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1/24 BMW i8 kit completely 3d printed


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The price-tag is why we won't see 3-D kits anytime soon.

That product was most likely printed used an Objet 30 printer. The printers are expensive (start about $10,000) and the plastic goo they use is incredibly expensive- some of the cartridges are $1000 or mroe for about two pounds of material.

Objets do, however, turn out a near-injection-molded-quality part. I have a sample from a visit to their New England distributor.

Charlie Larkin

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The price-tag is why we won't see 3-D kits anytime soon.

That product was most likely printed used an Objet 30 printer. The printers are expensive (start about $10,000) and the plastic goo they use is incredibly expensive- some of the cartridges are $1000 or mroe for about two pounds of material.

Objets do, however, turn out a near-injection-molded-quality part. I have a sample from a visit to their New England distributor.

Charlie Larkin

for something like this im willing to sacrifice a check once of twice a year

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How are the transparent parts printed?

Objet offers a clear, acrylic-like material as part of its array of print materials, along with an elastomer-like material, and has several materials that simulate engineering plastics, like Delrin and Lexan.

It's really an impressive machine.

Charlie Larkin

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sorry but thats just to expensive for what you get ..

if you really really want to have this as a model that bad and have the money to spend alright ..

but for me 300 dollar is just insane ..

imagine how much cool kits you could buy with that

Yes but to have an original that not to many people have!!! Talk about kool!!!!

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They only cost that much now. It's like the first VCR, color TV, or home satellite dish. The prices will continue to drop. I bet if it was some long wanted fifties car, the price bashing and enthusiasm would be a little different. I personally don't like the car, but the result is just amazing.

Edited by 2000-cvpi
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They only cost that much now. It's like the first VCR, color TV, or home satellite dish. The prices will continue to drop. I bet if it was some long wanted fifties car, the price bashing and enthusiasm would be a little different. I personally don't like the car, but the result is just amazing.

It was only a couple years ago that 55" flat panel HDTVs were thousands of $$, now less than $1K. Time will bring this tech to our homes sooner than we think.

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You can't compare this to a plastic kit in terms of price per the product. Look at how expensive full resin model car kits cost, especially race cars. Right now, 3D printing is aiming at that market. I think in the future we will see more 3D printed kits compared to full resin kits. I doubt 3D printing will ever drop to the price of a regular kit. It all comes down to how badly you want something and how much you're willing to spend on your desires.

There are several cars, that are not replicated in plastic or resin, that I would spend a few hundred on as a 3D print. I would love to see a 3D printed stock Delorean with hinged doors in the silver material that is available. I would drop $200-$300 for that kit. But that's just me.

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This is where the rubber meets the road concerning 3D printing. It's o.k. for small lot printings of pieces, but for whole kits or even bodies, it gets really expensive. And, yes it will be less expensive in the near future but many of us will have aged out, if you catch the drift. The only way it may get affordable a lot sooner is, if many, I mean many people, purchase upper level machines and start making parts, and flowing the marketplace, will it become affordable. But those machines require a long term investment, and in these unreliable financial times who can, or would do this. I did once want to start up a company to do industrial model making prototyping, but I could not get start up financing, and, that was ten years ago. So in closing, don't hold your breath too long or you'll suffocate!!

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Agreed, 3D modeling is not the future some think it may be and of course will never replace injection molded kits or resin kits for that matter. It will hopefully turn out to be a viable alternative to resin kits.

Still want at least a stock Delorean body though, LOL.

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First let me say great looking product.

Some great points have been made . Most I agree with 100% .

The only notch in the armor is the fact that these machines have been out to the industry since 1994 or so. Yes, I did work on parts at work back then.

The machines might be getting cheaper but at a much slower rate than home electronic market.

The one thing that this reminds me of is the home printer. The machines are cheap and do a great job of printing , but how much does a cartridge cost for it.

Printer ink is still stupid pricey per ounce.

If this stuff still cost $1000.00 for 2 pounds that is to much for us to go in the right direction . 20 years of the machines in the industry still pricey.

And yes I do have a few cars in my mind that I would spend the $300.00 on. But they would need to be complete kits for that price. I would come up with the tires.:)

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That's a little too rich for my blood. But, if it was a subject that I really wanted badly, I might just figure out a way to come up with the money. Like every new thing, the price will eventually come down to a more affordable level. I've seen people on ebay pay close to that for old AMT and MPC annuals.

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$300 isnt that bad if it is something I really really want. Heck, I dropped a buck and a half on a built resin Hairy Canary A/FX last year because I saw it run at Fremont in 66, and the son of the guy who built the 1:1 built the model. It is the crown jewell in my collection. Now if we could get Jeff Allison's artwork printed. Think I should show this to Steve Scott. He wants a new tool Uncertain-T in styrere, but I think this is the only viable method.

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This is where the rubber meets the road concerning 3D printing. It's o.k. for small lot printings of pieces, but for whole kits or even bodies, it gets really expensive. And, yes it will be less expensive in the near future but many of us will have aged out, if you catch the drift. The only way it may get affordable a lot sooner is, if many, I mean many people, purchase upper level machines and start making parts, and flowing the marketplace, will it become affordable. But those machines require a long term investment, and in these unreliable financial times who can, or would do this. I did once want to start up a company to do industrial model making prototyping, but I could not get start up financing, and, that was ten years ago. So in closing, don't hold your breath too long or you'll suffocate!!

Many plastic model makers (Jo-Han, Williams Brothers, Pyro) were side businesses of industrial injection plastic companies, no reason to believe 3d printing will be any different. Right now the material costs are high for a top end machine like this, but those costs will drop.

Imagine you are a professional model maker creating display pieces for business, showing off new widgets. Those people won't think twice about paying $1500-2000 for a 3d model of their new pesticide sprayer, starter motor, new building design for their chain of tire stores, new tractor etc. The time you save printing out these display models vs scratchbuilding them more than offsets the cost of the equipment (more time to take additional business, or more free time for yourself). Lets say you also happen to be a serious plastic model maker as a hobby. You buy the machine for your job, and turn out very limited run kits on the side as part of your hobby. That is where many of the plastic model companies started and is where this technology will likely move into our hobby. As it finds more use in business, the prices will drop. We've already seen the consumer level machines like Makerbot drop from many thousands of dollars to many hundreds of dollars easily putting them into the hands of the more hardcore model builders.

If the quality is there, $300 for a kit is not out of line for a top end resin kit of an exotic subject.

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Considering the time it took to create the parts on the computer, the price seems like a bargain. It still may not be worth it to some, but it looks like a pretty good value for a low quantity custom kit. I wonder how they amortize the design time for something like this?

I imagine there will still be a lot of clean-up required to get a nice finish compared to injection molded parts. Very encouraging though!

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