Ok, so im watching The Colbert Report and they have this guy who made this machine ‘the Maker Bot’ You put in a blue print, or something of that nature, through an SD card, the machine, which is only about the size of a small TV builds the design you put in, in 3d in ABS plastic VERY NICELY I may add. the kicker… he said the thing is only 1200$ bucks. Just imagine the possibilities…
EDIT: Its basically a very economic 3d printer
3d printing will defenitly be the way of the future for modelling. Just look at a site like Shapeways, the modelling stuf is already there.
The most recent Dutch IPMS magezine featured an interview with a representative of Revell Germany. He stated that it was likely that in the future you go to the Revell website, purchase and dowload a model and then print it on your 3d printer.
I have heard of a “kit” version of a 3-D printer for around $800. I guess it is not a complete kit- builder has to supply a few parts himself. If it drops to half of that I think I’d be interested. I assume these things leave slight “steps” that needs to be sanded out, since there are not an infinite number of levels.
I’ve seen samples and yes, they do require some touchup, but less than some kits I’ve built (or more truthfully, tried to build. $1200 isn’t that expensive. I bet I have more than that invested in airbrushes, spray booth, and paint alone! Of course, I don’t have the $1200 anymore, either! [:'(]
[:D]
If I ever manage to find a job I am going to start putting money away for one of these things.
I can’t recall the name of the company, but at AMPSEast a couple years ago they were there with one of these printers. Basically, the deal was, you design what you want, send them the ‘plans’ and they’d print of your 3-d part for you. It was a little pricey, I recall, but a heck of a lot cheaper than $1200.00.
I’m not sure if I want modeling to go that way or not (although I suppose it is inevitable).
Boyd,
The company was called Print-a-Part http://www.printapart.com/.
Now I’ll leave this discussion quietly…
Cheers,
Thom
Yeah… Print-a-part. That’s it…
I’m just imagining the possibilities for diorama building and such for things that you can only get now through PE after market parts, or cant get in certain scales. No idea how it works, but imagine, need a manhole cover? go outside and scan one in the street and replicate it in 1/35th or something like that. I’m not saying that the whole hobby should go this way
This is one of those topics where one REALLY wants the persons involved to pay attention to what’s been written in speculative fiction. Collectively we’re on the verge of a revolution in fabrication — it’s going to happen! — but the man in the street who thinks he’s going to have a Star Trek replicator, is a jerk. (We’re parsecs from being able to tell a magic box “ham sandwich” and GETTING an acceptable ham sandwich at a reasonable price.)
But when it comes to our favorite material, plastic, it can’t be too soon.
Much like paper printers, I’m assuming that a lot of the cost isn’t in the printer itself, but in the expendable materials used. Is it resin? If so, your “resin cartridge” is going to bring costs WAY over 1200 bucks.
Give it another year or two, they’ll be $599 on sale.
I read an article that said in 10 years, we will be able to print out a pair of shoes or a gourmet meal. I might wear the shoes, but I am not sure about eating the meal.
Fermis and Wingnut have been testing the prototypes…how do you thik they crank 'em out so fast?
The maker bot is actually from this company…
They also have a ‘cupcake’ model - smaller version for $699. I saw these at the Maker’s Faire in NYC this summer, sponsored by Make magazine. Quite a collection of people to likes to make their own stuff mostly from recycled material. They also had more expensive machines that ‘printed’ really impressive items.
Here’s a video of what it can do
On the interview with Stephen Colbert he said that the material they used was ABS plastic, the same stuff that lego is made out of, not resin. I imagine that would be alot cheaper then resin…
dupes. The material is on a spool that reminds me of my weed eater string, and it is cheap compared to resin. The spool sits over the printer head which heats it up before ejecting it to make parts. It comes out not as a liquid, but as a string. The head moves around and layers the spaghetti string as it goes.
Some people have been posted pictures of their parts on the makerbot site. Some look pretty good, but none of what I have seen is “good enough” for what we would need. 
Everything has a kind of ribbed look.
I think it’s a great idea! I keep checking back to see if they improve the makerbot, so we could use thinner material. If it were thin enough to where a light sanding would knock off the ribs, I’d buy one.
m@
When I saw the developer on The Colbert Report he had a few examples and there were no ribs or anything like that, they were very nice.
That’s great! I wish I had seen that episode.
I looked over the website again, and I just can’t find any pictures that look as good as you described.
m@
Found the clip on the net, cool.
great, I was looking for a link but couldn’t find it.
I mean, they are not as detailed as professional stuff, but for making small things, especially things we scratch build, it would be great.