Modelling Pet Peeves

Until the later part of the 80's, many people had no idea how to get those kinds of tools, even now many modellers are surprised they can get them.

And that I think sums it up best.

Now how much to buy the software to properly fair the lines of a hull? Last I checked, the packages that can do it with reasonable speed and accuracy are still $30K+ per copy. Now figure your ROI and per kit price (allow not only your base costs but also distributor and retailer markups)......remember, most of this stuff is very limited market.

You need better than a 64 finish for basic structural parts unless you want a rep like Mach2's (remembering their 80 grit or surface on the Do-something kit).

yup, expectations and the bar have been raised.

Nope. In fact, I have a FREE copy of the Solidworks program that works with this setup...you can download it for free and use it if you'd like to check it out. Not to mention that AutoCad or any 3-D program which will produce .obj files will work with this 3-D printer.

Between this printer, Solidworks, and Poser 5 I could start a resin fantasy figure biz in about 3 weeks...that's about $3K in software above the cost of the machine...if I opt for the commercial version of Solidworks.

...tumbling.

"Rufus" wrote

Yeah, OK. Once you set up your fantasy figure company, try that and tell us how it works out.

KL

You're forgetting your modelling history. 20+ years ago, *most* modellers were kids, who *mostly* didn't care about the really fine details, just finishing the thing and playing. Besides, how many of them could have afforded all the PE stuff on their pocket money? I work for a living, and I have to think twice before I invest in the stuff - and I don't have a 'significant other' to worry about.

RobG

In terms of 20+ year ago dollars, I'd have expected etch to be cheaper...like those 15 cent bottles of Testors paints I used to buy...I'm in your boat, but I look at it differently. I never buy anything I don't want, and I'm willing to wait for the price to come down - the Tamiya Swordfish kits are one of my best examples - wouldn't pay more than $40 for one, and didn't. (Got my 1/32 Tamiya Zero for the same $40, too.)

But I think you may be on to something - maybe it's the same group kids that just grew up and both wanted and could afford more expensive toys. So they started making them...and marketing them.

...so we really have no one to blame for pricing kids out of model building but ourselves...

Try it yourself - check into one of the demonstration seminars I took. I'm sure you can find one in your area. I don't know if they cost anything; I got to go to one through work and play with both the 3-D printer and TC Solidworks. But you get to walk away with a free learner's copy of the Solidworks software (which I have). They had examples off of the Dimesion printer which had been tumbled and chromed...that's about as smooth at I can ask for.

Since people in the 3-D animating world routinely use pacakages like Solidworks or AutoCad to model props for Poser and Bryce (both of which I already own), it only stands to reason that a .obj figure created in Poser could be passed into Solidworks for printing (if I couldn't just print it directly from Poser). I'd need to make sure that the bump map is incorporated into the base object to capture some of the finer details - and forgo the texture map.

I'm holding an object (a bottle with a treaded cap) printed from the Dimension printer as I type...it could work. I'm sure someone will beat me to it.

(BTW - I'm not affiliated with these folks; just REALLY impressed by them.)

Oh, god yes. The Do 26 was the first kit I've ever seen that had orange peel before the paint was even applied. It sanded off, but that was only the start of the deficiencies.

Mark Schynert

Sorry about the glitch & double-post. The computer took a mis-stroke of mine for a command to send before I had finished.

Mark Schynert

Amen, brother.

RobG