So have to start asking--if you can print anything, should you lol?
Awesome work!Yep! Recently completed a TIE Bomber and Rebel Transport, not bad for 3D prints? And will get only better and cheaper, like any new-ish tech. I think the only downside is that some 3D printing enthusiasts will end up with homes literally filled top to bottom with ships and figures. Not good for hoarders? So have to start asking--if you can print anything, should you lol?
Should.
It's another tool in the tool kit. Ultimately, I make models because I want a specific thing. This thread is littered with special requests, hopes and wants, and expressions of frustration when we can't get it. 3D printing makes those wants possible (at least to a point). Want a 1/48 Y-Wing? Bummed that Bandai isn't doing one? Now you can make it happen, literally. I really wish there was a business model for companies like Bandai to sell digital files. I'd be thrilled to download a Bandai TIE bomber .stl for $20-30 if I knew I was getting that level of quality.
Hey, ah... Would you be willing to share that for my own N-1 build...?Ha! YouTube. Seriously, I watched maybe 30 minutes worth of tutorials, one I swear was by a 10-year-old girl! It's stupid simple. It's just dragging pre-made shapes, stretching or squashing them, combining them with other shapes, making holes to cut sections out of shapes, etc. I made this exhaust pipe thing for my Mando N-1 build in like 15 minutes. View attachment 1556722
StevenBills just did that recently and I have one.Want a 1/48 Y-Wing? Bummed that Bandai isn't doing one? Now you can make it happen, literally.
There is beginning to be, but all unlicensed so far. I have found a bunch on CGTrader and Cults and the like that have filled in holes in my collection, but there are still many more yet to find or make...I really wish there was a business model for companies like Bandai to sell digital files. I'd be thrilled to download a Bandai TIE bomber .stl for $20-30 if I knew I was getting that level of quality.
Abso-fraggin'-lutely. I have, to quote Arnie, "detailed files". They have expanded my options considerably -- for costuming, for gaming, for model displays, even simple home-decor (light switches and the like). I couldn't have imagined this a quarter-century ago.I'm a hobby paper model designer. To me the digital files are much more important than the built model. You can store thousands of thousands of model files on one hard drive, so space is not a real issue any longer. If I want to build a model I mostly do it to give it away as a present or to check the fit and buildability of the designed parts before I release them on the web. Those files give you freedom to decide which scale you want the build to be and independence from unique kit parts: if something from your model breaks you just re-print that part in question, replace it and everything is fine. Losing the physical model is no drama (in fact, mine are even compostable because they are flattened trees ); however, losing the digital file would mean losing precious months or even years of hard work that went into the project.
If you get there before me, let me know. I need one, too.I will be able to have that 1/72 U-Wing no one is ever going to make a kit of
And growing all the time. I love it. It's made up for not being able to get the standing figures in the Bandai kits any more. And, since they're digital files, I can print them in 1:72 for my models... or 1:48 for Legion. I already scaled the studio-scale Hoth AT-ST hull files to Legion and am using the Bandai kit to provide a base for detailing and other structures. The flexibility and freedom are fantastic.Plus, I am a figure nut and being able to print out all kinds of 1/72 scale figures and odds and ends to go with the ships and vehicles has been very liberating, even if I still have to buy stls, there is still a massive selection of subjects that would never see the ight of day in kit form
Hey, ah... Would you be willing to share that for my own N-1 build...?
Then you must have a bunch of Bandai ones lying around!I always replace the cannons on all my X-Wing builds with telescoping brass tubes. They last forever, look more accurate, and it's one of the easier scratchbuilding jobs to do. If the curved "C" shaped bits toward the cannon tip are still intact, just snip those away, use a pin drill to drill an appropraite sized hole and use CA to attach it to the rod. Piece of cake.
Then you must have a bunch of Bandai ones lying around!
I think it was the 'Going out of the Star Wars business sale'.Darn. Saw the Bandai thread bumped to the top and hoped they had announced something.