Brett Barrow

http://youtu.be/X5AZzOw7FwA

I'm not speaking for the entire hobby, just speaking from 12 years (and counting) of experience doing it day in and day out for a living. I think I might have learned a thing or two over that time. I'm careful to use phrases like "Most folks", instead of "every single modeler on the planet, especially Jonathan Stephens of Phoenix, Arizona"...

There will be a segment that goes for it, I have no doubt. There will be home-printed downloaded models. There will be on-demand parts printed at home, I have no doubt. We will be printing models and model parts at home, that's a sure bet. But it will supplement traditional plastic modeling, not supplant it.

Just a mock-up using Ohio George parts I'm sure. I've seen the digital renderings of the new parts and spoken with Round 2 about it. They will be 5-lug. You'll see them first in the 40 Willys when it comes out around August.

I have to disagree. Most folks don't buy models with the sole intent of putting a miniature onto a display shelf, they buy models to put boxes into stashes. You'd be robbing them of the feeling of tearing off the shrinkwrap, opening the box and seeing what's inside, or the feeling of plunking down the cash and walking away with the kit in the box. Not to mention the power that just the box art has on the model-buying public. Models are largely about selling the sizzle, not the steak. I still have my wall of DVD's proudly on display so that when company comes over I can say (subliminally, of course) "Look at all these movies! I must be soooooo cool to have watched all these movies...", but I haven't opened a case and put a DVD in the machine in years, everything I watch now is through OnDemand or streaming Netflix. I still have bookshelves full of books - "I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany..." But I haven't cracked a paper book or magazine (that I paid for) since I bought a Kindle a couple years ago. The difference, though, it that books and movies are content-based, that's all we really care about, is getting the content into our brains. Models, on the other hand are much different. If it were just about getting that finished model onto the display shelf, there might be something there with 3D printing at home. but I just don't see it panning out. Folks buy ebooks and read them on Kindles and iPads, they don't print paper copies out at home. 3D holograms of cars that you can view and manipulate on a small electronic device? Now that might be the future of modeling....

Direct scans of 1:1's are still a lot of work. I know that on the Kirkham Cobra Daytonas that were 3D scanned to make 1:1 replicas, that process took 17 hours of actual scanning, then another 80 hours of computer work just to get the point cloud down to a manageable level that could be used to make cross-sections for further manipulation, and that was just for the body panels...

Cost savings only for the manufacturer. Passing all the costs on to the consumer. You're asking a lot from them. Got to remember these are folks that will drive an hour both ways to a hobby shop to grab a bottle of gray paint just to avoid having to mix black and white that they already have. Having to buy a model then print it out at their own expense? They'll never go for it.

I remember when I was a kid acrylic paints were supposed to be the death of enamels, but enamel paints are still far and away the sales leaders in model paints. (Don't know why, I'm an acrylic and lacquer guy myself) Desktop printing hasn't killed paper modeling (talk about some hard-core dedicated modelers, paper modelers are insane!!! - in the good way...). You can print your own paper models, but print quality isn't as good as the commercial products (many of which now include laser-cut and/or photo-etched parts) not to mention you'll probably kill a set of ink or toner cartridges that cost more than buying the model outright. Factor in the cost of paper and ink and it's just not worth it. I think this will be the case with desktop 3D-printing for many, many years. We'll still be buying injection-plastic consumer goods probably forever and as long as those injection molding facilities are up and running, they'll be cranking out plastic model kits for us to buy, too. Will companies come along that offer esoteric subjects that will be printed at home? I'm sure of it. In fact they already exist; just browse Shapeways.com and you'll find tons.

They all use it in some form, or they will soon. Revell 3D scans their handmade pattern models to begin the tool-cutting process. They'd like to totally eliminate the pattern making process within the next couple years. To see the difference just that the 3D scanning of the patterns makes, compare the old 32 Fords to the new Rat Roaster, the RR used most of the same pattern parts, but the old ones were transfered to tooling by pantograph, the RR was transfered to tooling by 3D scanning. Tamiya still begins each model with a simple hand-carved wooden buck to get proper shape and proportioning, but 3D scans that to begin the detailing phase of their design. Round 2's Polar Lights 66 Batmobile was done with the same 3D-scanned digital files that were used to create the Hot Wheels 1/18 die-cast (pretty sure the same designer did both, or Mattel allowed the use of the files; either way, it was on the up-and-up). If they aren't using both 3D scanning (either of 1:1's or patterns or mockups) and 3D printing (rapid-prototyping/stereo lithography, whatever you want to call it) they will be soon. I started the thread to point out that an injection-plastic model company was now offering 3D printed parts to its customers.

We've seen 3D printing used by resin companies for their master patterns. Now I think we'll see it creep into the accessory/super-detailing side of plastic modeling. I don't think it'll kill plastic modeling at all, but rather could take it to another level as more companies integrate it into the design and development phase. It will totally eliminate the pattern-making stage of model kit development, going right from design to tool-cutting and still have a way to check shape before cutting steel. Will probably end up bringing costs down in the long run. If wooden ships and balsa airplanes are still around, I think plastic models are going to be around for a while... But this is a cool idea, they could add a bunch of accessories or building options into the initial design, but only tool up the basic part of the design in plastic and leave some of the options to the 3D printing. You could have your 2-door hardtops in plastic, but you want a four-door or a station wagon?... Blam! We've already designed it for you, just have it printed and shipped to you, much like a resin body nowadays. Or the kit could come with a top-of-the-line V8, but you want that mainstreamer 4-cylinder?... Whammo! Just have it printed!

Really cool, I used to spend summer vacations and after-school afternoons helping my grandfather restore horse-drawn buggies and farm implements. I've spoke-shaved many a 1:1 spoke! Some of those buggies were really complex.

Noticed Moebius had a sign up at Wonderfest 2013 (a sci-fi model show) a couple weeks ago that said they were offering parts through Shapeways.com's 3D printing service. So far all they've got for sale are a couple 1/32 items to complement their 1/32 Battlestar Galactica Vipers, but these could probably work on 1/32 real-world aircraft as well, and the tool box could fit into a 1/32 slot car pit lane... http://www.shapeways.com/shops/moebiusmodels Interesting to see this offered by a mainstream injection-molded model company. Opens the door for all sorts of possibilities.

Mine weren't clean and clear enough? http://public.fotki.com/barrowb98/90-mustang-lx-50/ Didn't get bent out of shape at all. I just won't be in a hurry next time I get a new kit to get pictures of it up, that's all...

PP5 will be the wheels and tires from the forthcoming 40 Willys re-issue, which will be newly-tooled front wheels very similar to the fronts in the Ohio George 33 Willys but with a 5-lug bolt pattern, and the newly-tooled rear 5 "window" mags from the recent reissue of same. I think it might wind up with the Goodyear slicks, but don't quote me on that. Pretty sure PP6 will involve Goodyears of some sort, probably 4 each of the 2 sizes of Polyglas GT's. Don't quote me on that, either...

Brain fart. Touring cars are 1.9". Always been an off-road guy myself, that's why I had 2.2" on the brain. 1.9"'s would be about 22" in 1/12th scale

Private conversation.

I got an answer from my contact at Revell. They've heard the complaints.

You'll be taking excellent pitchers, too, when you get your little photobooth like mine. Copycat.

1/10 scale on-road R/C wheels are 2.2", so that scales out to about a 26" wheel in 1/12.

Typical Tamiya, sharp, crisp, simple engineering. Curbside. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Hands down, Tamiya's painting stand, no doubt about it.

Tell that to guys that have been doing it for 40+ years. Tell Art Fitzpatrick that in all those great Pontiac illustrations he did the cars were too low, and too long, and too wide. As I pointed out earlier in the thread, Revell's 50 Olds has about a 1 3/4" roof chop, and anyone who notices it (almost no one does, when done right you won't) thinks it is an improvement.

I hear you, Darin. I've sold models to the general public, and dealt with the manufacturers for the last 12 years myself, so I know where you're coming from. I'm not an apologist, nor a model company defender, I'm a realist, too. Here's a fun little hypothetical question I'd like to throw out there - If Revell were to fix the body on this kit, but it meant someone there had to lose their job or get laid off, would you all still want them to do it? And I know what the answer will be "They should have gotten it right in the first place!". But what if it is right, in that it is exactly the kit that was laid out by the designer during the design phase, the pattern maker followed that design perfectly, then the toolmakers followed that pattern exactly. What if no mistakes were made though the development of this kit, what if any flaws were inherent in the designer's design work and were there intentionally as part of that particular designer's aesthetic style? Again, I don't know that that's the case with this particular model, but I do know that making rooflines 1-2" lower than the 1:1 has been the norm in model kit design since the dawn of modeling.