I'll actually be using the same CAD file I have printed to make the mold. The guy at the machine shop I'll be using will let the computer carve it based on the CAD. Sounds like the clearances you guys are talking about are just for the 3D printer. Do you think that if I have a steel mold carved to the exact specs of my design, the ABS plastic pieces will come out exact? Or would I have completely different tolerances in that?
The fact that you're going straight to your own custom steel mold from CAD is pretty damned awesome in its own right; be interesting to hear exactly what the financial damage is on going down that particular road, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the results! In terms of molded ABS tolerances, I really couldn't say as I have absolutely no experience in that area whatsoever - maybe some of our more knowledgeable folk round here could help out? To say I'm excited about seeing what comes from your models, Mako, would be taking understatement to as-yet-unfathomed levels. Suffice to say, my initial response was exceptionally positive, if somewhat unrepeatable...
awesome printout! theres nothing like bringing your 3d models into reality. and thanks for letting me/us know about Shapeways. Opened up a lot of possibilites for me most especially the steel printing.
I have an inside advantage on the steel mold. It's a friend and he's gonna do it for me at cost. All I have to do is design the parts so they can be cast in a simple two piece mold and all the parts for the toy will come out on one plastic tree like model car pieces. If I do that, he can cut me a mold for only $2,000. About 1/6th what it normally costs. Then I just have to find a place to do the injection and get pricing on that. Hopefully a new garage company will debut at Botcon 2010. Look for something REALLY cool pretty cheap compared to what most garage company accessories cost.
Thanks, a3! More than welcome, and if and when you decide to take the plunge, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's looking forward to seeing the results! Nice one, IG - hope everything turns out successfully! I might not be at BotCon next year, but I hope that whatever you're planning, it ends up being very well received by all! (Especially with the lower price tag plans - they're always a winner!) Just to keep things ticking along, here are a couple of updated colour-scheme renders for your perusal whilst I ponder which parts to put orders in for first... Firstly, G1 toy colours: And secondly, G1 toon colours: Okay, so not exactly Classics vs. Henkei in terms of style, but I'm happy with the progression - let me know what you think!
I vote for Toon Colors... Decepticon with red visors/eyeball/eyelashes just fits perfectly... Yellow is kinda dull... But the details on toys shoulder is much better compared with the toon... Maybe u can mix it up....
That is some outstanding work. I've been trying to creat Soundwave's head in Hexagon 2, but it's slow going and my own lack of skill is a huge hindrance. I am delighted to find out about Shapeways; I'm going to keep working on it, and make my own replacement heads.
Oh man, this is looking awesome! I think I like the 'toon colors best... though they both look great. I would so very much love to have a figure like this.
That is bloody sweet, I love the approach you're taking to this guy. Technology wow factor is blinding me. Now I wish I'd paid more attention in solid works.
Oh it looks SO god in full color! And I saw that Shapeways opened up their full-color printing to the public last week too! I'd vote for the toy-colors, but I wouldn't turn my nose up at the 'toon version either If you made them available as print-on-demand, there'd be no reason to have to rule out either I do hope you end up making this available in some form or another, I think Music-Label Soundwave (...with the reprolabel set...) is pretty much perfect....but this is shaping up wo be a step beyond perfect.... D/L
Heh, I actually quite like the toy-based yellow visor, but yeah, I think the red one pretty much wins out overall. And consider things mixed up a bit, too. You might just be on to a winner, then. Cheers, Sarge! 'Just keep at it' is probably the one mantra I'd give to anyone who's getting to grips with 3D; it'll take a while but what you get out of it eventually will be very much worth the effort. Seems to be a popular choice, General! Thanks, Xaxis! Yeah, not only will this serve my business purposes in terms of a presentation piece, but seeing as there's no news of a 'Universe' Soundwave in the works, it seemed like a good idea to go ahead and make one! Thanks very much! Might just be worth getting back on the horse and giving things another go, you never know! If I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I could get away with it without being skewered by Hasbro's legal ninjas... Many thanks, D/L! I've been doing a bit of research on Shapeways' new colour printing, and I don't honestly think it'll work for this particular project, just because the sandstone material seems far too brittle to withstand the transform process. Not to mention I'd have to increase the wall thickness on each component (and watch the price sky-rocket as a result)... Might do a reworked test-shot or two with various components and see what the outcome is, though, just to see if it's a route worth taking in the future! And again, I'd like to get this out there as some kind of limited edition piece, but I don't think the powers-that-be would look too kindly upon it (and I don't want to scupper my business in the process - far too much has gone into it for that). Equally, cost - this is going to be one pricey item when everything's done and dusted, which I can write off as marketing expenses; hence the plan to put one or maybe two on eBay as customs.
I like the added details that the toy colors provide. That being said, the 'toon accurate colors mixed with those would be the best looking in my opinion.
Phenomenal. My wife is taking a 3D CAD class this semester. Guess I better look over her shoulder....
Cheers, Red - reckon that's pretty much what I'll end up going with. Thanks very much! You never know, you might be inspired to have a crack at it yourself! Here's where things are at right now, fresh off the renderer; still plenty of work to do all round, but things are going in the right direction. Just a couple more bits to sort out for this stage, though...
I'm just wondering, How will you know if everything will be flush and transform correctly? Does the program tell you if areas will be in conflict with others when placed in a certain position? That would be my biggest concern if I used this to design my own Transformers.
From scratch, each part has been designed to sit correctly with its neighbouring pieces; this involves a LOT of trial-and-error in terms of making sure the edges and pivot points of each piece are in exactly the right place, and that the construct as a whole actually works. MAX doesn't show if pieces are intersecting, but I manually limit the motion of each part to angles and distances they will actually function within. It's tough going to make sure everything's spot-on, but it's worth the effort!
