Introducing our figures with 50% for Black Friday (and tomorrow too)

[DeanPunchard]

Thanks for everyone who placed an order, they'll take 1-2 weeks to produce, and will be posted as soon as they're ready.

Anyway I thought I would reply to folk in one go

At £5.00 a pop, that is very good..

How long does it take to scan a person? - I wonder if you could offer a scanning service at the show(s), and then go away and print??

I do scan, I've only done Peterborough last year, but can travel to events, groups, meet ups, etc if there are enough interested people. I went down to Bristol earlier this year to scan a group of 20. If you have a group that wants their own miniatures, just get in touch.

Your work is superb. The detail and poses are true to life. The facial detail and clothing is, to my eye, very British Isles. Little works of art.


So, would you ship to The Colonies, and are there any roadblocks ie customs etc. i think they might be fine with some g scale if properly placed. The larger size and detail are the reward for any compromise. I am excited about the prospect of painting a dozen or so.

The fact they're scanned from real people means we get these great variations and individual feel. People often comment that the guard figure is too tall, but in reality he's 6ft4!

I do ship the odd one or two oversees, but generally focus on the UK.

Love the range and detail. I like the info' you have given of physical size, so often missing from other suppliers.
I have ordered 5 and look forward to trying them.

Cheers, send me so pics! If I put them on the website I can give you a free figure when you re-order more.

Me too! Had there been some quarry type "flat cap" seated workers I would have ordered a lot more. I need a whole heap, as discussed earlier today at the Steam In Beds show where the open quarry Penrhyn etc quarry workers open carriages were being discussed as a cheap and easy to build but expensive to fill option. Even a Ffestiniog type free running slate rake with one brake man on each wagon can be pretty expensive. When (taking the very popular Peter Binnie slate wagons as an example), the figure on the back can easily cost more than the wagon kit. Or how about filling one of the HGLW summer coach kits?

Huge hole in the market for good quality unpainted figures and nice to see someone having a go.

Cheers for the heads up. I had seen some of those figures.

if he does that, i am afraid, quality would suffer.
i have toyed around with printing figures, and while 1:19 gave (more or less) decent results, 1:22.5 resulted in borderline quality prints, and 1:29 and 1:32 came out simply not usable.
it seems to lie in the nature of the printing process, that smaller, irregular shaped objects can not be printed precisely enough.
(and the more precise commercial "printing" methods are still too expensive)

1:22.5 is generally OK, but you're right, the smaller the print the lack of detail. Other printers can print at very small resolution, but the cost per item would be more. I may look into this.

It is probably just on the 'cusp' between 1:19 and 1:22.5??
The lower-end machines print quite coarsely (IMHO).. There is a problem with how to get a smooth finish, which is (obviously) quite dependent on the material being used..

All of the prints do need hand finishing. Sanding, primer and paint is my choice, so smaller prints are more tricky. A small file is always good to have too.

If you can turn-round a scan (with the paperwork etc.) in, say, 15 minutes.. Then that should be a nice little earner.

I do wonder if the pricing is sustainable though?
Wear and tear on the printer(s). Cost per print of filament. Heat, light, power. Carriage, packing materials, admin.. All adds up.

I can scan and do the paperwork in 5-10 mins. However I spend about an hour cleaning up the 3D scanned data, converting it to 3D print, and then printing. I don't make a lot out of this, it's a side line which I've fallen into!

I'm very concious about sustainability, and it's one reason why I don't try and do this full time. 3D printers are coming down in price, and becoming easier to use. 3D scanning will also go that way soon too. I imagine in 5 years most people will have access to a 3D printer, and 3D scanning will be doable on a mobile phone. For now if I make enough to have a beer on a Friday then I'm happy!!

 

[Zerogee]

On another thread a few months ago, we were discussing the availability (or lack thereof) of some "trainspotter" (er, sorry, Rail Fan...!) figures to populate coach balconies, open cabrio wagons etc..... the classic look of blokes festooned with rucksacks, cameras, video equipment and the like.... if it would be possible to get things like cameras to print reasonably, then a few of these might be a nice addition to the range?

Jon.

 

[stevedenver]

Well i tried on line orderingat the time of thepromo, and your site indicated we are not shippping to the US. I would like to order several, if you can direct me as to how, please.

 

[korm kormsen]

Zerogee,

look for yourself. this is done with a printer, that nominally makes layers of 0.2 mm.

who is interested in more pics of bad prints, can look here: http://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/24939/3d-adventures?page=1

 

[DeanPunchard]

On another thread a few months ago, we were discussing the availability (or lack thereof) of some "trainspotter" (er, sorry, Rail Fan...!) figures to populate coach balconies, open cabrio wagons etc..... the classic look of blokes festooned with rucksacks, cameras, video equipment and the like.... if it would be possible to get things like cameras to print reasonably, then a few of these might be a nice addition to the range?

Thanks for the heads up Jon. At the moment the store only contains figures by people who've been scanned, so I am a bit limited on the figures you're after. If I get some figures for "train spotting", I'll let you know.

Well i tried on line orderingat the time of thepromo, and your site indicated we are not shippping to the US. I would like to order several, if you can direct me as to how, please.

I will look into this. May need to check with customs, etc. Email me at info@designscanprint3d.co.uk and I'm sure we can sort something out.

 

[DeanPunchard]

Zerogee,

look for yourself. this is done with a printer, that nominally makes layers of 0.2 mm.

who is interested in more pics of bad prints, can look here: http://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/24939/3d-adventures?page=1

What printer and material are you printing with? The prints look very "stringy" and perhaps not dialed in correctly.
Also I print all my figures standing, and use a program called Meshmixer for supports, as the method your using leaves a lot of marks on the rear, which are a paint to sand off.

 

[PhilP]

<You all probably want to skip this post.. Nothing to do with the product offered>

OK..
Apples and Oranges here, I reckon..

There is obviously a learning curve with the machines..

The linked-to thread starts January 2014! - Two years ago is ancient history in this technology...

The pictures of figures (in the above post) are rough, but also too small to have any real idea what we are looking at.. - Need something for scale (yes, despite the annotation please).

Also need details of the printer, material, filament thickness, layer thickness, fill density, etc.

We also need to set a 'hobbyist' price-point for the printers we are discussing.. There is a lot of difference between a £800 FDM printer, and a £4000+ SLA model. - Differing technologies, I grant you.

But having said all this, it would probably be better in a different thread.

<Sorry, took so long to read linked thread, we have moved on!>

 

[DeanPunchard]

The linked-to thread starts January 2014! - Two years ago is ancient history in this technology...

We also need to set a 'hobbyist' price-point for the printers we are discussing.. There is a lot of difference between a £800 FDM printer, and a £4000+ SLA model. - Differing technologies, I grant you.

Thought I'd pick up on these points. You're right, 2 years is a long time with technology, but fundamentally the lower end 3D printers haven't moved on massive amounts. Newer printers will have essentially the same tech, but more features such as wifi, enclosed build chambers, self leveling beds, etc, but the actual 3D printer will be very similar.

When looking at price too, it is true that you get what you pay for, but again this isn't exactly down to the quality of the print, rather the features and ease of use of the printer. I'm my experience a budget printer (£500) can print just as well as a slightly more expensive (£2000) machine, however dialing in the £500 printer can be tricky. Also it's worth mentioning that I find different fillament plastics affect prints much more than the printer. I only use SainSmart filament, it's more expensive, but I have no problems with it. Budget filament really is false economy.

If you want to have a go with a 3D printer, then check out your local "Maker Space", they often have 3D printers, and would negate the initial outlay.

Dean

 

[korm kormsen]

my printer is a DaVinci All-in-One. (scanner and printer. it was priced at about US$ 700 plus transport... (totalling at about 1.500)
it prints only from ABS cassettes. there seem to be quality differences between the different colours. (white resulting less "stringy" than the other colours)
that mashine is thought as starter for beginners. meaning, not many dialing options.
the program can be set for supports of different density. i feed it with files, that i have worked over with netfabb basic before.

my general impression is, that this printer is better suited for printing objects with straight lines, than for figures.
(and the so called scanner is a joke. i think, i will have to try capcha from 123D, or something else, that works off camera pics.)

 

[PhilP]

Thanks for the feedback..
Personally, I have always bought the best 'tools' I can afford.. Presently, a 3D printer is off the radar!

I have dabbled with CAD, but admit to being one of the worlds worst artists!!
I could probably not invest the time this would need at the moment? However, in a year, or so, I get to the point of being able to get at a small private pension pot. The amount per year would be so trivial, that (unless the goal-posts move again) I intend to cash it in. Then we shall see!

 

[korm kormsen]

... the best 'tools' I can afford..
...
I could probably not invest the time this would need at the moment? ...

yes, the best, one can afford... that was the one i got.

and time? that is an unforseeable variable. i dived into the 3D printing world, because i had lots of time and boredom.... - then our local volunteer fire dept. was short on personnel and reactivated every old, half dead or zombie they could reanimate. since that day my printer is collecting dust.

 

[Zerogee]

Drifting very off-topic here (sorry!) but Korm, did you ever get those replacement spark plugs for your old Bedford fire engine....?

Jon.

 

[korm kormsen]

still waiting. bought from amazon.de. hope they come this week. /end offtopic

 

[3Valve]

Hello!

I haven't been on this forum before, but thought I would say hello! I create miniatures generally for the 16mm garden rail scale. The figures I create are made from 3D scanning real people, which I think adds to the authentic appearance of them.

Anyway head over to http://designscanprint3d.bigcartel.com/ and take a look.

Once you've added figures to the cart, head to the Checkout and use the code BLACK and 50% should be knocked off.

Enjoy

Crikey these are excellent.