3D Printing, wot's it all about?

[Harry Faversham]

Any chance of an idiot's guide to the advantage/disadvantages of 3D printing? I can't see any, the models look crap with all them funny lines all over 'em...
or is that from using a cheap-tack printer?

[Zed1]

It does. Because the quick file printers are not designed to print highly detailed, tiny structures. A resin printer of higher quality delivers better results. There are good machines on the market, but I don't think that an invest of up to 4000€ is a good deal for someone who just likes to self-print a figure every now and then.

[Wolfgang Meyer]

3D printing with a resin printer for less than 400 euros

Germania figures scale 1/72

The figures are fantastic, with no print lines












Best regards, Wolfgang

[Wolfgang Meyer]

Mars Elegoo printer for around 300 euros!

[Kekso]

I'm not sure how much Speira Miniatures paid for their printer(s) but their 3d printed figures are fantastic.
I'm not sure will 3d printers ever replace mould injection based massive production but definitely have their piece of market cake. Solid Anycubic Photon is available for around 200€. One must add costs of resin, isopropanol, UV light etc. But it is still affordable for many average wallets.

[Konrad]

Without a doubt, 3D printing is the future.
And, as with any new technology, costs will decrease over time.
I've been painting figures for fifty years now.
The first few sentences don't come close to the quality of 3D prints.
But they all had their charm somewhere.
And it was precisely their little mistakes that made them attractive.
But that's the way it is in life.
If you get something, you lose something.
Times are changing.

[MikeRC97]

I’ve been looking into this lately and indeed 3D printing has come a long way in a relatively short time. The quality of resin printed models is outstanding.

It’s not without its drawbacks however. The resin itself is toxic and needs to be cured before handled.

Also the prints don’t always come out right the first time (from what I’ve read it’s very common to have a bad print) and the resin is expensive so there’s ongoing cost beyond just the cost of the printer.

But the biggest challenge is the models themselves- you can find some stl files on the internet but if you want to make your own you’ll need to learn how to model 3D models, not very easy.

[Misteredd]

I am considering 3dprinting for my life long dream of a fighting sarissa phalanx set. I doubt resin figures can solve my problem, because resin is to bristle to form a suitable pike. Are there other materials more suited for this task? What kind of 3d printer would be necessary?

[Kekso]

Are there other materials more suited for this task?

I'm not sure whether you need 3d printed Macedonian Phalangites because there are two nice plastic sets that combine well:

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=147

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=341

And people use plastic brooms or thin metal wires for sarissa.

[Misteredd]

Dear friend, those sets are not convincing. The warriors actually do not fight with those sarissas. It might be a walking phalanx, but no fighting phalanx. Igor Dzis tried to depict a fighting phalanx.

https://weaponsandwarfare.files.wordpre ... d18f-1.jpg