Comments on: One day we’ll make our own D&D miniatures

By: njharman

njharman — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:43:55 +0000

Check out Fab at Home, one of several inexpensive open 3d printer. They’re already at a point were they can reproduce themselves(human assembly required)

By: bonemaster

bonemaster — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:33:41 +0000

Guess, I’ve been out of the loop on 3D printers. Of course, it’s not really my field. Still, I find the concept of doing this in the future and interesting concept.

@MadBrew – Business Plans, we don’t need no stinky Business Plans!

By: Mad Brew

Mad Brew — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:16:04 +0000

I used to do 3D modeling for the Aerospace industry, and I have had several parts prototyped on a 3D printer. The latest printer I saw was the Desktop Factory. It is decently priced at just below $5k and it fits on a (larger) desk. Of course, the level of detail isn't that great, but in 5 years, you'll be able to get professional looking models at half the price. I was seriously pondering starting a business in rapid prototyping with a mechanical engineer I had worked with, but neither of us wanted to write the necessary business plans! I can see an underground trade in CAM/CAD files, but you could always just scan them yourself with a 3D scanner at a reasonable price of $3k.

By: Donny_the_DM

Donny_the_DM — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:57:27 +0000

Ah, the 3D printer.

When I was doing CAD product design, we had an antique (first Gen) prototyper. Used fiberglass resin. It cost the company something like 70K to get it!

Problem is, the cost to create a widget using these bad boys is astronomical compared to a mass production of blow-molded plastic. At a guess, a mini would run around 6-15 dollars each.

Add to that the fact that they come out the same base color as the resin – yeah, gotta be painted too.

Someday! Thanks for posting this, it tickled my geekbone.

By: jonathan

jonathan — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:28:38 +0000

that thing is awesome! especially at ~$30,000 See here for pricing

By: newbiedm

newbiedm — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:57:28 +0000

The piracy issue willl be the next big thing.
Imagine a torrent file from Hasbro’s Star Wars Action Figure Line.
Printing out my own Chewbacca….
My own cups at home…
My own screwdriver…
My own tupperware….

It feels far off and impossible, but in the 70′s who could have imagined internet, xbox, HDTV, etc….

It’s coming…

By: Chris Tregenza

Chris Tregenza — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:57:40 +0000

This is one of the things that excite us at 6d6 Fireball Miniatures. Rather than selling metal miniatures, we can sell designs. No worry about keeping things in stock and our costs will be incredibly low meaning we can have lots and lots of different miniatures available.

The other, closer to reality, future tech we are excited about is publishing on demand. Being able to print & ship personalised campaigns that the customer has created by selecting from a menu of one of adventures and encounters. This tech is almost here, its just too expensive / not high enough quality to work just yet.

By: David

David — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:58:57 +0000

3-D printers are already being used for a similar purpose. You can order your World of Warcraft character from Figure Prints:

http://www.figureprints.com/

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:14:38 +0000

I heard an interview with the designer of this printer. He foresaw that future were everyone would be swapping CAD files. In fact, he said, one of his printers could make 90% of its own parts. So he didn’t expect to sell too many of them.

Didn’t say how much the supplies cost, though.

By: Brent P. Newhall

Brent P. Newhall — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:42:40 +0000

According to the latest issue of I.D. Magazine (or maybe it’s How Magazine), there’s one going on the market in the next few months, with an MSRP of $5,000.