"Interest in 3D printing service for miniatures only" Topic

Would the be interest in a 3D printing service that specialized in just providing models for the miniatures industry?

Most likely.

Depends… Production miniatures or miniatures for casting.

Your not going to make much money doing production with a 3D printer and your going to have trouble winning people over to it. Shapeways is about as close as you can get and that stuff is expensive and the machines cost a lot. Not to mention the powder is insanely expensive still. Specially in smaller quantities.

Now a service that 3D prints and preps models for casting might be worth something. Id outsource the printing for the first bit to test the market before you drop $50 USDk on a machine. You'll also need probably $10 USDk in shop essentials. Stuff like a spray booth to clean the models and collect the expensive waste powder. Not to mention air compressors and stuff like that. A 3D laser scanner with good resolution would be a good investment as well to convert sculpted figures to digital for injection molding prep and stuff like that.

You can make some extra hobby money by sculpting and posting stuff on shapeways for sale. All the fun and none of the risk or labor.

What would you do to differentiate from the existing printers? Normally a specialized business works since it provides a product that is not cost effective for larger suppliers to simply swamp the market with – in 3D printing this does not apply.

I see Minifigs is offering 12mm WWII vehicles made this way, and while the detail looks good, I suspect the graininess/striations will turn some people off.

Perhaps they've resolved that though, but I doubt it.

Actually I am talking about a service for game manufacturers and sculptors. OPerating the 3D printers and keeping up to date on how to properly manipulate the files and post printing prepping of figures that will need to go into master or production molds is fairly specialized and maintaining staff at this point is not really a financially viable thing for most manufacturers.

I noticed when I was looking for a service bureau that I could not find one that really knew how to handle really high detail miniatures gaming figures. Friends of mine who have companies have been finding it a pain to maintain their own machines and to keep up with the technology.

I was thinking that a service that "specializes" in our industry and making models for sculptors and manufacturers to use as masters or dollies in their manufacturing process might not be a bad idea.

In other words we were considering setting up a division at Battleguys as we prepare to launch the company over the next few months that specifically works with sculptors and game companies to print 3D models for our industry.

There are new machines and resources coming online this spring that will really pop the cork on what can be done with miniatures.

The startup is a bit higher but I'd go with a full blown casting service. Keeps overhead down for the customer and you have a steady stream of cash flow between jobs. This gives you something to work with till you get your name out there about the service. It's a viable option with the right talent.

I doubt you can get enough print jobs to stay open in this industry unless your undercutting and then your not going to get the volume. However, offering a one stop solution for digital sculpt to production gives you more options. You only need a few dozen companies working with you instead of a few hundred. The bulk of the cash flow would be restocking and the draw being your 3D printer/experience.

If you can handle the software costs then a service of troubleshooting and converting file types can also be handy. Prepping files for injection molding can also be added later.

It has viability but I wouldn't bet on paying off that 3D printer just on print jobs for this industry. That is why none of the other companies specialize in it. they are dealing with 40 engineers per day and one gamer.

CorSecEng,

Your dead on. I have a full metal casting ability and I am only looking at this as one element of our larger business. We at first looked for services to help us but it was quickly obvious that no one out there really understood the needs of our industry.

Working with the files and printing the masters is what we were really looking at as just one of the things that our game design and production company Battleguys does. Not sure I want to get into the resin casting service but you never know. I have done spin casting for years and can and have done a lot of resin. its just a much higher labor lower volume business.

Something like maxmini3d.eu ?

Lupulus,

Yes like that, but in the USA of course. Obviously there is a market. Im not surprised the EU beat us to having a miniatures service bureau even though it is USA technology being used. They have been doing A LOT of 3D printing for resin models for the last few years now. The new Warzone game that is being produced by essentially a Polish company "Prodos" is 3D design to print to resin for everything they are making. It has been a challenge for them. Maxmini is a 40K aftermarket bits maker I think.

It looks like these guys have the right technology but they do not seem to really be running a professional operation yet. They must have just put this up. I'm glad because it shows the demand potential I think. I look forward to being able to see a little more of a complete presentation of what they are doing and how. Maybe some videos on exactly what they are providing me as a company.

If they had been around when we were first looking for solutions we might have farmed off some work to them although we still would have gone into the business ourselves. The level of demand in any metro area is large enough that local service centers should be kept pretty busy.

I would also like to see more of their actual printed projects as most of what is pictured is resin cast of the prints. They can print in very high resolution to get that result or they are using acetone vapor smoothing afterward.

I'm curious as to the printer they are using because the ones that will do that level of detail for a good cost are just coming out right now or just did in the few months. They must be using one of the hugely expensive older printers that run through print heads fast.

They do seem to have the price point right though. Shapeway charges way too much. They are a little high but if they are using the older printers that would be the reason. Slower and far more expensive to maintain.

Like I said it is GREAT that some one has made the leap. We should be following soon. Fingers crossed. We are looking at around $50 USD for any standard miniature print under 54mm and we will be providing 3D scanning, design and file conversion and clean up services.

We will also ultimately provide in house training and consulting for game companies wanting to get into miniatures production using these methods.

Battleguys,

What is the master from the digital master printed in? Is it plastic, resin, or metal? I'm assuming this is then used to make a production mold???

I'd be really interested to find out the process as I have and have access to others with good 3D modeling software skills. I'd be interested in producing anything from miniature wargaming figures (28mm up to 54mm) as well as buildings.

Can you give a basic rundown of the parts of the process and what approximate costs might be?

Kind regards,
Jon

Jon,

The master material depends on the printer. One of my printers will use Plastic and the other is resin. Which one we use depends on the original drawing.

Either material can be used for master molds. Even spin casting molds if u use the correct process and mold material. Good Luck!

Do you want the printing process or the casting process after printing?

We will be charging around $50 USD for prints of models whose materials volume is stays below that of a 54mm fig if you want an easy visualization. We are going to be trying to be up and in full operation with all but the design service by early summer.

BattleGuys,

I'd be interested to hear about both the printing process and the casting process after printing.

I'd like to be kept up-to-date on your operation and when your services are available, pricing, etc…

My email is jkcooley@sbcglobal.net

Kind regards,
Jon

If you can print a 28mm model smooth and detailed enough for a master mold, and keep the price under $50 USD, you will have my money on 1 March.

Please PM me.

Much like the printing process, you CAN print it at home on your colour laser, but the quality is much better when printed on a 'professional' quality machine. These sorts of machines are generally in the £50.00 GBPk+ range, not the £1,000.00 GBP- area!

The problem the print industry fced was that the first people in had to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds into new machines that were outdated within a couple of years. So you have to keep updating, which means more and more investment. And that all costs. So it becomes a big money pit that needs feeding, constantly, in order to keep it topped up. We lost a lot of good printers over the last 20 years…

Kraftwurx.com

Was quoted $69 USD for a multipart 28mm print of a Japanese officer.

Last time I did a lot of this, 1/4 the rez cost me about $150 USD