Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The year of the 3D printed miniature and other lies we tell ourselves

matduggan.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 154 posts

Re: The year of the 3D printed miniature and other lies we tell ourselves

#21

Post by aardvark179 »

1313ed01 wrote: post #16

I don't know Warhammer that well, but I see a lot of 3D printing for historical wargames. Seems popular for naval wargames for instance, but I saw many printed tanks as well. Not so much small scale infantry perhaps. There are so many very specific models that can be needed for historical scenarios that mass-production can't provide everything. Some companies of course print models on demand now, but others sell STL…

Obviously there isn’t any of that in Warhammer, at least not officially. Even a pretty niche thing for them is probably at a scale where resin casting would make more sense (assuming they aren’t going to sell or license out STL files). There is a decent unofficial scene around alternative weapons load outs and such like, but it’s not going to destroy GW any time soon.

Re: The year of the 3D printed miniature and other lies we tell ourselves

#22

Post by aleph_minus_one »

CobraMode wrote: post #18

I'm one of those small sculptors in this space, and I chuckled at the comparison to a Meth lab. Honestly though, my own printer is more like a grow-op. It's all contained in a half size grow tent in order to contain the mess, and easily vent the vapors. It definitely looks sus, and I'm probably on a watchlist for all the gear I've bought.

Is your printer a resin or FDM printer?

Re: The year of the 3D printed miniature and other lies we tell ourselves

#23

Post by _carbyau_ »

ndr42 wrote: post #7

A least the 3D printers today are great to print terrain, ruins and so on as a base for painting and decorating.

^ This. ^

The figurines might have to be official and "proper" for tournament play.

But terrain is more vague. Though still dimensionally specified.

And I always feel that it is a shame that so much effort is made to paint armies near perfectly and yet the terrain is flat felt green, or matte grey painted chipboard, with some stuff chucked on it...

A 3D printer can make hills, ruins, furniture, burnt out vehicles - all the other cruft of a gaming universe to give it life!

Re: The year of the 3D printed miniature and other lies we tell ourselves

#24

Post by chr15m »

iroddis wrote: post #8

This was a great read, and perfectly conveyed the combination of passion and anger of every WH player I’ve ever met has had. Given the time, it’s hard not to view this same argument through the lens of AI. People who love crafting their creative works will still do it, even when AI can do it. They will still inspire others because they demonstrate what humans can do, and what we can aspire to.

Great point. Also, nobody would go to a cafe where the coffee comes from a fully automated machine instead of a barista.

Re: The year of the 3D printed miniature and other lies we tell ourselves

#26

Post by Loughla »

chr15m wrote: post #24
iroddis wrote: post #8

This was a great read, and perfectly conveyed the combination of passion and anger of every WH player I’ve ever met has had. Given the time, it’s hard not to view this same argument through the lens of AI. People who love crafting their creative works will still do it, even when AI can do it. They will still inspire others because they demonstrate what humans can do, and what we can aspire to.

Great point. Also, nobody would go to a cafe where the coffee comes from a fully automated machine instead of a barista.

Coffee vending machines have existed since the, what, 1950's maybe?

AI will fill a similar niche when it settles down, I think. Cheap, and mostly what you asked for, but you know you're not going to love the output.

Re: The year of the 3D printed miniature and other lies we tell ourselves

#27

Post by Loughla »

reactordev wrote: post #9

Honestly, resin printers are a god send to the miniatures community. Hands down best tech to print warhammer, n-scale, D&D, you name it.

The quality of resin printed minis is amazing compared to regular 3d printing. There's actually facial features.

Re: The year of the 3D printed miniature and other lies we tell ourselves

#28

Post by iLoveOncall »

neonnoodle wrote: post #2

This was a very enjoyable read for me. I’ve never played 40K but have always been impressed with the craftsmanship and dedication of the community. I remember a lot of the early hype around 3D printing, most of which hasn’t panned out where the consumer-hobbyist-level machines are concerned. My local game shop makes a lot of cool 3D printed stuff and sells it online or at cons, but even Etsy is now cracking down on p…

> I remember a lot of the early hype around 3D printing, most of which hasn’t panned out where the consumer-hobbyist-level machines are concerned.

That is not true. I have a resin printer that is around 3 years old (Anycubic Photon Mono M5s) and it has a level of detail that simply cannot be matched by injection molded parts. I have printed some miniatures that have details much smaller than a human hair, like the needle of a syringe in 32mm scale.

Once painted, the figurines are indistinguishable from non-3D printed ones unless you pick them up (they're heavier often).

That said, the article is still right. Resin printers are a massive pain. They're highly toxic, and the time spent preparing, and then post-processing is quite high, but also stressful because of the toxicity. I use my filament printer almost every day, but my resin printer has been collecting dust because of this.

Re: The year of the 3D printed miniature and other lies we tell ourselves

#29

Post by iLoveOncall »

aleph_minus_one wrote: post #22
CobraMode wrote: post #18

I'm one of those small sculptors in this space, and I chuckled at the comparison to a Meth lab. Honestly though, my own printer is more like a grow-op. It's all contained in a half size grow tent in order to contain the mess, and easily vent the vapors. It definitely looks sus, and I'm probably on a watchlist for all the gear I've bought.

Is your printer a resin or FDM printer?

Anyone seriously printing miniatures does it on a resin printer.

Re: The year of the 3D printed miniature and other lies we tell ourselves

#30

Post by AndrewStephens »

Great essay! I have never played WH40k but have been quite into Magic the Gathering at times.

Before I started playing I asked a friend what was to stop me just printing or photocopying cards (even in the 90s this would have been possible)

I understood how silly that question was when I felt the pleasure of actually owning a high quality product. Sure, I could spend the time to make my own cards but playing the game is only part of the fun.

Warhammer and MtG get mocked for being expensive but in reality they are comparable to cars, sports, fashion, and all the other things humans spend their disposable income on.

Post reply on HN