"Hive Queen and Country Alien Bugs and HP printer Technology" Topic

Rosa Miniatures and Games has relaunched its Hive Queen and County "Alien Bug" minis using the newest HP 3D printing technology. (see Hive Queen and Country Miniatures) The new HP nylon printers are a new twist of the fused powder systems. The powder is really fine, and the build chamber is kept just below melting temperature as each layer is laid down. The nylon that is to become the part is melted and held in a semi liquid state until the entire build has been completed and the chamber is cooled down. HP is working on full color printing (in beta testing). The results are FANTASTIC!

1) The models are very strong.
2) The detail is very high.
3) Slightly flexible.
4) No layer effects.
5) NO support material nicks.
6) Paints adhere well: the nylon was designed to absorb dyes and it take up paint well. We find that it is a little too good at absorbing paint, so we spray on two coats of primer.

There are two down side of that I see with this new tech is that the cost is based on volume of the build area not the part. This is because the machine only recycles a portion of the "unused" support powder. And HP does not really have a cost per unit volume worked out: thus it is rough to work out actual cost. I had to estimate high to make sure we could meet the promises of the Kickstarter.

I would add pitchers but I am not getting the tool bar for some reason

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