andrew25rs
Well-Known Member
Bigger the better for me. He is the Iron Giant after all lol so of course I'd choose 10" as long as the price makes sense for me.
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Interest Iron Giant 6" 3D Printed Kit
- Thread starter Doctor Octoroc
- Start date
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
I agree - I guess the main concern would be the price then. 3d printing is priced oddly - that is to say it's not always bigger costs more, even though it uses more material. There are stipulations for parts in relation to machine space where a larger part might actually cost less because they can fit other prints inside and won't charge for that space inside where a smaller part doesn't have room for another print to fit inside and they do charge for that machine space. Then there's the per part cost so if I'm able to sprue parts together then the cost goes down more. I guess I'll have to do some test uploads before we know for sure how much each size would cost.
JPH
Sr Member
I super appreciate all the work you are putting into this project. Just dont drive yerself crazy trying to accommodate every possibility. Most action figures (*EDIT : That I pick up*) are 12", but you also dont want to step on a manufacturer's toes. Maybe start with a 6" and test the waters. If it goes ovah like gangbustahs then kick I up a notch. You could stop right now and people would be in on this run. If you want to keep going, I'd love to see more, but I you have already exceeded my expectations.
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Thanks for the words, I do tend to go all out on projects haha. I hold myself to a really high standard so being able to satisfy is part of my gig but you have a point - I should draw the line somewhere and get things moving!
I think the best route to go is stick with the 6" size for now since it's a decent size and will be a less expensive investment for everyone. I'd still like to test upload a scaled up version (maybe 10" for the heck of it) to see what the price difference is. My goal is to find the best balance between size and price and I started with 6" with this in mind but after some test uploads I think a 10" size might be more bang for the buck. Whatever I decide on will be the final version with all the same options - I just wanted to get as much feedback as possible to accommodate as many people as I can.
crikerat
New Member
For something like this I think bigger is better. 10" would be fine with me. You may also want to factor in scale. It would begreat if it matched some kind of scale. The giant is listed by some as 60 feet tall. So 12" would be 1:60 scale. 15" would be 1:48 scale. 10" would be 1:72 scale which is actually pretty good since you can find some armor in 1:60 or 1:72 for dioramas.
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Grumpy Popeye
Sr Member
I'd definitely be interested in a 10" kit. Like you said, 6" is a decent size, but he IS a giant! 
Digital Mayhem
Sr Member
interested!
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Great to see more interest! A few thoughts on the progress thus far...
After doing some test uploads of the parts at the 10" scale, the results were not ideal. It roughly tripled the cost, so I'm thinking that keeping it at 6" is ideal for an overall lower price. I'll be doing some more tests (ie making edits to the model and not just scaling them up) to see if I can get a larger scale at a better price but assuming it doesn't go as I hope, I'll probably end up sticking with the original 6" scale.
The second thought related to some of the joints - most notably the hip ball joints. While this would provide more articulation and pose-ability, the risk with a joint like this in a visible location means that it's less likely to hold as well and more likely for paint to scratch off around it. There is a similar ball joint for the abdomen/chest connection but it is completely internal and therefore could be designed without either of these issues being a factor. So I'm going to change the joint on the hips by creating a in-out pivot at the hip and a twist joint on the hip center part which will retain two of the directions that the previous ball joint would have allowed for while adding two parts overall to the print file.
The second is on the knee joint, which is currently also a ball joint and while the functionality is 'safer' than the hip, there would still be the issue of paint wear around the joint so I'm planning to change that to a forward/backward pivot joint. After all, this is a 6" figure and it already will have 20+ points of articulation.
Other than that, I'm confident in the joint mechanisms as the majority of them are designed to use friction between parts in locations where paint application won't interfere. Expect some pricing options within a week or so after I make the edits and upload them in their proper groups. So far in my tests, I've been able to shave a few bucks off of each group by spruing parts together via interior faces or ones not readily visible when assembled, as is ideal, but some of them will be visible sections so will require some sanding/shaving after removing the sprues but it's preferable to having a kit that costs as much more as they would without spruing the parts together for a lower cost.
After doing some test uploads of the parts at the 10" scale, the results were not ideal. It roughly tripled the cost, so I'm thinking that keeping it at 6" is ideal for an overall lower price. I'll be doing some more tests (ie making edits to the model and not just scaling them up) to see if I can get a larger scale at a better price but assuming it doesn't go as I hope, I'll probably end up sticking with the original 6" scale.
The second thought related to some of the joints - most notably the hip ball joints. While this would provide more articulation and pose-ability, the risk with a joint like this in a visible location means that it's less likely to hold as well and more likely for paint to scratch off around it. There is a similar ball joint for the abdomen/chest connection but it is completely internal and therefore could be designed without either of these issues being a factor. So I'm going to change the joint on the hips by creating a in-out pivot at the hip and a twist joint on the hip center part which will retain two of the directions that the previous ball joint would have allowed for while adding two parts overall to the print file.
The second is on the knee joint, which is currently also a ball joint and while the functionality is 'safer' than the hip, there would still be the issue of paint wear around the joint so I'm planning to change that to a forward/backward pivot joint. After all, this is a 6" figure and it already will have 20+ points of articulation.
Other than that, I'm confident in the joint mechanisms as the majority of them are designed to use friction between parts in locations where paint application won't interfere. Expect some pricing options within a week or so after I make the edits and upload them in their proper groups. So far in my tests, I've been able to shave a few bucks off of each group by spruing parts together via interior faces or ones not readily visible when assembled, as is ideal, but some of them will be visible sections so will require some sanding/shaving after removing the sprues but it's preferable to having a kit that costs as much more as they would without spruing the parts together for a lower cost.
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Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Theoretically, sure. The issue though is that only certain materials can be used to make molds and those materials tend to be double, triple or quadruple the cost of the material it could be printed in for direct use so the cost for the master would go up exponentially for the larger size then potentially quadruple for the cost of the master print. After that, a lot of post print work would be required to get it ready to cast and the time put into that process plus the time to cast however many copies with however many options, in conjunction with the extra cost for setup, could only be justified with a certain sized run. On top of that, it would have to be a limited run since molding one here and there for people as they become interested only adds to the time to the molding of each one.
Even then, the fit on parts is crucial to the kit working and while I'm familiar with 3d printing tolerances and material properties, designing the kit to be cast would involve multiple prototypes and tests to get everything just right, only adding to the time and upfront cost of production.
Making it available directly for 3d print means that people can get them whenever they want and Shapeways handles all of the manual labor of production, and if anything goes wrong, they eat the overhead. I'm open to the idea but aside from lacking the knowledge and time to produce them this way, the extra costs associated with production would not likely bring the cost per unit down much if at all unless there are a lot of people interested and committed to getting one.
zanderman
Well-Known Member
Absolutely interested. I own just about every piece of Iron Giant memorabilia out there (including original storyboards) so anything new gets me giddy. If all goes well with this, you should consider doing a variant with the giant in full nightmare mode. Serious lack of transformed giant stuff out there.
crikerat
New Member
Fair enough. There are others here who may know more but I also have contacts int he starship modelling arena who could help with the prep and casting. Though the ability to customize the pose is a problem I don't know if it's fixable. Some resin Mech kits us a ball socket design that is cast in resin. I'd be willing to investigate further if you wanted, but I don't want to derail your project either.
devries102001
New Member
Very interested
Spheric Thor
Sr Member
interested
Put me down for one!
Doctor Octoroc
Sr Member
Wow, so much more interest since I last posted! I'm super busy with work at the moment but I will definitely make it a point to get back to this asap! i still need to make the edits to the hip and knee joints for better reliability but after that, I should be ready to put the files together for print and come up with some prices.
