There had been a lot of debate about whether 3D printing can actually replace plastic, resin or metal miniatures. As a design studio, we would like to share some of our thoughts.
Q: Is it now?
A: Definitely NOT now. Still not cost and time effective enough to make 3D printing viable.
Q: How about those low quality 3D printers?
A: If you are looking at low end 3D printers at the USD400 (GPB320) to USD1000 (GPB800) price range, forget about it. These printers are basically copycat of each other with a different look with the similar mechanism and software. At 28mm scale, you are practically printing a block of melted plastic with extra-long cleaning time to make it looks like what you think it is.
Q: How about those mid-range 3D printers?
A: If you are looking at mid-range 3D printers at the USD2,500 (GPB2,000) to USD6,000 (GPB4,800) price range, those can do some decent work, but don’t expect any fine details. You will also need a lot of cleaning up to do afterwards.
Q: How about those professional grade 3D printers?
A: How do you define “professional grade”? Don’t trust advertising or printed samples… they are VERY misleading. Send the manufacturer your own file and let them print it out with their printers. You then compare the results before making a decision. These printers can cost between USD64K (GPB51K) to USD130K (GPB103K). The way manufacturers tell you about “resolution” is also very misleading too… and make sure the printer have the “printable” size you wanted.
Q: What else do I need?
A: You must at least know how to “draw” in 3D before even thinking about making your 3D models. Knowing “how-to” is very different from being proficient in creating printable objects, plus the time to create them!
Q: What do you expect from a 3D model?
A: Quality – had to be true-to-scale, true-to-details, and historically correct. Read a lot of reference material, and locate as many blueprints as you can find.
Q: What do you expect from a 3D print?
A: Quality (again) – no zig zag lines, smooth surface, and fine details will show up where they are supposed to be. You must expect long print time for any good quality job. Some will take over a day to print… make sure you have enough raw materials to finish the job.
The previous 3D printer we had can only be used for prototyping, but this one can definitely go one step further!
We have seen many companies (no offence to anyone) used prototyping quality printouts, duplicate and cast them in resin, then sell them as products. Fortunately, most of these companies had spent extra efforts to remove as much imperfections as possible before offering them as products; but some companies don’t.
…end of rant!
