So big news in the 3d printing world! Some good, some bad...mostly bad for me since I focus on small scale props and miniatures but it could be good for larger prop projects...
The 3d printing service I use, Shapeways, has recently changed their pricing structure. Before, cost to print was decided primarily by material cost (how much material is used in the actual, solid print) and labor cost (usually a fixed fee dependent on how much handling of the model was required post print). The labor cost was the same whether your file was one piece or contained multiple parts - this was a huge advantage for me since every model I've ever uploaded and/or printed was a model kit of sorts with many parts.
But now, the costs are a bit different.
Labor cost is calculated by part, so a file with 7 parts incurs 7 times the labor cost of a file with one part - the same as it would cost if you printed those 7 parts in separate files.
The real downside to the changes in pricing, however, is that they now charge for machine space. While the cost of material has gone down quite a bit, they now charge a fee for the area around or inside your model that cannot be used to print other objects. The reason for this is they pack a bunch of models at once into the print tray to maximize the use of both material and all the costs associated with running the printer. What this means is that small objects that are hollow, while they don't use as much material (therefore the material cost is quite low), cost almost as much as one that is the same size, shape and dimensions, but solid.
On the upside, larger objects that use a lot more material cost less per cm^3 but also have more empty, useable space inside them for other, smaller objects. They set the standard for determining how much room is usable by calculating the potential for a sphere that is 40mm in diameter to fit inside - it's a pretty arbitrary measurement if you ask me but that's what they calculated was the average space needed to fit most small-scale objects, I suppose.
Long story short, something like the Airfix/MPC Space:1999 Eagle spine with a low material cost but a ton of unusable machine space inside will cost more than it used to - as much as 3 or 4 times the price.
But it also means that something like the Misson Impossible 1988 foldable tranquilizer gun will cost less to print since the majority of the cost will be material.
This changes things for the better when it comes to larger 3d printed props, but smaller scale props will be negatively affected. There are tricks I've picked up to save costs (linking together parts with a loop to cut back on labor and packing them in tightly in ways that reduce machine space cost) and I'm continually looking into other ways to do so, but it's like having to learn to ride a bike all over again. I had gotten affordable 3d printed small scale props down to a science and then they pulled the rug out from under me!
