sjordan2

As I stated in post #100, which gets lost in the page change, the technology - and its availability and affordability to consumers - is evolving very quickly for the interests of a wide variety of businesses and industries, with little or no influence from plastic car modelers. Kind of a moot point, overall, to me. We just need to wait and see. The typical way this stuff seems to work is that an established company with strong marketing and distribution, maybe someone like HP, will license, buy or partner with a company that has the technology and make it consumer-friendly. Then it'll trickle down to us. But the downside is that 3D printing is of little interest to the general public, unlike having a PC or cellphone, and the more affordable (but not cheap) units will be for more specialized boutique, design and hobbyist use.

It's not the interests of plastic car modelers that will guide the growth of affordable, small scale 3D printing. That will be minuscule in relation to what's already happening. The wide world of crafts still seems to be alive and well, though not growing by leaps and bounds, and I think there are enough different kinds of hobbies to keep crafts stores in business and crafts suppliers, too. In fact, 3D printers probably have a much wider application for the combined interests of other hobbies than for model cars. There are certainly many more kinds of plastic model genres. I don't think that anyone's going to print the Titanic on their home printer, though they may want extra deck chairs. Or lifeboats. Of course there are already a multitude of business applications such as architecture, display companies, start-up ventures, new products, packaging, etc., and there will be more as the technology becomes more available and affordable, and more people become aware of it. They're way ahead of the curve. This subject, after all, is of wide interest in the general media, and is frequently covered and updated.

Just Google 3D printing.

That's my sense of it.

No reason why 3D software being sold online can't have beautiful photography to sell the sizzle, and 360 degree walkaround visuals with configuration features such as are available for 1:1 cars would be even better than a box with nice art. In fact, that could be done right now with boxed polystyrene kits. In fact, Pocher has something very close to that with their slide show on the new Aventador. www.pocher.com

Under that business model, I still think there will be digital piracy issues not unlike those experienced by software companies and the music industry.

In fact, Amalgam will be building 1/8 models of Niki Lauda's Ferrari and James Hunt's McLaren from Howard's new F1 movie, "Rush."

Digitizing a 1:1 car for a model is certainly no piece of cake. Amalgam did it to create 1/8 versions of some of the cars in Ralph Lauren's collection ($9,500 each at Ralph Lauren stores), including his Bugatti Atlantic. While they haven't used 3D printing yet, they have used digital machining. Just to show what goes into the first part of the process, Alamgam says: "Creating them is an exercise in patience. Each car was digitally scanned to capture each detail and curve. The technology is accurate to one tenth of a millimeter over the length of the car, which translates to an authentic scale reproduction of the original. From there, artists create a master model using a combination of digital machining, traditional engineering and hand craft skills. This process takes about 3,000 hours of work by a team of model makers. Each individual model then takes approximately 350 hours more to complete." They also have a relationship with Ferrari, and get CAD files for more modern cars.

"There's also the issue of people not liking hard plastic tires, for whatever reason. To most they seem to be viewed as toy like and not fit for use on accurate models, and while I don't fall into that category, I do have to acknowledge those feelings and that attitude as another challenge 3D models will need to overcome." I don't think it will be too much of a stretch to be able to print in a variety of materials, such as rubber. As I mentioned in my last post, human tissue is already being experimented with for replacement body parts, and are being used for testing the effects of new drugs on specific body organs. This scientist says it's only about 10 years away to be able to print usable issue for a variety of organs: http://www.dezeen.com/2013/05/02/michael-renard-print-shift-interview-health/

Harry P., on 29 May 2013 - 9:06 PM, said: That's what I would be hoping for. I wonder, however, about the problems of piracy, unauthorized copying of digital files. And if one person can print it out for himself, and replace parts, he can print it out for others, lessening the amount of sales for the manufacturer. Some sort of safeguards would have to be in place to do it that way. Of course, that sort of pirating is already being done by people with the resources to have 3D scanners and printers. The spread of the technology is inevitable, though, and there's no telling how fast it will become more evolved and affordable. One of the most exciting current uses is 3D printing of human tissue for replacement body parts.

If Harry can do this Mustebaker, he can do that.

Here's a tip for anyone who needs drawing reference for their build or is scratch building. These drawings are of varying quality, but they can be useful in reference for many kits. Many are free, some require a subscription/payment, some are available in different graphic formats. http://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/cars/

See if you can find something here. http://www.the-blueprints.com/search/dump+truck/

I initiated a rather lengthy thread in Big Boyz, but it probably should have gone here (I know this is double posting on this subject). Last year, Airfix reissued the 1/12 Blower Bentley kit, which had been under several different labels and box art since about 1973. This time, however, the kit has a different registration plate on the box art, instead of the one that is currently on Ralph Lauren's Bentley - UR 6571, the original plate for that kit. So, the questions are: Why was the plate changed for the reissued kit, and are there any other differences in the kit? I, along with others, made a lot of speculative guesses (I haven't looked inside the new version, since it's $140). I contacted Hornby, owner of Airfix, and here's what they told me: Hello Skip, We contacted Airfix UK and got an answer to your question. “Quite simple really. Bentley insisted on the change, due to the new plate being owned by someone in the company. Everything else is the same.” Now you can let the others know the reason for change. Regards, Steven Lesh Hornby America Inc. IT / Technical Support / Airfix Telephone: 253-922-7194 or 877-358-6405 ext 101 FAX: 253 922-7203 www.hornbyamerica.com Mystery solved.

...and still waiting. Ah, well. And I just noticed this... Art Anderson, on 26 Apr 2013 - 04:27 AM, said: Talk about magical thinking. Very mystical But that's like my model building. I have to believe I can do it if I'm ever going to see it.

SOLVED! I sent an inquiry to Hornby (owner of Airfix) about the registration plate change, and received this answer. Good guys, fast answer. Hello Skip, We contacted Airfix UK and got an answer to your question. “Quite simple really. Bentley insisted on the change, due to the new plate being owned by someone in the company. Everything else is the same.” Now you can let the others know the reason for change. Regards, Steven Lesh Hornby America Inc. IT / Technical Support / Airfix Telephone: 253-922-7194 or 877-358-6405 ext 101 FAX: 253 922-7203 www.hornbyamerica.com

Keep us posted on your build! Your work is always topnotch.

5 nice K3 shots here. http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/gallery/34632/MG-K3-Magnette.html

Amazing detail for such a supposedly simple subject. Looks like the real thing.

Google the Bburago 1:18 diecast for a look at one of their SSKs, which was issued in cream/brown and looks very nice.

160 shots of some of the greatest cars ever made, shown this past weekend at the 20th Concorso d'Eleganza. http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/event/316/2013-Concorso-d-Eleganza-Villa-d-Este.html

Well, that was fast. Less than a month after you got it on eBay. And spectacular in every detail. I have a desire to build the Tom Mix Cord Phaeton, and that color looks perfect -- Art Anderson says the Tom Mix car is "cigarette yellow."

I hate to say this, but on your first example at the top, you've got a typo on your decals on the front fenders. It says PROTECT & SERVCE. Shouldn't it be PROTECT & SERVE [?]

One thing that makes reduction in size a little sharper on my inkjet is to keep the base art as large as possible, allowing me to print out at sizes down to 25% of the original. Not a big move, but it seems crisper to me.

Stunning. Excellent work.