Build it, and they will come. The future of our hobby.

[Richard Bartrop]

But if the parts were scanned during construction or restoration, it might possibly be doable?

I could see doing a variation of those part a month subscription in conjunction with one of those construction shows.  Purchase, or download each part for your model as the build progresses.

[Xingu]

Imagine being able to scan all those cars on people's wish lists and have them printable on demand. No more selling the kids or internal organs in order to obtain that overpriced, long OOP Holy Grail kit. It'd put every seller on eBay out of business.  

The problem will come when you go and ask the car's owner, "can I disassemble and scan the parts of your car, I will try to put it back together correctly"

[Tom Geiger]

What would the pricing be for those?  I can imagine they take a lot of printing time.  A friend of mine has a 3D printer, he's a techie not a modeler. He was showing me how it worked and printed a small 3D frog.  We watched for a bit, as it worked mainly on the base.  We went back upstairs and back down to see a few hours later and it still wasn't done.

[Ace-Garageguy]

But if the parts were scanned during construction or restoration, it might possibly be doable?

Absolutely. Or where CAD files already exist for familiar engines and chassis, and the only variation is a different body, you're in like Flint. Convert the existing CAD files to STL (or whatever the industry standard will be) and you're golden.

[Ace-Garageguy]

  I can imagine they take a lot of printing time.  A friend of mine has a 3D printer, he's a techie not a modeler. He was showing me how it worked and printed a small 3D frog.  We watched for a bit, as it worked mainly on the base.  We went back upstairs and back down to see a few hours later and it still wasn't done.

If the slow-to-print parts are used as masters for resin-casting in the near term, it's not an issue.

Then, when desktop 3D printing becomes mainstream, you just buy the license to print to print the file once, let's say, a whole body, load it, and go about your business. When it dings, you remove the part, body, whatever and load the next file to print a complete sprue. And so forth.

 

Edited June 4, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[SfanGoch]

Only little insect in the ointment is the fact that for a full-detail kit, the chassis, engine, and suspension bits would need to be scanned with the body off, or the engine/trans removed...or something along those lines. 

The tech doesn't exist quite yet to cost-effectively scan ALL the parts individually with a vehicle assembled.

Laser-scanning is a line-of-sight process, so keep that in mind.

I know. It's not like you can scan the innards a la Star Trek; at least, not yet, CAT scans notwithstanding. Getting accurate bodies to match up with donor kits and the products available from quality resin casters can mitigate that in the short term. We could have new stuff and the aftermarket and resin guys are still able to turn out good things. That's a win-win-win all around.  Accurate chassis/frames are another story. Finding those to scan would be difficult. Designing a CAD model and using that to print a 3D version is an option. A good looking chassis would do wonders for all those promos and older AMT kits with molded-in details. One could source the ancillary components (drivetrain, suspension, etc.) from one's spare box, in most circumstances. Norbert does custom printing. I need to ask him how much printing a chassis would cost. 

[Tom Geiger]

. A good looking chassis would do wonders for all those promos and older AMT kits with molded-in details. 

We have a lot of decent chassis from the kits of the last two decades.  For instance the AMT 71 Duster and Revell 68-69 Dart chassis work under the majority of Mopar A bodies.  Same with Revell '59-60 Chevy chassis under other period GM cars.  There are many more examples. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

What would the pricing be for those?  

Here's a pricing page from the company making these. Not too bad considering the quality.

http://reedoak.com/#!/new-product-additions-Jan-Feb-2016/c/16103117/offset=0&sort=normal

Edited June 4, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[SfanGoch]

What would the pricing be for those?  I can imagine they take a lot of printing time.  A friend of mine has a 3D printer, he's a techie not a modeler. He was showing me how it worked and printed a small 3D frog.  We watched for a bit, as it worked mainly on the base.  We went back upstairs and back down to see a few hours later and it still wasn't done.

Here you go, Tom. Those are 1/24 scale civilian figures. Not cheap; but, you get what you pay for. As with everything, once the technology is more available, prices will drop.

 

Edit:

OOPS! You beat me to it, Bill.  

Edited June 4, 2016 by SfanGoch

[Tom Geiger]

Here's a pricing page from the company making these. Not too bad considering the quality.

http://reedoak.com/#!/new-product-additions-Jan-Feb-2016/c/16103117/offset=0&sort=normal

I agree it's not bad. Quality wise, and the time and resources it took to make it.  Those have to be a few hours printing time, lets hope they print several of them at a time.  Military modelers, especially outside the US, are accustomed to paying what things cost, but the average US car modeler would have a heart attack!   

[Ace-Garageguy]

...but the average US car modeler would have a heart attack!   

True, the average US car modeler is going to think these prices are outrageous.

But it's not the "average" modeler who's been keeping Replicas and Miniatures and Modelhaus in business. Their stuff ain't cheap.

And remember, we're only seeing the very beginning of these 3D parts trickle into the market.

Just like ALL new technology-driven products, the prices WILL come down.

Edited June 4, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[SfanGoch]

 

We have a lot of decent chassis from the kits of the last two decades.  For instance the AMT 71 Duster and Revell 68-69 Dart chassis work under the majority of Mopar A bodies.  Same with Revell '59-60 Chevy chassis under other period GM cars.  There are many more examples. 

The Revell '59-'60 Impala chassis won't work if you want to build a 1959-60 Pontiac Bonneville, Buick or Olds using the available resin bodies and you wished to have a better detailed chassis. The '59-60 Impala had a 119 in. (120.9 mm in 1/25) wheelbase. The Bonneville's was 124 in. (125.98, round it off to 126 mm), the Buick Electra's was 126.3 in. (128.3 mm) and the Olds Series 88's was 123 in.(124.96 mm). That's a 5-8 mm difference, depending on the model. Too much cipherin' to figure out where to slice and dice to make the Revell chassis fit. It makes my head hurt.  If you could custom print one to suit, it would make things much more simple.

[russosborne]

Here's my take on the whole "we gotta get kids into the hobby" thing.

Why?

Why is it the "duty" of people who are into the model car hobby to recruit kids? Isn't a hobby something a person chooses based on their own personal preferences and interests? The point being, if a kid has an interest in model cars, he/she will get involved in the hobby without any external prodding! That's how it worked with me. My dad had zero interest in cars, or model cars. But I got involved in the hobby because it interested me. I didn't need to be recruited... my own interest got me involved.

And that is how it should be! A person sh .

I have to agree 100% with Harry on this one.

My dad never forced me to build models. He built them constantly, and I WANTED to build them to be like him. And he was happy with my models however they ended up.

And that brings up another point I don't get. So many here (forum as a whole, not just this thread) talk about how kids need snap on kits. WHY? I was building glue kits from about 7 years old on. Now, they were not perfect when I was done. No adult I knew ever told me or even implied that they had to be. The whole point was for me to HAVE FUN building them. No one cared if I switched the bumpers around, or left parts off, or mixed and matched different sized engine parts,ETC. All they cared about was "Rusty is having fun." And having fun is why I am back into this hobby. If I had been forced (explicitly or implied) to make them "perfect" I never would have come back.

I used to use a wood burning iron (think soldering iron) to melt stuff together after the cars had gotten tossed into a parts bag I had. I vividly remember putting the engine onto the roof of the Dyno Don Cougar Eliminator funny car at one point, after I had gotten tired of it being the way "stock" way. I enjoyed the hell out of doing that stuff. Wish I could get that kit today, it was one of my favorites.

I just don't get the way we (as a whole) seem to treat the kids these days. Let them have FUN. Let them build things how THEY want them to be, not the way the instructions or the real car is. Then they might want to actually keep doing this.  Or not, to me it doesn't matter if this hobby continues or not. When I am dead and gone I honestly won't care about what is going on in this world any more.

Russ

[russosborne]

Because?  I'm sure the standard 'family-friendly' answer would be 'children are the future', but I really don't care...I don't have kids, don't like kids, couldn't care less about what hobbies they take up...

Rob, are you sure you and I aren't clones?

Russ

[Harry P.]

I've never understood some peoples belief that this hobby has to be passed on to future generations or it'll die. Future generations will either have enough interest to keep it alive... or they won't–and it will die. And if it dies... so what? How do the hobby choices of future generations have any effect on the hobby choices of the present generation? How do the hobby choices of our generation have any relevance to the hobby choices of past generations?

It's like saying I love Italian food, so I have to get as many kids to like Italian food as I can, otherwise the lovers of Italian food will go down and possibly future generations won't like Italian food, like I did.

So what? What do I care whether future generations have the same culinary tastes that I had? Why should they?

Why should we be concerned whether or not future generations choose the same hobby we have chosen? Why is this an issue???

[russosborne]

Harry, I agree. But I've seen many many instances of people in general saying how "their" particular thing must be passed on to the next generation. It is something about the human psyche that I don't have and just don't get I suppose.

Russ

[Ace-Garageguy]

I've never understood some peoples belief that this hobby has to be passed on to future generations or it'll die.

Why should we be concerned whether or not future generations choose the same hobby we have chosen? Why is this an issue???

And I've never understood why a thread about the fairly immediate future of the hobby is interpreted to be about forcing kids to take it on into future generations.

I don't personally get the logical progression from one idea to the other.

Getting a wider audience / market for the offerings of the kit manufacturers NOW (kids) will theoretically be good for the prospect of the same manufacturers making more kits we old farts want.

Anyhow, that's the way I see it. I don't much give a rat's buttocks what happens after I'm gone...but I'd like to think I made a positive contribution to the future while I'm here, rather than just take take take die.

But that's a totally different issue.

Edited June 4, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Harry P.]

Russ... you and me both. Makes no sense to me either. It seems very presumptuous to think that other people must have the same interests that I do.

[Harry P.]

And I've never understood why a thread about the fairly immediate future of the hobby is interpreted to be about forcing kids to take it on into future generations.

First line of the first post:

For decades now, I have seen the attempts to bring kids in to our hobby.

I "interpreted" that exactly as stated. So obviously the question of "passing on" the hobby is an integral part of this conversation. Or maybe I have a poor comprehension of English. One or the other...

[Harry P.]

And that brings up another point I don't get. So many here (forum as a whole, not just this thread) talk about how kids need snap on kits. WHY?

Agreed.

When I was a kid and first got into model cars, there was no such thing as a snap kit (at least I never saw one). In fact, the more complex a kit was, the more parts it had, the harder it was to build, the more I liked it!

[Tom Geiger]

My dad never forced me to build models. He built them constantly, and I WANTED to build them to be like him. And he was happy with my models however they ended up.

My father never had an interest in models.  When I showed him a model I had built the big compliment (I guess)  was "If you put that much effort in your school work you'd have straight A's".  He did write checks (when I gave him my hard earned cash) for my AutoWorld mail orders, and when those orders came in  there was occasionally an extra model in the box, so I guess he was all right afterall!

My daughters both built a couple of models but it was more that "do something with Dad" thing.  We still have those in my display case,  Priceless!

   

And she's now 32 and getting married in August!

[SfanGoch]

Why is this an issue??? 

 Because, maybe, we're running out of things to talk about?

Hey, my dad never built a model in his life. He was a coin and stamp collector. I got interested watching my older sister's ex-husband, Dave, building cool stuff like Aurora's Frankenstein's Flivver when I was five. He let me help him and I was hooked. It was a mess; but, I had fun. That doesn't mean that doing the same with your kids will yield identical results. 

But that's a totally different issue.

When will it be out on the newsstands?  

[SfanGoch]

Agreed.

When I was a kid and first got into model cars, there was no such thing as a snap kit (at least I never saw one). In fact, the more complex a kit was, the more parts it had, the harder it was to build, the more I liked it!

I know what you mean. I felt gypped when i opened the box and there were 10-15 parts.

[Tom Geiger]

The Revell '59-'60 Impala chassis won't work if you want to build a 1959-60 Pontiac Bonneville, Buick or Olds using the available resin bodies and you wished to have a better detailed chassis. The '59-60 Impala had a 119 in. (120.9 mm in 1/25) wheelbase. The Bonneville's was 124 in. (125.98, round it off to 126 mm), the Buick Electra's was 126.3 in. (128.3 mm) and the Olds Series 88's was 123 in.(124.96 mm). That's a 5-8 mm difference, depending on the model. Too much cipherin' to figure out where to slice and dice to make the Revell chassis fit. It makes my head hurt.  If you could custom print one to suit, it would make things much more simple.

I gave a few examples but a lot more chassis exist...  Trumpeter did a '60 Pontiac,  and as far as modeling different wheel bases, it's not that difficult.  Yea, we don't have every last one but there's often something that can be coaxed into what we need.   For instance the Dart chassis is longer than the earlier A-bodies.  I instantly found the point where I could take the few scale inches out of the rear seat area and reassemble it without the seam showing.  We are modelers aren't we?

[Ace-Garageguy]

First line of the first post:

For decades now, I have seen the attempts to bring kids in to our hobby.

I "interpreted" that exactly as stated. So obviously the question of "passing on" the hobby is an integral part of this conversation. Or maybe I have a poor comprehension of English. One or the other...

Well, one or both of us read something into that line that really isn't there.

I interpreted it to be about bringing kids into the hobby in order to broaden the market, make more money for the model companies, so they might be able to more easily afford to tool up a '51 Studebaker or something equally ancient that would make the old-fart market happy. We're a long long way from all being dead.

I just re-read the entire thread and I don't find ONE person saying it's his "duty" to bring kids into the hobby.

What I DO see is some folks saying it's their duty to EXPOSE kids to a wide variety of experiences and interests...so they don't think that EVERYTHING in life is texting and Bieber and going to the mall.