3D Printing Custom Accessories for Action Figures

[Mike J.]

Skip to the end for pictures!

Is 3D Printing / Rapid Prototyping the Future of Action Figure Customization?

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In my never-ending quest for stupid ways to waste my hard-earned money, I purchased a Shapeways 3D printed 1/12 "Sniffer" designed for Ghostbusters action figures.

... However, I don't own any Ghostbusters action figures. :wacko

The reason I bought it is because I'm also the guy who made the 3D model. And I wanted to see what my little accessory would come out like.

Hypothetically, one could order 'prints' of any neat object in ideal action figure scales. No need to scratch-build a master and then make a mold and then cast in resin whatever you wanted.

Unfortunately, I don't think this is cost-effective yet, as my little Sniffer set me back $10. And this isn't a 1/6th Sniffer, either, which is kinda what I set my goal as. Even hollowed-out, that's still like $20 in a nice material. Which seems high.

Details and fidelity (in Frosted Ultra-Detail) are impressive. Certain surfaces / faces appear unusually rough, however.

Long story short: this might be a useful way to make a master for casting. Especially as an alternative to scratching fiddly or complex objects.

Anybody else done this?


-MJ

 

[IEDBOUNTYHUNTER]

Its great stuff, but still not economical enough to justify the cost. I use it for small very detailed parts. But for anything larger than say a roll of tape, its to much to justify the cost
Its still cheaper for me to scratch build it.

And parts that i do have printed. I try to shell them to be as thin as possible to save cost.
And like you mentioned. Resolution on some parts is a pain. You have to orient the part just right so you dont lose detail. But there getting cheaper every year.