of 10 hours?

What if GW or any other wargame company transitioned into selling 3D print ready models in a future where 3D printing is more accessible? Wouldn’t that keep them in the industry and maybe make them even more accessible?

yeah hypothetically if 3d printing becomes a cheap way to produce minis then that'll just become the industry standard.
Its pretty unlikely to ever get cheaper than casting though, at least for mass production.
3d printing is great for one off/small runs, prototypes and casting masters.
Its not going to be a viable method of mass production because current methods will always be more economical, because they're simpler.

>Having disposable income does not mean you're happy to hand over ridiculous and unjustifiable sums you support GWs dividends.

Find another hobby then.

You can't argue with fans.