How Cool is this? [3D plastic model of a mesh from your game]

[cliffski]

A 3D model of a mesh from your game. I'd say that's very cool:



http://positech.co.uk/cliffsblog/?p=653

Pricey as hell though.

[princec]

That is indeed very cool.

Cas

[Nexic]

How did you get that made? I'd love to get something like that for my desk

[Roman Budzowski]

Yeah, I want something that cool too. So how expensive is hell?

[Pogacha]

That is amazing
I'm making the list of things I want to do ... actually I would want to have the printer machine :O

Will you paint it?

[speeler]

Very cool Cliff. I'd also like to know how much it cost and where you got it made.

[zoombapup]

Got one of those machines at work. Pricy though as you say.

Nice model.

[cliffski]

about $80 as I recall. Plus more for the little stand it sits on.

[Desktop Gaming]

about $80 as I recall. Plus more for the little stand it sits on.

That all? Thought at least a couple of hundred.

[Nexic]

Wow that's actually pretty cheap, considering a model of that size would probably set you back a good $100 or more if you wanted it from the Games Workshop. And this one is custom!

EDIT: Nevermind, it's a bit smaller that I thought it was. Oh well, still pretty decent for a custom model.

[Moose2000]

Can you please make a video of you flying it around your office going pew pew pew?

[PoV]

Can you please make a video of you flying it around your office going pew pew pew?

I 2nd this!

[FlySim]

Nice model!
You can get custom models built here:http://www.shapeways.com/

They can even do metal. The price is based on volume.

[cliffski]

The metal ones are way more expensive though

[princec]

That's far cheaper than I thought. I'd have bought that for 50 quid.
I wonder if they can do volume discounts? (Like, 50% off for a run of 100)

Cas

[cliffski]

I suspect not, because with 3d printing there is no mould, so the costs of 1 vs 1000 are pretty much the same, but I could be wrong.

[Jamie W]

I noticed a few people mentioned merchandising on your blog cliffski.

Is it something you could do on mass? Wonder if you could you get the models made cheaply enough for it to be worth your while..

[barrygamer]

Cool! And not pricey, considering the tech is pretty cutting edge (no pun intended… it probably isn't 'cut' anyway...). Looks pretty intricate.
Fans love these kind of unique items. Prizes in a (customer) draw?

Collectors editions seem to be back in fashion. Assassins Creed contained that model character.

Anyone remember the old Spectrum game 'Gyron' - gave away a Porsche to the first person to complete it. But, nowadays that would just be a hacker contest, so that might not work

[FlySim]

The volume of the model is how they price it - so hollow models are the way to go. I doubt multiple runs of the same model would save much - maybe some set up time.

I saw one of the machines in action 20 years ago. The process was called stereolithography. Basically it was a big vat of polymer and a laser to cure it. They sliced up your model, cured one slice with the laser then dropped the model down to cure the next slice.

These machines are getting cheaper - hope to have one in the garage some day

[Jim Buck]

Does it look like the same quality you'd get with an injection mold? Or does it looks like it was cut as very thin "slices"?

[FlySim]

Or does it looks like it was cut as very thin "slices"?

I don't think you can see the slices with the newer machines, but years ago you did need a bit of polishing get rid of them.

From Wikipedia:
After a pattern has been traced, the SLA's elevator platform descends by a single layer thickness, typically 0.05 mm to 0.15 mm (0.002" to 0.006").

[JGOware]

How about a link to where you got it made from? Thx.

[puggy]

The cost probably could come down on bulk as it's mainly setup and profit. The plastic itself would be very cheap. You can buy the machines themselves for about $15k (eg http://uprint.dimensionprinting.com/ ) though how fast they are is another thing.

[LineOf7s]

Regarding volume discounts, here's an entry from the FAQ of Shapeways (as linked earlier):

Do you have volume discounts?
No, we do not.

Since it costs us exactly the same, per model, to produce one version of your model or a thousand versions of your model we are not able to give volume discounts.

Given the nature of the technology, I'd be surprised if similar outfits did things much differently.

[lightassassin]

Get a metal one made up, then make a cast of it and get it done the old way. That way you get the model pretty and there isn't any really difficult creation of the original model from which the mold is made.

Advantages ahoy! I'm surprised they don't already do it that way for mass orders.

[JarkkoL]

It's not trivial to make a cast from a model that you don't have to destroy to get it deteched from the model (:

[lightassassin]

Yeah Jarkkol but your original model isn't important, to get somebody else to cast the same model by hand or similar is expensive.

As long as you have no attachment to the original model it shouldn't matter.

[JarkkoL]

So, I'm curious, how would you detach a complex model like that from the cast without destroying the cast?

[chillypacman]

How much does it cost?

It would have been a lot better if they painted it...

[lightassassin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48Uwk...865&feature=iv

Only decent video of it I could find, but it depends on what you use as a base model (what it's made of) and what you create the mold using. I'm not talking about diecast models just plastic ones, but metal ones can also be done. They won't be perfect, but if you want 1000 made at cheaper prices this would be your best bet.

Quality as always will cost, but if you wanted to create a lot you can do it cheaper with minimal loss of quality.