Oh but you have to model it in a computer, big deal....
If every tom dick and harry is doing it it can't be that hard.
...
It is a lazy way to make a prop.
Whoa. I've made lots of stuff by hand over the years, so I too feel justified in chiming in here . I've spent
weeks on commissioned prop builds, making things out of styrene, resin, cast metal, sculpting clay, machining on lathes, sewing and casting latex. I'll toot my own horn here and say that each and every one of my "hand made" props has garnered a lot of praise.
BUT
These days I do a LOT of 3d printing as well... and I spend just as much time, energy and creative though putting those models together. Sometimes even more so, because on the computer I can make things with more precision... and I make an even harder effort to get it perfect. Also, since printing IS very expensive at the moment, I spend extra time making sure things are done right before ordering a print.
The biggest advantage? Printing enables us to do props that would be
impossible to do without access to a fully equipped machine shop... and sometimes to make things that would
practically impossible even
with access to such a shop.
One doesn't need to exclude the other either. Take a look at the Lawgiver project I did with Morganthirteen. First I spent
weeks making the master model for printing, then he took over and made a basically flawless resin kit out of it. Being able to print TWO identical master models (one for me, one for M13) helped as well, since it saved me having to send my master over the atlantic and risk damage or loss. The perfect blend of old and new techniques- and people are saying they've never seen a kit as clean or nice to work on.
You use the best tool for the job at hand, to get the desired result, plain and simple. Would I use 3d printing to build a Proton Pack? HELL NO! There's no point to it. But to build, say, the Oblivion pistol (like I'm currently doing)... 3d printing is the best way to do it- especially if you want screen accuracy since the originals were printed as well!
3d prints need manual work to look good to, as has been said already. You can't (in any practical way, yet) 3d print decals, paint and so on. You have to take it project by project.
I
will admit that I've become spoiled and very particular about quality lately. Having gotten kits from master casters such as Morganthirteen, Matsuo and others... as well as having 3d printed a lot with very fine precision, has soured me to wonky basement cast props in cheapo white resin with air bubbles. I find joy in building and creating, not cleaning up casting errors. Actually, I've
never enjoyed fixing wobbly casts because it feels like I'm wasting time that could have been saved if I had gotten a proper casting instead. One thing I WILL admit to being "lazy" about is that I freakin'
hate having to clean every single surface in my hobby room (or mess up the kitchen or bathroom) because I had to do lots of sanding on something that could have been avoided.
There are of course certain props that I would want to be "wonky" because of how they were presented on-screen. I'd never want a symmetrical TK bucket, for example. There is a certain appeal to preserving the crazy things prop masters have "gotten away with"... but printing doesn't have to stop that either.. you don't have to model symmetrically if you don't want to!
Then there's the whole "interest" thing when doing runs. Frankly, some runs don't justify the work, expense and health-risks involved in making a kit. I myself don't have a garage or ventilated den, so the less I can expose myself, my GF and our cats (with their sensitive little lungs) to chemical fumes in the apartment, the better! Resin and silicone in the US may be cheap, but here in Sweden a batch of silicone enough for a pistol can easily run up to $80-100... and that's not for the good stuff! If you only have maybe 5 people interested in a prop, it's better to just have 1st generation masters printed of the prop in question. There's a thread going right now in the JY where I'm modeling a conversion kit to turn a Beretta 93R into Robocop's Auto-9. It's a "simple" build to do manually really, except for the grips. But at the same time it's a kit that would better lend itself to machining if you want perfectly straight edges in the cuts for a "machined" look. The grip, on the other hand, really needed to be done either by printing or machining and as much as I'd want to... I don't have access to the latter... so 3d printing it is. As to if it's "lazy"... well... I DID spend a couple weeks learning to model in an entirely new way JUST to be able to model those grips (and I've been 3d modeling off and on for
years). The Auto-9 kit is also one of those instances when the demand for a kit many not justify making molds and casting.
Ok.. this has been a long-winded rant that still basically just boils down to the fact that both old and new ways of doing things will always have their place. Due to the evolution of techniques and building methods, digital and analog, we're seeing stuff made here on the RPF that are astounding... and I don't see anyone being "lazy".
(Well... except maybe those people that sign up and make ONE post in the prop section saying "where can i buy a protonpack with light and sound fast, i have $300 to spend?")
