With 3D Printing, We Can Make Our Own Action Figures

19 responses to “With 3D Printing, We Can Make Our Own Action Figures”

1. 

   chuloopa

   January 25, 2013 at 10:22 am

   So.. so ugly… lol

   Reply
2. 

   phlaiman

   January 25, 2013 at 10:23 am

   This is both cool and crappy at the same time. Cool because the potential is amazing, crappy because the quality really doesn’t look that great.
   Are we going to have to spend thousands of dollars on buying a really good 3D printer that won’t look so bad close up?

   Reply
   1. 

      weresmurf

      January 25, 2013 at 10:33 am

      Look at it this way. At the moment we’re at the ‘Dot Matrix’ point of printing 3D figures. In 10 years, or shorter, we’ll be at the Laserjet level of doing it in the home office. It’s impressive we can even do this at all realistically.

      Reply
      1. 

         incarnatrix

         January 25, 2013 at 12:11 pm

         Actually the printers are good enough already. Im currently working on models in zbrush for some action figures. This link isn’t my work but it will show you what can be done. http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?173664-From-a-ZBrush-model-to-a-wood-sculpture&p=987009&viewfull=1#post987009

         Reply
         1. 

            phlaiman

            January 25, 2013 at 2:45 pm

            Awesome. In all honesty I was expecting something like this but the original pictures surprised me at how bad they looked.

            Reply
         2. 

            waterbear

            January 25, 2013 at 3:24 pm

            Well, no, that’s milling. Starting with a solid and carving it out. 3d printing is an additive process.

            Reply
            1. 

               incarnatrix

               January 25, 2013 at 4:46 pm

               Actually if you check the whole thing, the 3d print is shown after the sculpts, then it is milled in a big order.

            2. 

               incarnatrix

               January 25, 2013 at 4:50 pm

               I know because i have done this exact same thing for freelance work. Here is perhaps a better example, http://www.shapeways.com/model/789866/cowgirl.html?li=productBox-search

3. 

   whitepointer

   January 25, 2013 at 10:26 am

   I suddenly want a 3D printer. Anyone willing to loan me some money?

   Reply
4. 

   j3st3r

   January 25, 2013 at 10:48 am

   A while back i was reading a story about a guy who have made some figures similar to 40k Warhammer using 3d printing, then placed the plans for printing the models online. He received a notice to remove the plan by Games Workshop.
   The reason I bring this up is that within Games Workshop they have always supported you in creating custom models. I.e. the model doesn’t exist or your making them more flamboyant then the original model they created. So it seems that this is acceptable as long as your not doing it in a way that can be mass produced?

   Additionally: RoBo 3D Printer
   http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1682938109/robo-3d-printer?ref=category

   Reply
   1. 

      corteks

      January 25, 2013 at 4:31 pm

      The thing is GW is pretty big on protecting its IP too. In some people’s opinions they are extreme enough that it’s detrimental to the fan base. Anyway while they’re supportive in people creating their own custom models that’s more in a sense of people still buying their stuff then modifying it with various parts. If I’m remembering correctly the 3D models that were put online were designed to look the same, or very similar, to actual GW models, so they had a big problem with that cause they want you to spend your moola on their products, not on plastic for your 3D printer.

      RoBo 3D does look awesome!

      Reply
5. 

   negativezero

   January 25, 2013 at 11:08 am

   The real problem at this point is that the bulk of the consumer-level printers use fused deposition systems, which is where you melt strands of thin ABS plastic and build the model up in layers. The resolution is getting much better with newer ones now but you still get everything in 0.5mm or so layers and that’s what results in that bumpy appearance. Additionally most of them cannot do any overhangs or complicated parts, because the hot plastic needs to cool before it becomes rigid again, so any overhanging parts will sag. There’s work toward making support materials but nothing that works really well yet as far as I know. So the net result is that you basically have to break your model down into parts and then assemble them.

   Commercial-level 3D printers for rapid prototyping etc cost an order of magnitude more and are much larger because they use a different approach, which involves shooting lasers into a bed of plastic powder. Very smooth prints but they have a kind of smoky appearance.

   Either way, you’re going to probably end up with a single-color model and still need to be able to paint it to look decent. Still, 3D printer stuff is pretty awesome and I’d love to own one for playing around with.

   Reply
   1. 

      piat

      January 25, 2013 at 11:28 am

      http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/01/youll-think-this-portal-figure-came-from-the-dark-distant-future/

      Reply
6. 

   chrobaciky

   January 25, 2013 at 11:20 am

   needed to sand it down a bit before painting it, if thats even possible. still… the printers done most of the work.

   Reply
   1. 

      Blahblah

      January 25, 2013 at 11:30 am

      Yeah needed a thick coat of primer with some fine sandpaper. Would have looked really nice

      Reply
      1. 

         hayden

         January 25, 2013 at 11:51 am

         Yup, person was just lazy in finishing it off.

         Reply
7. 

   siegey

   January 25, 2013 at 11:25 am

   😀

   Reply
8. 

   AussieSniper

   January 26, 2013 at 4:37 pm

   You had access to a 3D printer… And you made… a … Mario???!!?? Some people I just want to smother the life out of.

   Reply
   1. 

      siegey

      January 29, 2013 at 2:55 pm

      wut

      Reply