My 3D Printer has arrived, and my first prints are for Minimates of course!

[MisterPL]

Does anyone make an affordable tabletop tampo machine?

[Hawkeye's Junk]

That would be nice

[Bob Harris]

That's incredible. So when will you come up with your new semi-annual Minimate Accessories Fan Poll?

[Captain Paco]

I am happy you are enjoying the 3D printer. I am wondering if you will attempt to make minimate parts now that you could resculpt to fit the need like say a minimate head with a ridged forehead (as in a Klingon named Worf or Gowron or such)?

I am sure you will now be making accessories for minimates to sell, and I for one would like to get a set of minimate wine glasses and a set of minimate beer mugs.

Thank you for sharing your first creations and the news of your new toy.

Have a great day.

[buttheadsmate]

Could I have a pair of ears for my Captain Britain ?

[winkerbean]

My god its like living in not to distant future....... Today

[Mystery Man]

I love these! That web base, especially!

[Rad]

Excellent stuff, Luke. I saw the Iron-Man stuff on Facebook last night, but I'm loving your other ideas.

[Dave]

Will you be doing custom parts on demand?

[Nessex]

*SQUEE*

Sooooo many possibilities.... sooo many wants....

*New lightning/electricity bolts for Storm/Electro

*Ice Clubs/Weapons for Frost Giants...

*Psychic Butterly for Betsy Braddock

Say - how long would it take to 3D model a Minimate sized motor-cycle?

[Ninja Mate]

holy crap Luke, thats amazing!

[DaveOMac]

Putting money aside now for whatever may pop up in your store.

[b00sted]

I still lurk here a lot.. and this is quite cool! and need to say you need to print me out this for the love of god. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:103073

[pioad]

Buffy's scythe? Please?

[Jeff]

I'm really excited at the possibilities despite the 6 hour print time per piece (last posted from Luke). Here's the original thread with pics for examples of what COULD be coming our way:

http://www.minimatemultiverse.com/index.php?showtopic=12052

I'd love to see a twisted girder that could be wrapped around characters via The Thing or bent from Magento's magnetism...or what have you.

[Cappy]

Luke, what's the rigidity of the plastic like? And how do suppose it would do at printing sockets?

I'm impressed that the head ball worked nicely, you must be happy with the degree of precision?

[Nervous Rex]

Luke, now that this is a reality, have you given any thought or plan doing a poll/contest for an upcoming part?

Forgive me if this is too soon, :-)

( I forgot about this until I just checked over the ideas thread )

[luke314pi]

Thanks for all of your comments! I am still working out all of the details on exactly how we will be using this machine. Some parts will be directly printed on the Form 1 and sold in our store. Other parts will be printed once and then used to make a rubber mold, which I will use to pour and cast parts for the store, since the resin for the printer is more expensive than the resin used with rubber molds. I will try to do some requests, but honestly I am not the best at 3D modeling, and my schedule is crazy as usual. I need a lot more experience on organic shapes like hair and cloth.

I can also print items that other people design, at a cheaper rate than Shapeways, but that is also something that I am not ready for yet. I have not experimented with tinting, sanding, or dremeling the resin yet. Those are all on the to-do list.

[kaipo]

thanks for the update luke! you know that whatever you choose to do, we will be there to support you... shelves and wallets ready....

[TM2 Dinobot]

Now you need one of these!

http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/04/new-443-3d-scanner-on-sale-looks-awesome-shoots-lasers/

[Jatta Pake]

I don't have a lot of sculpting talent but the whole 3-D scanning process would massively improve my work. To me, one of the biggest challenges is attaining symmetry. It would work like this:

Sculpt half of something (like half of intricate Minimate throne). Scan with 3D scanner. Take object in software and clone it. Then take the clone object and "reflect" it. Merge the original object and mirrored clone. Now you have a throne with both sides looking identical.

This process works in Illustrator for face decals so I assume it would work nicely with 3D as well. Your sculpt doesn't even need to be that good as long as you have symmetry it will look nice.

[luke314pi]

That is one of the reasons I love Sculptris - it automatically reflects your design and creates symmetry. However it is only good for organic shapes, and not mechanical ones.

[luke314pi]

Here are some new test shots!

Ice Blast

Beer Mugs by request

Chainsaw

I am still figuring out all of the ins and outs of the machine. It is very fickle - last night I tried to print a sledgehammer, crowbar, pipe, baseball bat, and chainsaw, and only the chainsaw came out correctly.

Luke, what's the rigidity of the plastic like? And how do suppose it would do at printing sockets?

I'm impressed that the head ball worked nicely, you must be happy with the degree of precision?

I think it would work very well for sockets, however the parts do have a slight texture to them.

[Ivan]

Whoa, I didn't realize FormLabs was shipping already. I remember hearing about their Kickstarter campaign, but I thought it was going to be a while before they would be shipping units. (Of course my only real Kickstarter experience involves a long delayed "Agent" production, so probably not the best basis of comparison. )

I love the resolution of stereolithography. No sanding needed is a huge plus. I can't wait to see where you go with this.

It seems like I'm always plugging Blender, but it's great for mechanical modeling. It has a bit of a learning curve, but that's true of any 3D program in my experience.

[kaipo]

wow! the chainsaw detail is amazing!!!