It might as well be a meeple.

3d printing will be disruptive to whole host of industries, tabletop hobby included.

Let me illustrate that statement with an example form different and very traditional branch: at this point in time automotive companies actually work on introducing 3d printers in their dealerships and service centres, as it is much cheaper to 3d print on site than store, transport and keep track of every gasket or plastic coupling needed in their work, the real challenge for them are materials.  This is way to cut logistics costs much further than driverless cars or delivery robots, and cutting costs is always interesting for any business thus my certainty in the first sentence.

Now, will printing occur at your home or local store, that is real question for now IMO.

To comment on Makers Muse video, the quality of the model shown is low down to, pretty much exclusively, crappy design (this is some kind of free, almost low polygon type of model), contemporary printers are capable of quality on par with cast resin, provided they are fed proper model.

I can’t really understand time concerns some of you have, you guys have to live very close (an hour drive?) to extremely well supplied miniature stores. My experience is that time needed between decision to buy a model and holding it ready to paint in my hand is:

1.      For physical model – 2-3 working days (if I decide to pay premium on shipping which usually doubles the price of model in question and if it is available in Europe),

2.      For digital model – 2-3 hours, and no extra shipping cost (I’d pay for the Internet anyway, and the designer/seller may live in Mongolia or Hawaii).

@limburger – your links to Shapeways models was interesting (for me as a new 3d printer owner). And I think this is where the difference in opinions on 3d printing stems from.

The idea of taking something ethereal – like a digital file – converting into something physical (a printed miniature) to then be put into a box and couriered in a van to someone, possibly on the other side of the world, feels “old fashioned” and a backwards use of technology: yes, I understand that it’s a delivery mechanism for people who aren’t able to print at home. But the Shapeways model isn’t going to revolutionise tabletop gaming.

But *in the event of more people being able to print at home* then the goods sold remain ethereal – a bunch of ones and zeros flying through the ether. From content creator to end user, the transaction is 100% efficient; no time spent creating a physical object, boxing it up, sending it, delivering it, receiving it….

I believe that this is the disruptive nature of 3d printing.

Not the idea that we get “more choice” or “alternative providers” – but the entire manufacturing chain can be removed and replaced by lots of people doing a little bit of work at the end, rather than a few people churning out thousands of products in a factory, to sit on a shelf: the end user becomes the manufacturer, the product becomes a service, waste is minimised, transport is eliminated – and all this is on top of the other benefits of 3d printing (such as faster time to get a mini in your hand, ability to produce multiples for negligible repeat cost, ability to modify/scale relatively easily etc).

In a world where Shapeways was redundant, and everyone was manufacturing their own miniatures, with designers and content creators being rewarded directly for their output, we’d see a truly disruptive technology being used properly!

As @sundancer says, this *technology* will be disruptive. This particular printer won’t, because it’s reinforcing the idea that one central manufacturer should produce the product. For me, desktop home-use machines like the AnyCubic Photon and the Elegoo Mars are better examples of disruptive technology for our hobby. I’m expecting to see development going into UV-curable resins, to make them more “user-friendly”. Once people have got over their fear of handling chemicals, I think we’ll have cracked it! (although household bleach and many multi-surface cleaners are more hazardous than resin and IPA – I think a lot of it is down to perception).

Wouldn’t it be great if creators did the prep too? So when you get a file, its been tried and tested (maybe even with the exposure settings for the resin its been tried on, and the machine(s) its been proven on).

You get an stl with the model correctly angled and supports already added, eliminating much of the “risk” that goes with 3d printing – load up your print plate, hit go, clean up after a few hours.

Faster printing time would be welcomed of course. But removing the risk of failure would be preferable, and longer, but “guaranteed success” print times could be tolerated.

Creators collaborating with engineers (or companies with teams of creators) could bring some interesting developments in the coming years…..

The degree of technical knowhow would be reduced if files were genuinely “print ready”. I honestly feel its the fear of failure more than the lack of technical knowledge holding people back. (of course, a lack of technical knowledge – at the minute – increases the likelihood of failure: remove the need for technical knowledge, reduce the chance of failure).

For a while, here in the UK, the idea of a network of local ” maker shops” looked encouraging, but in the last five years or so, it kind of fizzled out. Being able to get expert help *locally* would be a brilliant option. Sadly, it looks unlikely an time soon…

Some people weren’t disrupted by CDs – they stuck with vinyl. Some people weren’t disrupted by Netflix – they stick with terrestrial TV; some things are good enough for some people. The thread was “this technology will disrup…… OMG!”

Sorry to everyone for blathering on about this. I’ve only just noticed I mis-read the title!

I believe this technology will disrupt “the industry”. I think it’s already disrupted “miniature companies” – in that many are now using digital sculpting exclusively. I’m not convinced it will disrupt the *production of miniatures by miniature companies* in the way suggested.

As you were. My bad. I’ll shut up now….

I’ve no interest  but I can see the attraction. As long as it doesn’t  get to “so you want to get into wargaming?. Well this is the 3d printer you’ll need to begin with”