We have a $200,000 rapid prototype machine and it would only be good for laying down a base to cover with putty for final finishing. It's just too rough. All these RP machines "pixelate" the model. Ours uses something like .005 or .007 steps, which is pretty good. If you were to open a kit up and find parts with that level of fineness, you'd shitcan the thing immediately.
VLS was talking big last summer about using RP to make their masters, once they figured out how to use it. Last I checked, they're still making build ups from Evergreen stock and putty. . .
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).
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.
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.
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.
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The thing that makes this a great way to do figures in particular is that there is a standard for 3-D object files - xyz.obj files - and Poser creates .obj files. Once you have one of these built you can pass it back and fourth between CAD packages. The Dimension printer will print a 3-D object directly from a .obj file.
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.
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