Affordable/Cost benefit 3D printing services

bugo

Hey trianglecounters...

I've been researching some companies for 3d printing services online.

And I have been trying to get some experience with figure modeling/miniatures.

The problem I'm having is cost/quality.

Why? Because most of them take so long to ship it to you or when you want a good material (resin, metal) it costs tons per cm3.

I need to know if you guys have some experience to share with your 3D printing.

The last experience I got was with Shapeways on their detail plastic material: tons of bending/dithering, too low weight and its extremely hard to do post production on it. But it says its one of their best materials. So I wonder, should I sand it or their Ultra detail frosted could be better? I wonder if there's any cheaper cost printing service with resin and extremely good detail around.

Here's my example:



At the moment I'm trying to do tons of coats of primer to see if the noise/bending gets filled out.

Hopefully I can manage it that way. Although I'm afraid that some of the details are going to dissapear.

I wonder if anyone knows what kind of printing service Kingdom Death uses? I know they 3d print their masters... (or not?)

ZacD

Just a suggestion for the detail loss issue. A quick way to get details to pop is with a black wash, paint the whole thing black with a wash of watered down paint, and quickly wipe down the entire statue with a cloth, it'll leave the black pain in the nooks and cracks, and kinda works like a cavity map.

bugo

Thansk for the tip Zac. I heard as well that drowning it on coffee/wine does a similar effect. But wouldn't it black wash create a bunch of noise since its all noisy?

pior

First thing first - when dealing with a printing company (besides Shapeways, which is a bit of a special case), always ask for pictures of primed prints for reference. Like you just saw, the raw output is always translucent, and it hides most of the banding.

Regarding post processing : Priming is not enough - you need to sand or even wetsand after each coat of primer. That way the surface will even out, and some of the primer will nicely slide into the ridges, slowly filling them up. Then repeat You can also use car scratch remover for the final pass. But of course for Warhammer-like scaled figures it's near impossible to do

About Shapeways in particular : I'd highly recommend you to order their material sampler kit to get a real feel for the materials. Once you learn what can be done with each you'll be able to adjust your models accordingly. I haven't tried their newest, most detailed material yet.

For great quality, Ownage is awesome. But they are quite busy with orders therefore it can take time, and it's quite expensive too.

Good luck ! It takes a lot of trial and error.

Vertrucio

Is Ownage still around? Their website has been a "moving" website for a long time now.

pior

Yeah - you just need to contact them through PM and establish business with them that way (not sure if that's still how it works tho)

A 2013 print from them :
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=1092289

bugo

Thansk for the feedback Pior. Yes, I want that quality, I'll drop them an email and see what they say.

Do they print it and polish theirselves? Or is it a special magic printer they have?

That last print was amazing, not sure if I can find the size of it on the thread.

bugo

Alright, I found 3 more companies that seem to have better quality printing, probably just like ownage:

- http://www.3darttopart.com/
- http://www.moddler.com
- http://www.zoomrp.com

Have anyone done any bussiness with these? Any feedback at all?

ZacD

bugo wrote: »

Thansk for the tip Zac. I heard as well that drowning it on coffee/wine does a similar effect. But wouldn't it black wash create a bunch of noise since its all noisy?

It depends on how deep the pits are on the noisy areas. You can rinse the model off if you are not liking where it is going.

pior

I *think* I have seen tests done by a friend with Moddler. If I remember correctly, they were good, but not as great as Ownage ... simply because the guys at Ownage will always do whatever it takes to get the cleanest print possible (reworking the output if necessary, and so on.)

I'd suggest asking for pictures of primed models from all these companies, and then send them a small 3D file to make a test print from at a reasonable price. Some might even be willing to ship you a small sampler/discarded print for you to get an idea of what their output looks like.

seth.

ownage all the way, I have worked with a few of their prints, getting them ready for mass production and whatnot. Their level of finish is always excellent, I have yet to see a bad print from Des... you might pay a bit more and wait a little longer, but it's worth it.

for a primer to remove any printlines I suggest mister surfacer if you can get it, a few light dustings of the 1200 aerosol will work wonders: mister surfacer review

bugo

Cool, thanks for the tips.

Couldnt find Ownage address, anyone knows where are they from or how to get a more personal contact with someone?

bugo

edit: nvm..

guellem

I have been a lurker on the forum for several years now and I have been very impressed with Zbrush as a tool. i have been using it for specialized product development components that would be impossible to model with traditional CAD tools. I'm even teaching my kids how to using it...

I have recently purchased a Formlabs 3d printer and I am posting an open invite on the forum to anyone interested in having their models printed. I would be willing to print them at the cost of the resin, shipping charges plus 10% for my time. No additional parts or models would be printed without owners consent, just one and done.

I'm not running a business and I'm not looking spam the forum, I just wanted to get the word out and maybe give a bit back to the community.


The quality of the prints and surface finish is very good. Please contact me with any questions.

Jackson Smith

If 3 D printing services are affordable ones and cost benefit then surely there will be many folks to avail these services.

Xenobond

I've also got a Form1 printer at home, and I just got pinged by these guys earlier this week.
http://www.3dhubs.com/

Seems like a neat idea. Local directory and printing service website. Might be more cost effective for some of you. I'll most likely open my printer up once I order more material after the holidays.

Some stuff that I've printed recently-

Totoro model that was up on Thingiverse. Fixed some of the inaccuracies, hollowed it out and then tessellated it. Wanted to make an ornament or something like that for my son.


I modeled and printed the missiles and the hatch on the chassis.

GarageBay9

There are several polycounters here with 3D printers for hire.

I've got a Rostock MAX, which is kind of unique for A) having a very large vertical cylindrical build volume and being a delta format printer that doesn't move the printed part as it works. It's great for figurines and sculpts. I've currently got ABS, I can pick up PLA, and it will do nylon as well.

Right now it's in the middle of a huge print for another Polycounter, but that should be done very shortly here.