3D Printing - The Salvation of Our Hobby

[amurray]

I am usually an optimistic type:  "Today is good, tomorrow will be BETTER!"  But over the last ten years I fell into the camp declaring the decline and soon-to-be total demise of our hobby.  It was headed in that direction.  WWII subjects (81 years ago) with the same subjects produced by various injection moulding manufacturers albeit at ever increasing marginal levels of quality.  But nothing to excite the young modelers.  (Gundam is a separate issue.)

 

Now we have 3D printing!  I don't know if the young people love our 81-year-old injection kit subjects (P-51, Zero, Spitfire, etc.) any more than we did (my guess:  they don't) but they are enamored with taking our subjects for which there is excellent documentation and converting those docs into 3D files to execute into finished models at a quantum higher level for us to enjoy. 

 

The proliferation of 3D Works In Progress is amazing!  The expertise required to execute those projects is beyond my comprehension or abilities.  I am too old to invest in the new technology.  But I am not too old to appreciate the 3D build projects and applaud the change they have wrought to our hobby.

 

To those of you posting 3D projects - SALUD!!!

 

 

P.S.  I suggest separate forums as follows: 

 

3D Works In Progress

3D Ready For Inspection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Archimedes]

I could not agree more with your suggestion on forums!
 

Kind regards,

Paul

[mozart]

I was talking to a non-modelling friend about this only yesterday. It appears to me that the “nuts and bolts” side of 3D printing is becoming simpler to do, that printers and resins are more user friendly? Or is my optimism misplaced? There is of course still the software to have to learn, I guess that’s the starting point but I think/hope there’s some light at the end of the tunnel! 

[Christa]

Nodding along with a smile, gentlemen, BUT, I bought modelled aircraft kits by Airfix in plastic bags with my pocket money until I was twelve, thereafter Airfix kits in boxes with my milk round and market work income until I left home for college.

 

With regard for the next generation, do twelve year olds earn enough for 3D kits, or has pocket money been supercharged?

 

Maybe 3D kits are exclusively for modellers with driving licenses, bank accounts and fine arrays of airbrushes.

[LSP_Kevin]

19 minutes ago, Christa said:

Maybe 3D kits are exclusively for modellers with driving licenses, bank accounts and fine arrays of airbrushes.

 

I think that applies to most kits these days. The industry naturally evolved with its target audience, and by the late 1980s, had already recognised that the hobby was no longer a cheap pastime for kids, and that those folks were now adults with more disposable income, and a higher set of expectations for their hobby. The industry responded with kits aimed at that demographic, and the kids largely got left behind (or were left with cheap legacy kits that 'adult' modellers had grown beyond). I don't think it's been a pocket money pastime for decades.

 

Kev

[RCPlym]

3 hours ago, mozart said:

3D printing is becoming simpler to do, that printers and resins are more user friendly?

 

Absolutely. If someone that has had zero experience of a 3D printer and produces quality buildable models straight out of the gate, then your optimism is correct.

 

However, the stages to actually design something to be able to print it, is definitely black magic sorcery. 🤣 😭 

[blackbetty]

i must confess that all of the 3D stuff makes me a little uneasy, allthough i have and will use 3D aftermarket and have built a kit (the Pucara)

dont know if its still the same thing as an injected kit, just for the feeling

its also very hard to keep track of whats availible

but maybe i´m just a backwards oldfart 

[RCPlym]

6 minutes ago, blackbetty said:

its also very hard to keep track of whats availible

but maybe i´m just a backwards oldfart 

 

I feel exactly the same. Especially the second bit! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😁 

Very often some really desirable models only get mention on god awful social media sites.

That is an immediate no no from me.

I don't want to have to trawl through what is often inane nonsense when all I want to do is buy the item in peace from a 'normal' ecommerce site that has a few nice shots of their wares. I'll not be wanting to email someone to find out how much to pay for shipping or if they can even ship it to my country or anything else.

Considering the giveaway pricing of Web hosting and the ability to setup a functional ecommerce site, just one model sale would cover years of ownership of said site.

[thierry laurent]

Sorry to disappoint some of you but Facebook has close to no teenager in its membership. They are generally using TikTok or in the best case Instagram. The consequence is simply that FB modelling pages and groups members are just slightly younger oldfarts... 😉

[Tony T]

Amazed by the 3DP creativity going on and I'm delighted to buy a fair few bits and bobs for my IM styrene kits, to add accuracy or detail, but am not at my age going to turn my modest study into a factory spitting out hot plastics and resins. 

 

As long as Revell, Kōtare, Italeri and, yes, Trumpeter, keep the faith I'm content. I don't mind DBMK mixing it up a bit, as Eduard are doing too, but I really so much prefer using polystyrene cement to any other kind of adhesive. By a colossal margin. 

 

I feel the same way about paints. I prefer acrylics for art but polyurethane enamels always hit the friendly nostalgia aroma button for me. A bit like the Bisto kid, but Aaah, Humbrol. That and polystyrene cement; been sniffin' em since 1965.

 

Tony 

[thierry laurent]

I loved the smell of Britfix 77 glue in the morning...😉

[RCPlym]

3 hours ago, thierry laurent said:

Sorry to disappoint some of you but Facebook

 

No disappointment here. 

 

It is simply not a type of platform I wish to use to purchase things. 

No website with a checkout = no purchase from me.

 

However, IF said social media has a direct to a website to purchase, that is no problem. 😁 

[MikeC]

58 minutes ago, Tony T said:

Amazed by the 3DP creativity going on and I'm delighted to buy a fair few bits and bobs for my IM styrene kits, to add accuracy or detail, but am not at my age going to turn my modest study into a factory spitting out hot plastics and resins. 

 

As long as Revell, Kōtare, Italeri and, yes, Trumpeter, keep the faith I'm content. I don't mind DBMK mixing it up a bit, as Eduard are doing too, but I really so much prefer using polystyrene cement to any other kind of adhesive. By a colossal margin. 

Yep, pretty much sums up my own thoughts on the matter.

[csavaglio]

I've been dabbling for 3 or 4 years. My thoughts for those getting into actually printing for themselves. I've modified a few STL files and there's a learning curve.

 

The BLUF... 3D design and printing is basically it's own full hobby. 

 

Design work is straight up just using your chosen CAD and doing the engineering work. You can try it without a printer for free with something like tinkercad. Learning it, design, designing for printing take time and effort and a lot of research. Even with a 3d scan tool, it just gives a starting point.  Most of the available STLs are not commercially produced ones, they were created because someone needed a part, created it, then made it available for purchase or rarely for free. 

 

Even with a good file, most aren't pre supported, so you have to properly position each part specific to its shape, detail, etc and support it. Auto support is better than ever, but still needs tweaking. 

 

Printing itself is a messy process. Resin is toxic, sticky, and seems to drip everywhere.  Figuring out ok settings isn't super hard, but finding good settings is trial and error and every resin has dramatically different characteristics and settings. Printing itself takes a lot of time. I have a relatively fast printer and some vertical 1/16 50 cal barrels about 3" tall took 3 1/2 hrs to print.  Post processing means donning gloves, pulling the build plate, removing prints, pre cleaning, running in a wash machine with 99% isopropyl, a rinse in clean alcohol, maybe more cleaning, drying with compressed air (big garage compressor for me), the post UV curing for 2-30 min depending on the resin.  And replacing the FEP is not fun. Or dealing with the resin saturated alcohol from the wash tank. 

 

The initial buy in of a decent printer, a wash and cure station, resin, tools, etc is not insignificant and I have a stainless kitchen cart as a printing station that is only used for printing since the toxic resin makes it unfeasible to use it for anything else. 

 

Because of the nature of resin, even if the settings got easier and every file was available, it's never gonna be as clean and easy as buying a styrene kit off the shelf. 

 

It's all very confusing and overwhelming when you start. I am at an age where I can still learn new tech but it's hard. I looked into it off and on for years before buying my first printer and trying it. My processes are always improving and it was hard for a long time. 

 

It always irks me when someone says "can someone print me up X part".  It's an involved process and "printer" makes it sound like it's hitting ctrl-p and bam, a part gets spit out like printing a word doc.  You may as well be asking someone to scratch build you a master, make molds and cast you the part. 

 

Sorry, this rant's been in my head a while and finally posting it since it makes sense here. 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 04:10 PM by csavaglio

[RCPlym]

13 minutes ago, csavaglio said:

Sorry, this rant's been in my head a while and finally posting it since it makes sense here

 

Far and away removed from a rant. You have said it absolutely exactly as it is.

100% spot on. 

 

What is worth a rant, is one directed at those despicable charlatans, who can do it, tell us that 3D designing is 'easy'. 😡😡😡🤬🤬🤬🤬😜😁🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 

 

Edit: I think I need to quantify the above with: "those that REALLY know how to design perfect 3D stuff tend to say very little about the process, as it is SO FLAMING COMPLEX!!!" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 😜 

Edited Thursday at 04:14 PM by RCPlym