Desktop Manufacturing, Part 1: 3D Printing

[Richard Bartrop]

It's like any skill we had to develop to make models.  The one who want to do it will find a way to do it.  Those who don't, won't.

And let's not forget that there is an up and coming generation for whom playing with computers and 3D is second nature to them.  There is a thriving hobby devoted to modifying computer games, and creating custom characters for them, and some of them are already exploring the potential of 3D printing.

Edited December 21, 2018 by Richard Bartrop

[Tom Geiger]

Good points Richard!   The future of this hobby may very well be the next generation creating car models in 3D software and printing out the results.  

[my66s55]

The internet is already loaded with hundreds of 3d cad car files . Some are free

This 37 Buick 4 door sedan has been exploded to show how the cars are created in pieces like the real one's. Makes it easy to put together parts for printing.

 

Then of coarse, there are the ones that cost money. My F&F Delehaye is one of those. These are others in my collection. I got in on a Black Friday sale last month and paid $108.09 for these 3. In order-

57 DeSoto Adventurer, 40 LaSalle convertible coupe and 39 Olds 80 Convertible. Regular price-$75 each.

3.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

21 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

It's like any skill we had to develop to make models.  The one who want to do it will find a way to do it.  Those who don't, won't....

Yup.

[Spex84]

Doug, that Desoto model looks enticing! There are some very good 3D models out there. I'm picky. So many of them have proportion problems, made by artists who know the software but not the subject matter.

//A major downside of video game models is they're like false-front buildings--a series of hollow shells designed to make the models load quickly in 3D software. They are not enclosed volumes and have to be laboriously "capped" to be eligible for printing. In addition, they tend to be low-resolution, low-polygon, faceted instead of smooth.  In contrast, the 3D cars sold as "solid models" are terrible for video games (way too many unnecessary polygons) but excellent starting points for 3D printing.

The '31 Ford coupe I have on Shapeways was a video game model I created in 2010/11. As an amateur, it took probably hundreds of hours for me to get it working in-game...and then almost as many to "fix" it and make it printable! Kind of a nightmare, really.

But the point is--I had the interest, put in the time (holy smokes, SO much time) and made it happen. Others will do the same!!

It's going to take a while before the tech for creating 3D objects becomes as accessible as it needs to be for widespread adoption.

 

 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

3 minutes ago, Spex84 said:

...It's going to take a while before the tech for creating 3D objects becomes as accessible as it needs to be for widespread adoption.

Yup, but people are doing it, and the ones who suffered through the early days will have a leg up on everybody else, no matter how "easy" it gets. 

4 minutes ago, Spex84 said:

... many of them have proportion problems, made by artists who know the software but not the subject matter...

Which goes for mass-produced models as well.

[Flat32]

3D computer models can be an artist's rendition, an actual surface scan, a reverse engineered exact model or a combination of two or all three. 

[my66s55]

You get the best background images you can find, line them up in sync in as many sides as possible: right side, back, front and if your lucky, the top. Like this.

Then start outlining and filling in referencing as many good references as you can find.

[Flat32]

17 hours ago, my66s55 said:

You get the best background images you can find, line them up in sync in as many sides as possible: right side, back, front and if your lucky, the top. Like this.

Then start outlining and filling in referencing as many good references as you can find.

Seems like a different form of scratch building. Impressive in a way, but no where near as impressive as traditional scratch building.  Then there's the reality of 3D printing being just another way of making parts for the real model builders that assemble the parts and detail them to extraordinary levels of realism.  In my mind the creation of computer models needs more rivet counters in the ranks.  3D printing is expensive and it bugs me no end to waste it on printing an inaccurate or limited detail model.

[peteski]

And here we have an example (on this forum)  of a modeler designing and 3D printing his own model.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

36 minutes ago, peteski said:

And here we have an example (on this forum)  of a modeler designing and 3D printing his own model...

And...