Within the next day or two, I'd assume. Aside from the few mods I want to make to Backlash, I'm pretty much just waiting till they're painted so I can get some decent photos for the product page.
so maybe printing the ball joints in durable material and the figure itself in detail ? this can solve that
In theory it could, but that'd mean having to have all the balls as a separate order to the actual body parts. Even if that would make it structurally sound (and in certain cases, it wouldn't), it'd also make it a biznitch for people to order...
Great news! You are lined up for my next big splurge! Edit- for clarification, I mean great news for me. I doubt me buying a matched set of your guys will change your world in any definable way *Feels like Prof Farnsworth*
Awesome prints, both of them look absolutely fantastic. Looking forward to seeing them in colour! Do I ever know that feeling...I'm starting to gather quite the collection of Shapeways coupons, thanks to the software accepting my models but then throwing up the tiniest of wall-thickness issues when it comes to print time... *facepalm*
Oh man. I'm thinking a nice chunk of my next paycheck is going to Shapeways (and by extension, you.) I am a little ambivalent about that grainy texture. It just doesn't do it for me personally. Would it be theoretically possible to smooth it out with a thin thin top layer of Apoxie Sculpt or what-have-you?
Glad to assist! I'll stop making 'em when I stop having ideas for 'em. Oh, believe me, it's appreciated. As am I. Yup. As I've said elsewhere, just a few coats of paint goes a long way toward filling out the texture anyway. But if you wanted to use something to expedite that, then yeah, you could use a little putty to smooth it out. I don't know exactly what Apoxie Sculpt in particular is like to work with, but I'd guess the best putty to use would be one of those that can be diluted down, as you'd dilute clay into a slip. I know you can do that with Milliput, but I don't think that's available in the States. Shapeways is a 3D printing service; you can upload a computer-generated 3D model to their website, and they'll use that to make an actual physical model; they have various materials available, including several kinds of plastics, steel, glass and 'sandstone'. These particular models aren't available to order yet (you'll know when they are by the new threads with photos of the painted models, probably sometime tomorrow ), but there are three currently available (Salvo, Vantage and Dustup), which can be bought from my Shapeways shop, which is what that little banner in my sig links to.
At the moment, the only material I'm able to release these in is WSF (White Strong and Flexible), which is a form of laser-sintered nylon. It's only the very surface (the top half-millimetre or so) which is porous, which is what makes it so good for painting; it gives the paint a good tooth to grip onto. As such, while it's not completely smooth on arrival, it's fairly easy to make it smooth if that's what you're after (check out my response to Hooper_X's question just above).
It won't be shipped from the UK anyway; given that you're in the States, I daresay it'll be produced there (Shapeways are based in Eindhoven (Holland) and New York). From ordering, the time to arrival's a maximum 10 working days.
