twopounder Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 Wow, looks like I'm going to have to do my own hosting. My photobucket account just got thousands of views and ate up 10.1 gb of bandwidth (supposedly). EDIT: I bought a month of photobucket pro until I can figure out a better hosting solution. Maybe I'll fully turn this into a blog. Seems like there is enough interest (50,500 views? yikes!). EDIT 2: +++ I decided to start a blog to chronicle my work with Sketchup, Blender, and 3d printing. You can find it here. I'll still reply in this thread and post my finished works or samples on B&C. If you need more detail in your 3D printing I would recommend having a look at Moddler.com. Those guys are out of California, if I am not mistaken but they 3D print with the latest technolgy available. 0.01mm accuracy. Its better than I can sculpt for sure ^^. Prices for small stuff are quite good - but you could even have molds printed, so you can cast from the molds. Hope that was of interest. ^^ Oh and YAY! I was lurking since 1847 - and now my first post ^^ Welcome to the posting side of the forum. Moddler is extremely detailed, but also extremely expensive ($25 for 1 bolter). I would definitely consider it if I was printing a master to use for mold making. I have no plans to do that at this time, though maybe in the future. Fair enough. It's just something that I noticed mentioned by one of the companies I was researching for 3D printing. The amount of shrinkage they mentioned was very small, but even a faction of a millimeter could make placing a magnet a real pain if the hole is exact in the design. I'm aiming to give magnet holes an extra 0.05mm radius, to hopefully compensate. Same goes for any object that will 'sit on rails' or 'tongue-in-groove', to try and compensate for a layer or two of paint. I was amazed how quickly paint made a nice fit into a too-tight fit on some of my early scratch build projects. Also, if you plan on making moulds and resin casting, you really need to take shrinkage into account. Make sure you find specific information about just how much shrink your chosen resin will have. All of the components will shrink uniformly, so fit to each other will be fine, but again, things like magnet holes might tighten up too much. To give you an example; The prototype Chaos Havoc Launcher I designed and built in my WIP thread fit perfectly into the mount. After casting with Smooth-Cast 300 (rated to shrink 0.01\in) the fit was noticeably looser. Testing with my caliper confirms it lost ~1% - From 'L24.70mm x W16.15mm' to 'L24.35mm x W15.87mm'. In that case, losing ~0.33mm wasn't a big deal, but I was surprised how noticeable it was for fit. Once I verify how consistent the shrinkage is, I plan to try to compensate at the design stage. It's just too easy to expand a design by 1%, and avoid the problem. Just some food for thought. I'll stop rambling now. Shrinkage depends on the material being used. Stainless steel and silver, for example, have a lot of shrinkage because they have to bake off the filler material to fuse the metal. I'm certain that my models are not 100% accurate, but pretty close. Some of the more expensive printers (like modeller) are much more accurate, but also much more expensive. If I were to cast my own models, I would have to team up with someone who has experience casting resin or thermoset plastics. Not least because they have the necessary equipment. It's not out of the question, but requires a substantial investment to get started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyanamiKun Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I'd prefer a set with 5x plasma kombi, 5x melta kombi, etc. if the price difference to one big set is not too big. If the combined set would be significantly cheaper I would prefer that :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technoscream Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Great stuff - I'm really interested in the applications of rapid prototyping for wargaming minis. i have a couple of questions... 1.) it looks like you are using sketchup to do your 3D modelling, can you run me through how you export it to make it ready for upload to shapeways? 2.) how smooth is the ultra detail material? I tried white detail before and the surface texture wasnt really good enough for minis. Thanks & keep up the good work! 1) That's not really a simple question or task. Exporting itself is easy (file > Export >3d Model > .dae file But you need to make certain that the model is not manifold and that it is closed (has all of its faces). A good place to start is here: http://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/ Think of a box. That box needs to have all 6 sides on it in order to be fully closed. If you want an open box, then you need to define the thickness of the wall on the other 5 sides. In addition, it can't have another box stuck half-way through it. Both boxes need to be separated. I know it's a lot at first. It took me about a week to figure it out. Another website you should bookmark is http://sketchucation.com/. Create an account on there because you are definitely going to be downloading some plugins to make life easier. thanks for the info, I fully understand about making the model watertight as I have used sketchup with shapeways some time ago. the problem was that sketchup files didnt used to be very compatible with shapeways and so to get it to work I used to have to export to blender, make some changes, export to another program and make some changes, and then upload to shapeways, it was a long and annoying process which is why I got bored of it and moved onto other things. I'm wondering now if using the plugins you mentioned, that it might have become more straight forward, assuming I already know how to make sure my model is completly closed, could you run me through your process of uploading to shapeways? eg. which plugins and how many 'steps' needed before uploading to shapeways? Thanks so much for your help! The combi weapons are looking great, and i'm a big advocate of combi weapons in-game! p.s I did check your blog, but I couldnt reply without logging into my facebook or similar, which i didnt want to do, so I came back here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twopounder Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 thanks for the info, I fully understand about making the model watertight as I have used sketchup with shapeways some time ago. the problem was that sketchup files didnt used to be very compatible with shapeways and so to get it to work I used to have to export to blender, make some changes, export to another program and make some changes, and then upload to shapeways, it was a long and annoying process which is why I got bored of it and moved onto other things. I'm wondering now if using the plugins you mentioned, that it might have become more straight forward, assuming I already know how to make sure my model is completly closed, could you run me through your process of uploading to shapeways? eg. which plugins and how many 'steps' needed before uploading to shapeways? Thanks so much for your help! The combi weapons are looking great, and i'm a big advocate of combi weapons in-game! p.s I did check your blog, but I couldnt reply without logging into my facebook or similar, which i didnt want to do, so I came back here. Thanks for checking out my blog. I just enabled anonymous posting, so you can leave a message without signing in. You don't actually need a plugin to use Sketchup with shapeways anymore. You simply export to .dae and upload to Shapeways. It's actually a very straight forward and easy. I think I'll actually make a tutorial on how to do it on my blog in the very near future. Maybe this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technoscream Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I didnt realise that they had sorted out the exporting/importing issues between sketchup & shapeways - if its that straight forward, its great news! Even though it sounds like I might not need the tutorial, i'm sure that a lot of other readers would appreciate it. keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twopounder Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Definitely keeping up the work. Just added blog post #4. So far, the Shapeways system is pretty straightforward and painless. It still has some quirks and bugs, but that is to be expected from a radically dynamic system. Anyways, I noticed that the bolters were still too large and were about 3mm taller than a marine. I shorted the length of the bolter again and I'm in the process of reducing the length of the combi-attachments. It's a bit of a pain, but will reduce the overall cost and make them much more realistic compared to the original model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyanamiKun Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Definitely keeping up the work. Just added blog post #4. So far, the Shapeways system is pretty straightforward and painless. It still has some quirks and bugs, but that is to be expected from a radically dynamic system. Anyways, I noticed that the bolters were still too large and were about 3mm taller than a marine. I shorted the length of the bolter again and I'm in the process of reducing the length of the combi-attachments. It's a bit of a pain, but will reduce the overall cost and make them much more realistic compared to the original model. I am really looking forward to this! <_< How much do you expect would a set with all combi attachments and enough bolters cost? :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew J Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 It is looking very good. I like the overall size better now although I think the flamer is still a bit long. Maybe take out the piping in between? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlos Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 These are very very cool. Would tried searching for them up on shapeways.com do you have your own shop or link? Or are they just not up there yet for public? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twopounder Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 I am really looking forward to this! How much do you expect would a set with all combi attachments and enough bolters cost? I'm not certain what they would currently run. The last version I uploaded is less than $15 for 5, but does not have any combi-attachments, extra magazines etc. However, keep in mind that it's the very long version of the bolter, so still has a lot of material in it. I'm trying (please read trying >_>) to land in the $2 - $4 or less range per bolter kit. So, it would be the bolter, extra mags, optics, and all 3 combi options. No promises though :P. This means $10 - $20 for a 5 pack. I know, it's a big range, but Shapeways is a bit spendy. Though if I teamed up with someone who can make very good resin casts, the offering would be substantially cheaper. It is looking very good. I like the overall size better now although I think the flamer is still a bit long. Maybe take out the piping in between? Hmm. Interesting thought. I'll definitely consider this kind of approach. I was aiming for something similar to the current model, but I could also make additional sets of combi weapons so you can mix and match, and generally have more options if you so desire. The good thing about 3d printing, is that any problems can very easily be fixed without re-creating the model and all the molds :). These are very very cool. Would tried searching for them up on shapeways.com do you have your own shop or link? Or are they just not up there yet for public? My older versions are up on shapeways, but I don't know if you want them. Well, I'll go ahead and put the "heavy machine gun" up. It's basically a magazine fed heavy bolter. But fair warning - It's BIG! I'm going to actually give it a magazine first though >_> EDIT: Here is the link to my shop. Keep in mind that the bolters currently listed are not optimized, but the HEAVY MACHINEGUN will be compatible with optics and magazine variations. Great if you're just curious, but I'd recommend waiting until I've completed the design process. The regular bolter WILL NOT be compatible with any of the new stuff. I'll make certain to announce when the combi-bolters are finished and up on Shapeways :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabbakahut Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Thanks for directing me to this thread, I will have to check out Moddler now too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subtlebrush Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I really like what your doing here! Your first test blotters reminded me of Terran Marine rifles from Star Craft. Would work very well if someone was doing a counts-as Terran army. Keep up the amazing work. +++Mr.M+++ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twopounder Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Thanks for directing me to this thread, I will have to check out Moddler now too! You're welcome :) And welcome to the B&C! I really like what your doing here!Your first test blotters reminded me of Terran Marine rifles from Star Craft. Would work very well if someone was doing a counts-as Terran army. Keep up the amazing work. +++Mr.M+++ Thanks! Terran Marines and Space Marines have a lot in common... enough that there have been legal mumblings in the past (late 90's) over them. It's not surprising that they look similar. I actually only extended the size of the bolter and magically it became a weapon from starcraft :) Anyway, someone could certainly do that if they wanted to, using the larger bolters and regular magazines. I suppose some people might really like the look, which is why I'll leave them up. Thanks for the support :) I'm taking a break over the weekend, but I'll be back to work on Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyanamiKun Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Anything new? :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diabloelmo Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I'm keeping my eye on this topic to be sure. Those combi-bolter kits look freaking amazing, once you finish them are you planning on expanding into other weapons? I'm hoping for Lightning claws that don't look comically large on power armour, but of course that'd be one of the hardest things someone could possibly make! :) Oh, and whenever the combi-bolter kit is finished, sign me up for one - or several... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twopounder Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 Anything new? :P Er.. kinda. Nothing that's quite ready to show yet :) I'm keeping my eye on this topic to be sure. Those combi-bolter kits look freaking amazing, once you finish them are you planning on expanding into other weapons? I'm hoping for Lightning claws that don't look comically large on power armour, but of course that'd be one of the hardest things someone could possibly make! :P Oh, and whenever the combi-bolter kit is finished, sign me up for one - or several... I think we have to be careful about ordering and such. Forum policy and all... wait, I'm a Dark Angel. I defy the inquisition :D. Seriously though, shapeways has kind of thrown a curve ball to the hobby. Maybe I'll PM a mod about it. I'm still working on things, just needed to do stuff that pays the bill for a bit XD. I actually don't like how large the weapons are turning out to be. I shrank the combi part a bit, but it's still as long as a marine is tall :/. I really wish I had a way to 3d scan a marine so I could reference it inside of sketchup. I'll probably find a decent 2d image for scaling purposes though. The hardest part of this by far is making certain everything fits the scale correctly. 40k is even harder because it has its own standards for proportion (bolters are actually way more massive than their specs put them out to be, and models have exaggerated hands and heads. But yeah, hopefully I'll have an update to post soon :) Thanks for following! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twopounder Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 Well, I'm still plugging away. I'm going in a different direction, though I may still order myself some of those other combi-weapons. My new design looks as such: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/GunMonkey/3d%20Prints/BG36-WIP.png http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/GunMonkey/3d%20Prints/BG36-WIP2.png http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/GunMonkey/3d%20Prints/001.jpg And yes, that's a RIS system for fully modular weapons :tu: Not to worry, I'm still adding detail to the model. Hopefully I can make it worth painting >_> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhane Canalpan Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I have been working on a 3D modelling project and originally looked at shape ways. I have a couple of questions for you. 1. Do you think the striations could be sanded off of larger parts? 2. What 3D modelling programme are you using to make your bolter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twopounder Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 I have been working on a 3D modelling project and originally looked at shape ways. I have a couple of questions for you. 1. Do you think the striations could be sanded off of larger parts? 2. What 3D modelling programme are you using to make your bolter? Any surface that is basically flat with minimal detailing could be sanded. Complex objects would be extremely difficult and time consuming. Organic models are going to be even harder. You could try a tumbler for an even polish. I use SketchUP, though the recent patch has made scaling less effective below 6". You'll want to make your model as an even factor larger than intended (such as 10x the desired size) then import it into Netfabb to repair and scale it. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhane Canalpan Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I have been working on a 3D modelling project and originally looked at shape ways. I have a couple of questions for you. 1. Do you think the striations could be sanded off of larger parts? 2. What 3D modelling programme are you using to make your bolter's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twopounder Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 I have been working on a 3D modelling project and originally looked at shape ways. I have a couple of questions for you. 1. Do you think the striations could be sanded off of larger parts? 2. What 3D modelling programme are you using to make your bolter's? Didn't I just answer that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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