3D Printing: Building A Better Miniature Base

by SandWyrm

Games Workshop bases. For better or worse, we're all used to them (or their many copy-cats). But while assembling my large order from Anvil Industry to make a copyright-legal army for WarStrike,   I had to decide what kind of bases to use for the figures that didn't come with any.

And since I've got a nice 3D resin printer... Well, I think I've come up with something much better than the norm.

A 3D Printing Kickstarter That Deserves More Attention (Updated)

by SandWyrm

There's a new company in town offering 3D printable scenery, and it's in just the style I like.... SANDY! Oh man do I want these!

Rock On Hydra! Rock On!

by SandWyrm

Now I have a 3D Printer.... Ho, Ho, Ho...

3D Printing Is About To Hit Mainstream Gaming

by SandWyrm

Several weeks ago, I got into a conversation with Hight, the owner of Sinclair Games (our FLGS), about 3D printing. Which included showing him my previous post on the female ganger minis that I'd bought from Shapeways. He was pretty impressed and wanted to find out more about it.

Cue a couple of Wednesdays ago, when I walked into the store to see him playing with a brand new filament printer (The Robo 3d above) which cost him around $800 on Amazon. He was downloading terrain models from Thingverse and trying to figure out how best to print them. With mixed results, but much enthusiasm. He's fully on board now with the idea of 3D printing replacing traditional metal/resin miniature production. He's just frustrated at the lack of usable models out there. 

But that's getting ready to change in some interesting ways...

Metal-Jet 3D Printing

by SandWyrm

Ran across this one today. Check out the tiny miniatures at the end.

28mm Miniatures Printed ON Your Smartphone...

by SandWyrm

Here's a very interesting 3D printer design that uses the lit pixels of a smartphone to harden resin as the gantry lifts. Super-simple, cheap ($100) and designed in Taiwan, this may end up being the easiest to use printer yet. Just load up the model, let the screen change which pixels are lit at each layer, and wait for your mini to be created (upside down) before your eyes.

If you go to the link above you can see it in action.

3D Printing: Better Than Plastic?

by SandWyrm

You know, in all my posts about 3D printing, I've never really considered the notion that it might actually displace injection-molded plastics because of superior detail resolution. But then I saw this print on Twitter today. Read all about it here.

This 3D Printer Will Kill Resin & Metal Casting

by SandWyrm

This is a time-lapse video (7x normal speed), but you're still talking about 6 minutes for a mini the size of a 40K figure, with extra-crisp and smooth detail.

GW Half-Year Financials: More Of The Same

by SandWyrm

The GW Half-Year numbers are out. The company is still bleeding revenue and profits, though not as badly as they were in June. GW's new CEO, Kevin Roundtree, can at least be given credit for clearly breaking out the numbers for Independent (Trade) Store Sales, GW Retail Sales, and GW Website (Mail Order) Sales. Which are interesting to finally see.

3D Printing Is Now Ready To Compete In 28mm

by SandWyrm

I've been talking about 3D printing for a long time now, and like most everyone, I'd been wondering when we'd finally reach the point where a 28mm 3D printed mini would be indistinguishable from an injection-molded plastic or metal mini.

Well... That time has now arrived. Not on the home printers, not yet. But in this post I'm going to show you what the high-end printers are now capable of. With some 40K/Necromunda compatible prints from Shapeways that will blow you away.

Want To Create Your Own 3D-Printed Minis?

by SandWyrm

Merry Christmas!

We've gotten an email from Michel Daab, who's working on a website called "Create Your Minis". Where you can design your own minis, have them 3D printed, and sent to you. Cool idea, but how good is the service?

3D Printing: Would You Play Against This Army?

by SandWyrm

While agonizing over whether to buy in to the Kickstarter for this cool new 3D printer, I came across this pic of a 3D printed Space Marine force. You can see the printing 'layers' if you click on the pic and zoom in, but really... Does it look so bad? Would you even care if it was painted up to a tabletop standard?

A Taste Of The 3D Printed Future...

by SandWyrm

I've talked before of how an old college chum of mine was playing around with 3D printing. Well, he's perfected his technique now, and is using his filament printer to create custom toys based on his own artwork. I'd figured on him resin-casting from printed masters, but he's printing all the parts up on the printer in batches instead.

Go Make A 3D Printed Spaceship...

by SandWyrm

If you head over to the Sandboxr website, they have a web app up that will let you (after creating an account) assemble your own custom 3D printed spaceship. Using any combination of Ender's Game themed parts and colors.

Welcome to the future. Prices are a bit high, but the models come in full color, no painting required.

3D Sculpting too coarse?

By Chambers

H. R. Giger eat your heart out

In many of the debates I have read here, and elsewhere, regarding 3D printing one of the most common criticisms is the inability of 3D printers to achieve any kind of fine detail.  While this is not ready for prime time yet we might have turned the corner, an entire room was sculpted using 3D printing.

Take A Look At This...

by SandWyrm

A good friend of mine does illustration work for Battletech, amongst other things.  Well, he recently bought a 3D printer. Here's his first original creation. It's called the 'Master Blaster', and is only 5.25 inches tall.

Staples Is Now Selling 3D Printers

by SandWyrm

Slashgear is reporting that Staples is now selling Cube 3D printers via their online store. Complete with all the consumables required.

Kickstarter Launch Detected

by SandWyrm

web app presentation from sandboxr on Vimeo.

You might remember me mentioning Sandboxr in my last post on 3D printing. Well, they've launched their Kickstarter. So there's a lot of new stuff to see. Including the future of custom gaming miniatures. Select an animation, scroll to the pose you want, add some weapons and... GW dies.

Patents Are What's Limiting 3D Printing Right Now

by SandWyrm

Wired has a good article up on the patent hurdles that the new crop of low-cost 3D Printer makers are having to contend with. It's worth a look.

So is the web page for Sandboxr, who are offering full-color 3D prints like the figure above, which is about the same size as a 40K Bloodthirster. Watch their video to see users playing with their models on an iPad before the print is made. This is the future, however long it takes to get here. :)

Nuclear Launch Detected!!!

by SandWyrm

For those who think that 3D printing will only ever be a rare, expensive, enthusiast thing. Here's your first truly disruptive product. A (cheap to refill) filament printer starting at only $499. It has 0.3mm resolution and can print within a 6" x 6" cube. That's more than fine enough to print out a 40K-scale tank model.