Jump to content

3D Printer question


tossedman

Recommended Posts

Not sure if anyone's using a 3D printer as of yet but I had a thought last night. Looking at passenger car interiors, they have seats but no people. Would it be possible to print the passengers as well as the seats? Painting might be a nightmare but you'd have people in there when you're done.

 

Cheers eh,

 

Todd

 

Link to comment

Todd,

 

I've seen a few 1/144 military figures 3d printed in the ultra fine at shapeways that look decent so its possible to print them with a really good printer (read to expensive for the hobbyist right now).

 

I think you are right printing them in the seats would make it a bit tougher to paint them. Most folks find they need to trim the legs and sometimes other parts to get n scale sitting figures int most train seats. I think keitaro had a thread on this in the past.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

Link to comment

Thanks Jeff,

 

I wonder what's not to scale if you have to trim the figures to make them fit, the people or the seats. I'd have no idea as to how to design these but I'm sure some could. You might be able to design one and adapt it for many coaches.

 

3d printers are getting better and cheaper. One day this may be possible at home.

 

Cheers eh,

 

Todd

Link to comment

I've found Z scale people easier to fit the seats in N scale passenger cars and you don't notice the difference through the windows.  The seats may be smaller than N scale due to the thickness of plastic required for the body shell leaving less width for the seats.  The packs of 200 or so figures you can find on some Chinese sellers on eBay are ideal.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Todd,

 

Yeah like west mentions the z scale figures can help a lot to get them in and give the proper impression thru the windows. You can just get the standing figures like west mentioned very cheaply on ebay and then clip them off at the waist. Save the legs to make a scene with a truck load of maniqune bottom halves!

 

3d printers are getting cheaper, but the ultra fine liquid polymer systems which is neede for n scale level of detail, are going to be a while before they will become affordable. But the good news is using a service bureau like shapeways is pretty reasonable. Big trick is learning the cad to make your drawings, that's the learning curve. Something like the poser program might work well for making figures. You can dress them!

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

Link to comment
×
×
  • Create New...