3D Printing Models within Country of Sale

[Rick Griewski]

I am getting frustrated because of total cost of the latest round of model kits printed using 3D technology.  The technology is an expensive investment I understand.  One third of the final cost is beyond the kit product. Is there a way to skip past or reduce the burden of costs loaded on due to the kit being a finished product, e.g., VAT, export, import tariffs?  Send me the parts (being a box this is the $$$ postage), flat pack the decals and box art I will print the instructions etc.  Print the model and make up the kit within the USA?  A traveling road show of a factory.  Should I just go and smoke some more?  Ideas?

[RCPlym]

The overriding reason this does not happen is protection of the parts design.

If I spend hundreds of hours designing the latest whizz bang Mk.I, I don't want anyone printing off dozens and cashing in.

IF there was a way to guarantee payment for each print, then it could work...

[vince14]

Protection of the IP is the main concern, which is why there are restrictions when buying designs from Aladdin. I'm also not sure why you'd think shipping the parts separately from the decals and instructions would not attract VAT or import duties and, on top of that, you need a box in any case to ship the parts in to prevent damage so the postage cost is still going to be high.

 

The only thing that will bring down the cost of 3D printed kits is the gradual lowering of the cost of producing them as the technology becomes more widespread.   

[wunwinglow]

On 5/21/2026 at 10:22 PM, vince14 said:

The only thing that will bring down the cost of 3D printed kits is the gradual lowering of the cost of producing them as the technology becomes more widespread.   

The first 3d printer I worked on, in about 2003, cost my employer £165,000, and it was a reconditioned unit! My current printer cost about £500, has a slightly smaller build envelope, but can run with 1 kg of resin in it, which costs about £20-ish, rather than 45 kg, at £65 a kg, and that was 2003 prices! I can switch resin in the new machine in 2 minutes, whereas 20 years ago it was a two-man lift to get the vat out, and a good days work to strip and clean, and then replace the vat and mechanism, and then recalibrate it....

 

Things have moved on already!!! 😁

[wunwinglow]

Rick, get your own printer, learn some CAD, and suddenly you are completely free of all of your concerns, you do what YOU want, the way you want, for the cost of a kilo of resin.  Best bang for buck there is in this hobby!

[Jim Barry]

On 6/16/2026 at 7:04 AM, wunwinglow said:

Rick, get your own printer, learn some CAD, and suddenly you are completely free of all of your concerns, you do what YOU want, the way you want, for the cost of a kilo of resin.  Best bang for buck there is in this hobby!

 

This is the way

[denders]

This is the way. 😜

[Landrotten Highlander]

In my view, the bigest issue with 3D printing (as is evidenced by the Draken saga) is the quality of the print.  Hoby machines not only have much smaller prining areas han the professional machines, but the resolution is also much less (makes sence when you think how much sturdier the mechanism has to be to ensure accuracy & repeatability).

 

I am currently working my way through a number of CAD programs, next step is playing around with some hobby machines to fiure out what works best for my ideas.  

[wunwinglow]

20 hours ago, Landrotten Highlander said:

In my view, the bigest issue with 3D printing (as is evidenced by the Draken saga) is the quality of the print.  Hoby machines not only have much smaller prining areas han the professional machines, but the resolution is also much less (makes sence when you think how much sturdier the mechanism has to be to ensure accuracy & repeatability).

 

I am currently working my way through a number of CAD programs, next step is playing around with some hobby machines to fiure out what works best for my ideas.  

What do you want to print? 

[Landrotten Highlander]

16 minutes ago, wunwinglow said:

What do you want to print? 

short term I have an (AI-created) statue of a Buddhist Monk of about 17cm high.  Long term are components for artificial Bonsai (twigs, beanches, foliage)

[BiggTim]

2 hours ago, Landrotten Highlander said:

short term I have an (AI-created) statue of a Buddhist Monk of about 17cm high.  Long term are components for artificial Bonsai (twigs, beanches, foliage)

What is a "beanch"? 😁

[Landrotten Highlander]

1 hour ago, BiggTim said:

What is a "beanch"? 😁

please, forgive my dislectic fingers, they are used in typing fronch ...

 

meant bRanch

Edited July 1 by Landrotten Highlander

[BiggTim]

15 hours ago, Landrotten Highlander said:

please, forgive my dislectic fingers, they are used in typing fronch ...

 

meant bRanch

I got a real kick out of that, as my dumb fat fingers do that frequently!!

[RCPlym]

On 6/30/2026 at 10:18 PM, wunwinglow said:

but the resolution is also much less

 

Ahhh that is not  necessarily so...

 

Some of the 'hobby' level machines have higher resolution than 'professional' machines that would be used for most 'normal' purposes. (you'll not find any owners of 'nano' printers ruining them printing bits for model kits!)

 

As an example, there are plenty of printers with pixel sizes of size that can reproduce the finest of details any modeller could wish for.

I have run prints that I defy anyone to tell they are not injection moulded parts. Zero visible layer lines with a 0.025mm layer height - and my sub £300 printers will go down to 0.01mm with the pixel size of 14 x 19um, known as 16K resolution.

 

Larger pro machines may have larger build capacity and may print faster, but often have larger pixels which may make them only 8K resolution. 

 

Layer lines will always be present, as that is the nature of the process. Reducing layer lines is an art form in finding the best print orientation to 'hide' them in least visible places, but it is impossible to eliminate them no matter what size or quality of printer is used.

 

As for JetMads Draken wing issue, it may just be it could be one of those shapes where no matter what, layer lines may not be minimised as much as they like - and AFAIK - none have yet been seen, who knows if their 'new industrial' printers are doing a better job?

 

 

[Landrotten Highlander]

I was fortunate enough to visit the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland on a couple of their Additive M anufacturing (AM) open days.

 

This company is part of a series of organisations that help bridge the gap between Academia and Industry - they assist in briding the what NASA calls 'Valey of Death' for innovation.  The NMIS has been specifically designed to help Scottish SMEs (Small and Medium Companies) to improve their capabilities and competitiveness.

They have a very useful combination of 'hobby' and 'professional' printers, dealing with both plastics and metals.

 

As @RCPlym mentioned above, resolution is one of the main hurdle with respect of printing quality, as is the printing orientation AND filling of 'empty' spaces within the product.

 

Imagine wanting to print a wing like that of the Draken.  Do you fill the entire wing with plastic (huge increase in weight AND printing time) or do you leave the interior empty of material (reduced printing time as you only print the 'edges' to a certain thickness, but at the cost of reduced stiffness).  Then there are a myriad of options to partially fill the empty space with internal supports - wich one to choose, as all will have an effect on the final outcome regarding visual quality & part properties.

 

A fascinating field of Engineering to be sure, and combine that with the constant research being performed with regards to printale materials...  When I visited the first open day, a few coloured plastics and some metals were being shown.  The last visit (last year) now included a huge amount of different plastics (some are transparent, come in different colours and are ein used in the fashion industry of all places), while the metals have also seen a noticeable increase with reards to types & applications.