GW's business model - the future and 3D printing

[The Neverborn]

I'm starting to think we are currently at the "height" of games-workshop's place in the market. 

 

The 3D printing technology is only getting better. When I go to clubs I'm slowly seeing a growing number of members with 3rd party models. When I look around the tables, maybe half of the players are using a codex. I think a handful don't even own an official copy of their codex. Myself I have 3 armies all of them have at least 1 non-GW model squad. Most have multiple almost all my aspect warriors are re-casts. 

 

It's a snowball running down the hill, having re-cast or 3d printed  is becoming more and more normalised. As it becomes more accepted i can definitely see a time when a player with no 3rd party becomes an abnormality, then when half their army comes from GW is unusual. And finally it being common for hobby clubs to only have handful of squads on any table being from GW. - Thus making official models a GW owned event thing. And those themselves being a minority.   

[Inquisitor lorr]

Honestly, I just don’t see it being a big enough deal. You have to remember even this discussion is taking place in a very isolated sub-group of GW’s customer base, and one which, by the very nature of being involved in a forum such as this, is inevitably for involved and invested in the hobby than most.

 

I really doubt that your average customer will get involved with 3D printing. I am young, tech savvy and invested in the hobby - I have no interest at all in 3D printing. Neither do any of my friends in the hobby.

 

I could be entirely wrong, but I think it’s all a bit of a storm in a teacup. For every analogy there is to show the impact of technology, there is one to refute it. I think one key distinction here is that Warhammer, in all its forms, is, is despite what some people think, still a luxury hobby, and technology does not impact luxury goods in the same way. People pay for quality, for ease, for convenience, for the image that has been sold to them. Take luxury watches for example - the mechanical watch has been redundant for decades, ever since the quartz movement was invented. Quartz watches are SO much cheaper, more reliable and much more accurate. Yet there remains, and always will remain a huge market for luxury, mechanical watches.

 

I don’t believe 3D printing is the death knell for GW, or even something which should concern them (I’ll try to remember to check in 10 years and see how well this has aged then… ha!).

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

I think its really difficult to predict how 3d printing will breakthrough, and I'm not sure when it will reach that point. Speculating about it is interesting but I really suspect that there will be a lot of legislation that will affect it, and so I'm not sure what purpose it serves.

 

That said there is another side to this debate. One of my friends just started an AoS army because of some models he found on an etsy store. Most of the models he plans on getting for it will be from GW, but he wouldn't have started the army without the hero models he found on that store. I also know some HH players started armies because of the recasts, and starter kits back in the day. I don't think it really hurts GW that they approached it this way. The fact of the matter is that they wouldn't have started the projects without the 3rd party bits, but GW made sales because they did. I just don't believe that GW sells loss leaders.

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

I think Arkhanist has a solid handle on how things will play out.  It's pretty certain that since GW does digital miniatures designs, they are very very familiar with 3d printing technology for mock-ups of their own models.  Probably more familiar with them than nearly all of us, as well as a familiarity with the rate of the advancing of the tech.  So it stands to reason that they have a plan for how best to harness it for their business and already are, just not on the public-facing side. 

 

Things haven't reached a tipping point where it's more economical/convenient for the average hobbyist to print a squad of resin intercessor than to buy a quality plastic box of them from GW, but it's possible that in the (probably not near) future that might happen, and when it does it will probably reign in some of the pricing GW puts out to remain competitive.  But the tech will probably effect pricing more than their overall business model, if even that. 

 

But given the way that it has advanced their ability to design more complex three dimensional models at a much faster rate of release than they ever did in the past, I think that we're all benefiting from GW using 3d printing already. 

[XeonDragon]

 

If they are selling an STL for a model for pence over pounds that they sell them for now, how do they keep amazing model developers employed to keep making the models that we all enjoy?

 

 

If GW went fully digital, they wouldn't have the expenses associated with running injection mould factories, no logistics expenses and so on. So whilst revenue might decline, so would production, shipping, warehousing and other expenses. It may well be that they could still afford to keep those model developers employed. 

 

Edit to add: I don't think GW are going to go digital anytime soon. My bold prediction: sometime before 2032 they will make OOP models available via STL for purchase and/or offer a print-on-demand then-ship service. 

Edited October 4, 2021 by XeonDragon

[Doghouse]

I've not looked back since getting into 3d printing. I can design my own models and print them as I please, no fomo, no horrible pricing, no scalping, it's been an extremely positive experience for me and I feel like I have my hobby back again rather than an artificially manufactured addiction.

 

If they did go STL it wouldn't surprise me if it was linked to a branded desk top GW printer that the files exclusively work on. I know people say it will never happen and 3D printing is a niche and while I am not saying that this will happen for sure I could see it happening within ten years if GW chose to go that way. If they do I bet they call the printer the STC. :D

[Captain Idaho]

/snip/

 

I don’t believe 3D printing is the death knell for GW, or even something which should concern them (I’ll try to remember to check in 10 years and see how well this has aged then… ha!).

First, yes same as for everything lol long enough time goes through we could very well be right or wrong. Important thing is to be magnanimous in victory and not too absolute in the meantime! :)

 

I am seeing much more social media like Facebook, Friend-face and all the rest having 3D printed models. There's of course many who gatekeep it but more and more people are getting into them.

 

So it's definitely getting coverage.

[Bryan Blaire]

If GW went fully digital, they wouldn't have the expenses associated with running injection mould factories, no logistics expenses and so on. So whilst revenue might decline, so would production, shipping, warehousing and other expenses. It may well be that they could still afford to keep those model developers employed. 

It may be that they could afford it - I have no idea what those developers make, so I don’t have any way to calculate how much GW would have to actually get to know if they could be employed for what GW might make from a file that they would develop.

 

However, given the prices that a lot of people seem to charge online for STLs (which doesn’t seem that high to me), or even getting them for free, I don’t know that GW would be able to pay a competitive wage (could they even afford to pay a legal British wage) on what they might be able to actually get.  Imagine the outrage of the community if instead of a GW model costing 2 - 4x the amount of comparable gaming models, their STLs were like 15 - 30x the cost of a comparable STL.

 

If they did go STL it wouldn't surprise me if it was linked to a branded desk top GW printer that the files exclusively work on. I know people say it will never happen and 3D printing is a niche and while I am not saying that this will happen for sure I could see it happening within ten years if GW chose to go that way. If they do I bet they call the printer the STC.

I could definitely see something like this happening if they choose to go that way - you have to have the GW printer, the GW resin/pourable plastic, GW color dye for their production material, GW files, a GW cable, GW software, GW model hardening/baking/washing/finishing device, etc., and if everything doesn’t do it’s detection properly, you can’t print it.  That seems like a very GW thing to do if they do go that route, and I’m not sure how much people would appreciate that.

 

 

Another question I think would be applicable - how many people would GW’s models be able to capture for non-gaming purposes?  It would be interesting to know just how many people actually buy and paint GW models without any intent to ever game with them - do those people still exist as customers in a 3D print only world though - would they see value in continuing to try and get GW stuff?

[Domhnall]

 

<SNIP>

 

Another question I think would be applicable - how many people would GW’s models be able to capture for non-gaming purposes?  It would be interesting to know just how many people actually buy and paint GW models without any intent to ever game with them - do those people still exist as customers in a 3D print only world though - would they see value in continuing to try and get GW stuff?

 

 

That'd be me. I don't play, never played since 2nd edition. I buy and collect GW figures because I like them. If they stopped making them, I'd find something else to collect. Not saying that to be dramatic, but it's how it is.

 

 

Long post again! TL:DR - GW will update their business model. They have to. both official and 3rd party can exist together. 

 

 

I think I'd be right to say 3D printing is not going to destroy GW, but to think that 3D printing is not going to hurt GW, but also wargaming as a whole is not seeing how disruptive/damaging 3D printing could be.

 

This is more a catastrophising "what if..." scenario If 3D printing became more than a niche within a niche as far as wargaming is concerned, and is not to be read as this is what's going to happen, so please read the whole post if you got this far: 

 

If you can print figures cheaply for 40k, then what's stopping anybody from printing figures from smaller games companies like bolt action, Malifaux, war Machine etc. 3D printing is cheaper than all of them, so why buy for any of them? For more generic WW2 figures for example could be used for more than one system, so even more money saved. How do these companies get paid?

Rules: people want rules for free, or as seems to be the case more people are getting copies off the internet. 

STL sculpt files? People will start complain the official ones are still more expensive than doing it themselves or finding a copy already online. 

A lot of companies could go under who rely on figure sales to pay the bills. 

People would still be able to play the old versions yes, create their own models and print off etc, but with no new story, no new rules or models how long would the 'community' last? Probably not long, as it'd slowly die from the inside as most people moved onto other things.

Not to mention that wargaming as a whole would have a whole different set of problems. "You're figures are 5% smaller than mine, so that's an unfair advantage as I can't hit them!" * or "Don't touch my figures, they're fragile! I'll move your unit into melee".

 

Conclusion.

 

GW will be fine, they have to move with the times, either accept 3D printing as a thing and find a way to work with it, or become something else entirely: a media company primarily or such.

 

DIY exists alongside tradespeople. B&Q (in the UK) exists for those who want to do it themselves, but so do professionals who do the same jobs but for a price. There is a market for both. Please don't criticise others for their personal choices. 

 

 

* - Figures bought off GW (and any other games company) are standardised in size etc for fairness and scale, they have been tested, are on the whole robust and fit for purpose, especially for tournament play. Would you honestly be happy if your opponent in a tournament had an obvious advantage because their prints were made 'off scale' or whatever?

Edited October 5, 2021 by Domhnall

[Domhnall]

Another point. 

 

Why even bother to have models at all? 

Why can't 40k have a 'digital' option? As in the game board is either AR (augmented reality?) or just on an app. You're STL files are converted to digital figures, and you play the game on the app. Don't even need to be in the same room. Movement and such is controlled by dragging on screen, but the app stops you from cheating obviously. You purchase your units from GW, but they give you the STL file with a purchase so you can print off yourself or in store. 

 

 

No need for plastic minis (plastic bad), but you can still print off if you want to collect and paint or want to have an 'old school' game on a table 

 

People can make and print off minis to their hearts content to play physically, but only use official game pieces on the app. 

 

 

 

This came to me when I thought maybe GW could go the way of mobile games, in that they got wasted because of cheap games that had adverts and micro transactions. So after each round, you got a minute advert, or you had to pay for the next round 

[sairence]

This is what a lot of people have been doing on Tabletop Simulator during the pandemic. It's been fine as a substitute, but it really hasn't been the same kind of experience if I'm being honest.

[Orange Knight]

I've thought about this more, and have recently had some discussions about it in my local community. One individual in my circle of friends has invested in a 3D printer and is making all sorts of things, but the majority have no interest in doing so.

 

I honestly feel that most people will never go to the trouble of printing their own models, just as most people don't attempt to fix their own car when it breaks down even though it's cheaper in many cases to source your own parts, and the example can be applied to many different real world situations.

 

On the forum it does appear that a lot of people have an interest in pursuing 3D printing for hobby purposes, but I would point out that many on the forum might not be atypical for the regular hobbyists who drop in and out of the pastime.

 

Also, it might be worth considering that making very similar models using purchased or distributed CAD designs might in some way be copyright infringement, and these laws are always evolving. 3D printing doesn't just apply to making wargaming miniatures, and it could face restrictions in the future.

[Ahzek451]

It still has a lot of potential for the future to be sure, but as others have pointed out, in the thousand of people involved in this hobby only a small number are messing with this stuff. I personally 3d model as well as print and I have no real desire to make a business from it. But I do use it to fill in gaps or make custom parts for my armies which is a hobby within a hobby. Especially if I feel GW did something that drives me nuts. Such as.......missile launchers that go on top of contemptor dreads. Works fine...unless your a thousand sons contemptor dread and the headdress gets in the way. So I made my own missile launcher in the style of the scarab occult terminator. Things like that. 

I imagine this is what a lot of people are doing. 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Ahzek451

[Noserenda]

I think you are also missing that a lot of 3d printer enthusiasts will happily print stuff for their friends for cost or possibly less, essentially all those friends are as good as using a 3d printer themselves, at least as far as any companies strategy must take account of. Im not able to run a 3d printer in my tiny home but i have half a dozen 3d printed components in arms reach and a bunch of vehicles on their way from a friend using their parts to fill out his tray when hes doing smaller jobs.

[The Neverborn]

I've spent a probably unhealthy amount of time thinking about this.

 

There's something we all know, you, me, Kevin Roundtree everyone. You can't have indefinite growth. That said it's not if GW will see a decline in sales, it's when. I took a look at the shares for. Today, This week, This month and This year. Broadly speaking each of them we're less than the start. (you'll have to excuse my fairly basic knowledge of how shares work). 

 

I don't have all the numbers of WH+, but anecdotally from what I've observed most people are unhappy. It seems that we are in the "Milking" phase of the video I linked. 

 

There is a slight difference in 40k and AoS and WHFB, when compared to say Star Wars. GW (The IP owner) has less control than say a IP holder for star wars. In that environment without the IP holders permission the IP can not progress. 

 

Warhammer doesn't work like that.

 

Games workshop may own the IP, but they don't own my game of 40k. If the "game" decides that a Land Raider costs 200  points, it does. If it decides it's toughness 9, it is. And so on and so on.

 

What I'm getting to is that if GW disappeared overnight, I would be extremely surprised if the Hobby didn't continue independently. Probably lead by a figure head. Say the ITC, with there own codex, rulepacks and 3D printed models.

 

The Key difference is other than things like fan-fiction a Star Wars fan needs the IP owners permission to produce more content, a game, a book or a movie. With how easy it is to get 3D printed models, Rules and Data -sheets. I think it's reasonable that GW couldn't litigate it all even if they want to. 

 

Should the fans start making their own models, is it beyond the realms of possibility to say they'll make their own rules one day. Maybe they'll do a better job than GW and fix that one interaction that's bugging you, that unit that's under costed/over costed. 

 

Myself I think I can already see the bread crumbs falling. Not that it's going to change today or tomorrow. Even this year or next... 2025 to 2030 on the other hand...

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

What I'm getting to is that if GW disappeared overnight, I would be extremely surprised if the Hobby didn't continue independently. Probably lead by a figure head. Say the ITC, with there own codex, rulepacks and 3D printed models.

 

 

 

Overall I get the vibe that lots of people here are low key rooting for 3D printing to tank GW.  Lots of explainations about why it spells their long-term doom, and the inevitable hobby utopia that will follow. But that's not how it would actually ever happen.  If GW tanked as a company, the IP would get sold off, probably to a company with less investment in running things as well, and the community would still be legally locked out of producing independent content the way that way the OSR movement does for dnd.  And frankly, that already exists in spades, with things like One Page Rules, which is clearly just an alternative ruleset for 40k, plus people who are using old rules sets for "oldhammer", and the INQ28 movement which also takes 40k and makes it into something different than GW's current vision. 

 

My take is that GW is the least bad option for companies to control the IP.  And I have major problems with how they do certain things, particularly the way they churn rules/editions.

[The Neverborn]

 

What I'm getting to is that if GW disappeared overnight, I would be extremely surprised if the Hobby didn't continue independently. Probably lead by a figure head. Say the ITC, with there own codex, rulepacks and 3D printed models.

 

 

 

Overall I get the vibe that lots of people here are low key rooting for 3D printing to tank GW.  Lots of explainations about why it spells their long-term doom, and the inevitable hobby utopia that will follow. But that's not how it would actually ever happen.  If GW tanked as a company, the IP would get sold off, probably to a company with less investment in running things as well, and the community would still be legally locked out of producing independent content the way that way the OSR movement does for dnd.  And frankly, that already exists in spades, with things like One Page Rules, which is clearly just an alternative ruleset for 40k, plus people who are using old rules sets for "oldhammer", and the INQ28 movement which also takes 40k and makes it into something different than GW's current vision. 

 

My take is that GW is the least bad option for companies to control the IP.  And I have major problems with how they do certain things, particularly the way they churn rules/editions.

 

 

 

I think you're correct actually.

 

At the moment I think everyone has 3 options

 

1)Keep paying GW's prices and accept it

2)Stop playing the game/play something else

3)Use 3rd party/3D printed models and option 1 becomes "everyone else's problem"

[Marshal Rohr]

We've been here before. I just hope GW realises this.

 

I have an old friend who was a (for the industry) young and fairly high ranking executive in the music business in the US when Napster was a thing. I remember catching up with him shortly before the launch of iTunes. He had been shunted sideways into a '3rd tier' rap label, because he had been pushing hard to get the major label he was working for to sign up with Apple, prior to the launch of iTunes. His key argument to head office was: people will pay 99c for song instead of pirating it. Even if we only get 66c per song, it is a stable revenue stream. The 'rivers of gold' era of CDs is over, we need to lock in revenue and re-focus on live gigs, tours and merchandise.

 

With the benefit of hindsight, it sounds visionary, right?

 

Well, in 2007 we caught up again (I was living in Asia at the time, he was still in the US), he signed that label up to iTunes in mid 2001 (I think), and TL;DR, he was right, the parent finally company saw it, he got promoted back into mainstream labels and is living his best life. He also drove using MySpace as a direct-to-consumer marketing for music, and later, Facebook.

 

Yes, music business revenue took a hit for more than a few years after the 'river of gold' CD era dried up. The profit per song, per album dropped. But the 'tail' for music releases is longer. So less, but more stable revenue. Tours were primarily a marketing mechanism in the 90s and 00s - now they still are, but they are also a more substantial revenue driver (in % terms) than during the CD era, particularly in some genres. My mate often tells me that artists (especially "2nd tier" ones) have to work harder, perform more gigs, than he has ever seen (apparently old foggies liken it to the 60s before music videos were a thing).

 

So what does this story have to do with GW you ask? History has patterns. We've been here before. Sharing STLs of scanned GW models is the new Napster. Big name game/model companies selling STLs direct to consumers will be the new iTunes.FLGS with organised semi-competitive pay-to-participate leagues; major pay-to-play events/tournaments where merchandise and exclusive *real* models are sold are the new gigs and tours. YouTube and Patreon videos are the new "behind the scenes" pay-per-view or special 'documentary of the tour' movies. Discords with paid chats are the new 'meet the star' events and so on.

 

Really, if GW can't see the writing on the wall, they deserve to go the way of MGM (MGM tanked for many reasons, but one major one was getting too in bed with sci-fi channel and not getting hooked into streaming until too late among others) or music businesses that "held out" against the iTunes era. That would suck. I really, really hope that they see where the future is heading.

 

Honestly, if I had the $$$ I would buy myself a enough shares to get a seat on the board of GW and push this agenda:

• Take our current super-profits from the last gasps of selling models and invest heavily into leading 3D-printer manufacturers and resin suppliers. As 3D printing takes off, GW will at least have a slice of that profit pie.
• Move to selling STLs for all models, ala iTunes model.
• Invest heavily in talented designers to release loads of new models, not necessarily new units with new rule, but new models. Love Raven Guard? Here is a STL of a Sergeant Oron Korvarac, an intercessor with chainsword and auto bolt rifle, complete with scaring and battle damage. Print him today to lead your intercessor squad! or Love Blood Angels? here is an STL of Lieutenant Agnolo Beriar with jump pack, thunder hammer and inferno pistol, with a Drukhari knife blade imbedded in his left thigh. $5 and he is ready to lead your jump troops into battle! No special rules, just really cool models to allow players to customise their armies.
• Invest heavily into game writers with a focus on balance, diversity of viable play styles and so forth.
• Where zoning laws allow it, install 3D printers in GW stores - offer a printing-on-demand service in-store. That would bring people in. Not everyone has the space for a 3D printer. Buy the STL, click option to print, select store, pay, pick-up later that day. Sweet.
• Merchandise. Movies. Games.

So yeah, we've been here before. If GW realises this, and are smart, they would be planning to go all-in on digital delivery and in-store 'experiences' to push the hobby. Time will tell!

Your analogy would be spot on except most people are incredibly bad tech. So until there’s an app on your phone that pushes an STL wirelessly into your printer, that prints at a top end resolution every single time with absolutely zero input from the user the way iTunes lets you click to purchase, 3D printing is so far from being a threat to GW we are talking decades not years. Just because a handful of skilled users and wealthy tourists with time to train are doing good work right now doesn’t mean little Billy (GWs main source of income) is gonna be running 3D printer software on moms iPad well enough to make a whole Army.

 

There’s this idiotic beliefs that most 3D prints right now are the rare high quality pieces seen on social media when the reality is most of the people buying 3D prints or making 3D prints are using out of scale, spaghettified or Lego looking trash.

Edited October 8, 2021 by Marshal Rohr

[Grotsmasha]

I don't believe 3D printing is the end of GW, but they will adopt it for consumers and supplement their current offerings / business model with bits / OoP - retro models / Heroforge type thing.

[The Neverborn]

 

There’s this idiotic beliefs that most 3D prints right now are the rare high quality pieces seen on social media when the reality is most of the people buying 3D prints or making 3D prints are using out of scale, spaghettified or Lego looking trash.

 

 

That seems a bit excessive/heavy handed to label everyone all almost everyone who thinks 3D printed minis don't look like trash as an idiot. I've seen some from 6 feet away with my own two beady eyes, I thought they looked good to me. Does make me an idiot? 

 

Did I examine them from 6 inches away, no, is it possible that was 1 army out of 1,000s that looked good? Well yeah it suppose it's possible.

 

But reading your post did give me clarity on one thing, and I thank you for that much at least. The only way for me to absolutely know is to take plunge for 25 bucks and see, worse case scenario is I wasted 25 bucks. But in the context of what I've already put into the hobby. That's re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

 

Will be a month or so as I rarely buy anything if I've got something that needs painting. I'll drop a photo online when they arrive.

Edited October 9, 2021 by Battle Brother Abderus

[Grotsmasha]

There’s this idiotic beliefs that most 3D prints right now are the rare high quality pieces seen on social media when the reality is most of the people buying 3D prints or making 3D prints are using out of scale, spaghettified or Lego looking trash.

I don't know how long it's been since you went and looked at files, but I think you need to look again at what people are producing, because *most* of what I'm finding is NOT out of scale, spaghetified, or lego looking trash.

[Marshal Rohr]

 

 

There’s this idiotic beliefs that most 3D prints right now are the rare high quality pieces seen on social media when the reality is most of the people buying 3D prints or making 3D prints are using out of scale, spaghettified or Lego looking trash.

 

That seems a bit excessive/heavy handed to label everyone all almost everyone who thinks 3D printed minis don't look like trash as an idiot. I've seen some from 6 feet away with my own two beady eyes, I thought they looked good to me. Does make me an idiot?

 

Did I examine them from 6 inches away, no, is it possible that was 1 army out of 1,000s that looked good? Well yeah it suppose it's possible.

 

But reading your post did give me clarity on one thing, and I thank you for that much at least. The only way for me to absolutely know is to take plunge for 25 bucks and see, worse case scenario is I wasted 25 bucks. But in the context of what I've already put into the hobby. That's re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

 

Will be a month or so as I rarely buy anything if I've got something that needs painting. I'll drop a photo online when they arrive.

Go on Reddit and search ‘3D Printed Dreadnaught’. In the first ten posts there’s multiple examples of the melted Lego looking plague effecting gaming tables everywhere. I will say it again: unless a user is tech savvy well beyond the average hobbyist, 3D printing doesn’t work in a scalable and accessible form. Even if the software improves, until the average 2-300 dollar printer is printing at medical device and industrial product level with one click, it’s not going to have the market penetration it needs to supplant current poly plastic sprues delivered to your hands in a nice box. People rag on GW for warps and mold lines all time and completely ignore the fact they are talking about a sprue that comes from fairly sophisticated tooled molds that are also experiencing a massive price drop and lowered investment costs. GWs logistical problems aren’t because they use ancient backend production it’s because of outside factors. If 3D printing does ever get to the point where most people have a printer in their home GW dropping prices is just as likely as releasing STL files because with a kit produced from a mold you just send it back when it’s broken, you don’t have to troubleshoot it.

 

And before people think you can just peruse Reddit for troubleshooting tips, I’d remind you Microsoft spends millions of dollars on UI and User Experience for their products and most people have to call some guy and wait in line to fix formatting on their emails and docx.

 

Edit: also, even the high end mass market printers require physical maintenance to keep functioning or calibrate. I went to school with a guy making six figures just traveling around Ohio fixing printers at industrial and educational facilities because when they break it’s a total hard stop.

Edited October 9, 2021 by Marshal Rohr

[Domhnall]

There’s this idiotic beliefs that most 3D prints right now are the rare high quality pieces seen on social media when the reality is most of the people buying 3D prints or making 3D prints are using out of scale, spaghettified or Lego looking trash.

I don't know how long it's been since you went and looked at files, but I think you need to look again at what people are producing, because *most* of what I'm finding is NOT out of scale, spaghetified, or lego looking trash.

To be fair, the quality of prints shown on this forum are all high quality, but there is an aspect of selection bias involved. We will only look for and show off what we would consider high quality. There are a lot of hot garbage trash prints out in the wild, so I understand the point being made.

I suppose it would be like saying all GW models are high quality, well proportioned model by just showing the recent good stuff. Because we know that's not the case as there are a lot of questionable kits and a lot of the old models from the range are a bit dodgy too.

This is coming from a grumpy old man who was a staunch advocate for putting 3D prints in the sea, but even I'm now seeing them as a very interesting option for models to paint.

[Grotsmasha]

 

To be fair, the quality of prints shown on this forum are all high quality, but there is an aspect of selection bias involved. We will only look for and show off what we would consider high quality. There are a lot of hot garbage trash prints out in the wild, so I understand the point being made.

 

Well, yeah, but this is true of traditional models too, it's why a lot of us prefer GW's models in the first place.

 

 

This is coming from a grumpy old man who was a staunch advocate for putting 3D prints in the sea, but even I'm now seeing them as a very interesting option for models to paint.

 

There's heaps of medium to high quality stuff for free, but if you're willing to consider BUYING stl's, ohhh man are there some phenomenal stuff out there. For example I found some extreme detail busts of a bunch the Primarchs for $30 bucks a pop and I'm getting serious Pokemon feelings for them.....

By this I mean, there's a lot, a lot of stuff beyond gaming pieces that we in the hobby can make use of beyond the table top.

[Orange Knight]

The one person in my local social group who is 3D printing is generally using it for terrain and for destroyed-vehicle props, and is not able to create smaller models that come close to the look, detail or quality of GW plastic.

 

That 3D Printed Astraeus does look good, but it's definitely not the standard quality that I've personally seen knocking about in person or over the Internet.

 

Also, it should be mentioned, that it is actual IP/Copyright theft, as it's illegaly replicating a model that is current on sale. I don't feel that we should be supporting illegal infringement like this. Even if we point a finger at GW and accuse them of being greedy, it's more or equally greedy and unjustifiable to outright steal their IP.