New Era of Color 3D Printing Begins
Klavs81 has achieved a fantastic breakthrough with his Wing Commander-inspired models! Build-to-order 3D printing continues to evolve and mature, and color objects are now possible. While some mini diehards are talented enough to paint their own ships, most of us lack the skill and time to do the designs justice. That problem has been resolved with the latest technology. Check out the results below - the pictures speak for themselves! In addition to the textured metal skin, realistic decals and other details are visible. The shots here are prototypes, and the final version of the Rapier is slightly smaller and closer in size to the Scimitar so that each ship is to scale. All four classic WC1 fighters are ready to build at Terran Fleet Supply!
They work!The 1/300 scale ships will be just about the perfect display/zoom around the office size and should be pretty darn affordable (Around $35 for a 3" model) And you don't have to paint 'em! The Scimitar is 1/300 scale and the Rapier an odd 1/230 scale. (About 4.1 inches. I wanted to see what would happen at larger sizes)
They're hard to photograph, but I'm getting details like panel lines, Confed insignia, even hints of stencil markings and warning placards! The texture is a bit rough, like sandstone, but a little sanding on the rough parts evens out the minor "terracing" effect, and the colors are preserved. I painted the Rapier canopy as it was a bit light, and picked out some minor details with a sharp #2 pencil. I can't believe how well these worked.
It turns out the smaller scale ships won't work for the Hornet, Raptor, and Rapier without having to thicken the wings and fine details to the point of silliness. So the Scimitar, Hornet and Rapier will only be available in 1/300 scale for around $35 a piece. These scale out to around 3-4 inches long. Big enough to see plenty of detail, but not take up too much room on your desk. I did some major surgery on the (larger) Raptor and got the price down a bit (for its size). It's still in scale with the other ships. Hornet, Scimitar, Raptor and Rapier are now available on the Shape Ways store!
In the meantime I'll be running around the house making whoosing noises at the dog.
If this is Gen 1 color printing, I can't wait for next year...
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