Modelling bits for 3d printing

[Malika]

Been a bit drained from the ships, as in that I need to get my mojo again. In the meantime I delved back into the 28mm scaled universe. First up the vending machine, which will be test printed in the coming days!

[Malika]

The 28mm madness continues. Besides the vending machine I've been wanting to make some more post-apocalyptic scifi/fantasy terrain.

Barricades!

[Malika]

Hmm, maybe a bit of a far fetched idea, but what if I stick to having the barricades 'clean', so no spikes, fences, pipes, bits etc. But then have like 'goodie bags' filled with spikes, plates, etc. to make them more post-apocalyptic if wanted. I'd imagine such a goodie bag could also be used for other stuff like buildings, vehicles, armour on models, etc.

[Malika]

Finally got back at this little thing...


And yes, there's a new member to the family...


I guess it's some sort of sniffer/hunter creature, shooting it's prey, after which the rest of the pack will tear it to shreds.

[Malika]

What's this? A complete pack of robotic murder hounds?

[Malika]

Little update:







One thing you might all notice is that I've started working on the tails. Note that all have the exact same tail in the exact same position. This will of course change, but I needed to get the general shape of it right.

I've also been adding some more detailing on the heads to individualize them a bit more. But more on that later.

Another thing I've been playing a bit with is angling the legs slightly on the x-axis, but it isn't that visible yet since the legs are still just the outline rather than the actual model.

[Geep]

I like the robo-dogs idea. I prefer the saw-mouthed ones myself. I also really like the vending machine- it's a great idea for adding an actually 'lived in' touch to a battlefield.
Have you decided on how much you'll be selling these for?

[Malika]

I have no idea yet for how much I'd sell them. It'll all depend on production costs I think. What I noticed when printing stuff on Shapeways is that it quickly becomes rather expensive since 3d printing hasn't reached the level of industrial production yet. What this means is that in order to keep a product affordable I hardly add any mark-up to the price, at most 20% or so, which is kinda insane considering that the retail norm often tends to be around 300%-400% (need to pay all sorts of costs when selling products).

This all means I'd need to print a prototype and then cast it myself if I want it to be a fair price. Since I don't have the resources to do that myself, I'd need to work with external partners. But this is how many model makers seem to work, so it's not that big a deal. Just need to figure out what my options are.

In the meantime Fireangel over at Ammobunker has been so kind to me to do some test prints of my barricades, and took some pictures of them. So far the basic design looks pretty sweet I must say. I need to hold them in my own hands to make a better judgement though, so we shall see!

[marell le fou]

Nice ones ! Any hope of customizing them with turrets, bunkers, etc ?

[Malika]

I could design some turrets and bunkers and such, need to find the right motivation. I've been wanting to do some houses and such, and finish on those hounds...

In the meantime, those of you who have been following my ship design stuff might recognize this...

[Geep]

Is there any reason you can't cut costs/increase profits by simply doing one 3D print and then make casts from that?

[Malika]

Of course, that is the plan as I mentioned previously. However, there are also costs involved with that, albeit much lower than printing each model individually.

[Malika]

Look up! Something nasty is coming to get you from above...

[Lex]

The tails are more like arials on the back of a motorcyle?!

could you place them more in line with what would be the backbone ?

[Malika]

The tails are more like arials on the back of a motorcyle?!

could you place them more in line with what would be the backbone ?

Do you mean for the hounds or the flyers? I know the hounds' tails will need some modification, including moving them more to the back, rather than just on top of the back.

For the flyers the tail should be more like that of a stingray, meaning I need to adjust the way the tail is connected to the body, but also the design of the body itself.