Just the Beginning . . .

That is nice. Maybe now we will see some nice forklifts and other items that no one makes.

One thing that makes this very attractive to the manufacturer is that they make the print file one time and can then knock out any scale from Z to G by just varying just a single number entered into their computer. Forklifts, specialty construction equipment - all sorts of neato stuff.  

I also saw this in their last email. To me it looks like a child's plastic toy. I have a nice diecast bulldozer on the layout. That one doesn't interest me at all.

I'm excited about the possibilities.  The technology is improving and I'm sure we'll see more of this in the near future.  I'm not a fan of the rough finish these models have, but if I really wanted something on my layout and 3d printing was the only way to get it, I think I could look past it.

Like most new products, the detail and quality will not doubt improve as this technology evolves. For now, this probably would work as a background filler at a construction site.

Yes I saw this too.  Its a decent start to the print on demand market for models not currently offered.  Still too rough and expensive unless you just really needed a specific item and were willing to finish detailing it yourself.  

 

If you look close at the picture you can see the resolution of the printer.  Just as we had back in the days when inkjet printers were getting better and better at printing pictures by upping the DPI (resolution), so will this.  What we see here is kinda like one of those early pictures printed at home on our own printer where you could tell who was in the picture and what it was, but details were still lost as the printer couldn't reproduce a true photo quality print.  As time goes by the resolution will get better and better to a point where you cannot see those lines all over the printed object.  

 

 

What is nice is this program can be used to set up on a 3-D metal printer.

and create almost anything.

 

Exciting times my friends...

 

 

This got me thinking that when the resolution improves so the finish is smooth, wouldn't it be great to have someone make a variety of 1:48 cars, trucks, even busses.  

 

They need not have moving wheels, etc but be great for "populating" our layouts.  If the material could be clear for windows, I would not mind at all painting the rest of the vehicles.

 

I am continually frustrated by the lack of inexpensive vehicles or 1:43rd scale ones which I feel are really all different sizes, many of which simply look too big next to trains and buildings.

PTC (Brian),

I can't decide myself. Maybe, Bob The Builder, Dora The Explorer or Lego Land. Heck, it could be all three.

 

"Pappy"

Peter:

Depending on how much you spend on the printer, they can get real smooth finish on at least 2 opposing sides and possibly more.

I'm still waiting on my printer.

It should have 0.004" resolution on the finish, pretty good for what I paid, but not a glass finish.

Just curious... Has anybody done studies on the stability of 3D printed items?

 

That is, how long before they plastic starts to fall apart...

It is very rare that I have seen plastic deteriorate over time and the only cases that I saw were on very early Chinese plastics used on cheap $1.00 toys. In many cases plastic will last 100 years or more.

Early on (more than 10 years ago) when 3D modeling was just starting to be used to create aerospace mock-ups for show and tell, they fell apart almost immediately. The latest stuff I've seen is very durable.

Yes, the polystyrene Acrylite, was the worst. you could make a part, put it on your desk and watch it disintegrate.

However, now they have a better stabilized Acrylic material that can be painted.  Now you cannot tell the difference from a plastic molded injected part.

 

 

The 3-D metal printers are the ones I would really like to investigate....

 

Check this out:

 

 

 

I'm not ordering one, either, but what is toy-like today will be a jewel of a perfect model comping out of those machines five years from now: your choice of any bulldozer ever made, etc . . . . do you want it weathered - we print in color so we'll print the dirt and grime right on it!

My preferred application would be size scaling different people figures around the layout. Right now I have MTH, Woodland Scenics, and Artista figures. Needless to say, they have to be segregated because of size disparity. With 3DP, you order custom figures to a specific scale depending on how you wanted to use them.

A bit crude IMHO

Yes, it looks crude, AMCDave.  the more I look at the photo, I wonder if that is not a photo of an HO-scale model - probably this company, 3D to scale, prints on demand, and probably they just ran off one for photos.  I'm going by the thing laying of 3D pixels you can see, and frankly they seem too fat for it to be O.  Regardless, its first-gen, and I probably won't buy this stuff until at least late 2nd gen.  But it's a start. 

On the news the other day they showed a very large 3d printer that printed a complete house. It looked rough and possible made out of concrete and was pretty large.

Ron

'Printing' structures with concrete has been going on for a while. The Chinese did it a few years ago for emergency housing after a quake. I think of it more as 'automated manufacturing/construction' on that scale.