3D printables

I was invited by my friends in Germany to join them at the 1:12 Fair in Rheda this weekend.
But they wanted me to bring something along that I could show...

I am catching a train and there is no way to take along a model. But what I could share are the sturdier things that I have available in my Shapeways shop, printed in 3D.

So, very hectic weekend/Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday designing and making the showcase (lightweight using foam board, dismantable for transport), paint some of the items that were in the raw plastic state and putting them into scene.

Spraying color on cardboard/foam board was tricky because - as we all know - it tends to suck up the moisture and then all is ruined. A primer doesn't do the trick either - same issue.
I sprayed very light coats - about 8 of them - and the damage was minimal because I used weights as well. Question of patience though because of all the waiting in between...

Not happy with the 'roof' and lettering - but time was limited and it will have to do for now...

These industrial lampshades are printed in metal and the weight is supposed to make them hang nicer than the lightweight ones... 

First time I installed this lampshade - used a 'pear' LED lamp

Same thing - as a bowl or as a lampshade

Ah, and then - how to make this stable? I made a great construction of wood, magnets, velcro and foam board, painted it and it was all ready when I spotted these two things behing a box in the studio! It could have been so easy...
I attached to magnet strips to the back and they snapped right on!! And now it is rock solid :-)

Hey, have a great week!

3D printing of miniatures

This week, the winners of the Miniature House Contest of Shapeways (3D printing company) were announced.
Congratulations to the winners Otterine, Aliceminiatures and Paperdollminiatures!
I was very chuffed to see that some winners used products I have in my Shapeways shop :-)))

Here the link to all the entries for this contest

Let me share with you how producing 1:12 items in 3D works:

I started printing in 3D because  the choice of design furniture in 1:12 is very limited - could not find what I wanted to buy. And: I did not fancy making 6 of the same, e.g. chairs...

So, I went to a 3D design workshop - just to find out that this would mean spending lots of time at the computer until I was good enough to draw what I had in mind! Definitely a no-go!!

Getting the drawings/files:

I search the internet for original 1:1 files of a specific product. Many manufacturers offer DWG files on their websites for architects and these can be downloaded for free. The best source for buying files of design furniture is Turbosquid for contemporary furniture models. Here a list of a few others:

• Designconnected
• Archive 3D
• TF3DM
• Model 3D
• 3Dmodelfree

At first, I commissioned a friend of my son for the drawing part. But his speed and my speed differed somewhat and I did not want to wait forever until he could had time for my things ;-). So, I changed to a professional, Vijay at http://www.dotsan.com/ I found on Shapeways. He does a great job, is affordable and really fast! My thinking was that the drawing costs would be balanced out with money I saved while doing minis rather than hitting the cinemas and all ;-)

Running a shop and selling products to others:

Shapeways offers the possibility to have a 'shop' - meaning that I could share my models with everybody. I think that this is a great idea because there must be other frustrated mini builders out there having the same problem as I have!!

My shop at Shapeways

The 'shop' is not a money maker because I have a mark-up of 10-15% on all items I sell there. It would take many years to get anywhere close to cover the design costs.. And Shapeways has the naughty habit of regularly changing their printing machines and suddenly files are not printable any longer! So, my designer has to update files (not for free of course..).

You see that there is no way that anyone can make money with 3D printed minis if drawing is done by a 3rd party: the development and maintenance cost are high and the demand is limited.

But maybe you want to give it a try for something you desperately want? Just let me know if you run into problems - I gladly share my experience in 3D printing.