RepRap?! OMG! Homemade Dolls? No WAY!

[Swan]

OK today someone told me about RepRap and/or MakerBot... I'm still looking at it, still wondering... for those (me included) who don't know about it, it SEEMS to be a 3-D printer that is capable of creating nearly *any* object in plastic, downloadable from the Internet and I am *seriously* considering trying to get one so I can actually *make* a 1/3 scale BJD rather than pay insane prices.... I keep reading that it's opensource GNU free or incredibly cheap! Think of the custom dollieh's we could ALL make!! YOW!

Ohhhhh so tempting... so TEMPTING!!

Has anyone heard of this? Is it legit? I need MOAR info!

Swan

[DollyKim]

I know of the printing technique you're talking of and have seen it used in forensics and anthropology where they've made copies of skulls for artists to build faces on, among other uses. You still need the printer its self and the plastic and a place to have it. Could be a legit program but the supplies would kill you. Now if it's free and safe from spy ware why not see if you can learn to use it.

Otherwise I'll tell you to look in to a new book called Pop Sculpture which shows how to make a static pose or jointed figure and cast them out of resin. Far more doable for the average person.

[victoriavictrix]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

*ahem*

Swan, FIRST you need to be an expert in 3D modeling AND have the 3D modeling software. Now. while you can pick up 3D modeling software for $60 (Poser) I am guessing that this is NOT the sort of modeling software that these machines use. So you are looking at from $1000 to $3000 in software. Yes, they can scan something you have made and put it into software form for you. No, you do not want to know how much this costs.

Then, once you have the software and you have learned how to use it, you can use these services. A 1/6 size doll head will cost you about $75 to make. Let me repeat that. A 1/6 size doll head will cost you about $75 to make.

Now you see why I was laughing hysterically. A full 1/3 size doll will cost you about $4000 to $10000, given that you will go through a lot of trial and error and every time you remake a part it will cost you from $75 to $150 per part to have it made.

When "people" are saying this is "incredibly cheap" what they mean is that it is incredibly cheap compared to the price of making a one-off or prototype the old fashioned way. For instance, when you are talking about, say, model railroaders, who are used to spending several HUNDRED dollars for a one-off piece (or go through the tedium of modeling it themselves in HO scale and/or machining it in brass) yes, this is "incredibly cheap." Or manufacturers who are used to spending several THOUSAND dollars for a prototype? They can spend that once on the printer and then run off whatever they need. It's that kind of "incredibly cheap."

Edit: As for the cost of the printer? Unassembled, you put together, good luck with that, about $1000. A put together ready to go printer? $3,000 to $10,000 used.

[Swan]

Oh
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.Well then, foo.


Swan

[victoriavictrix]

Sorry to disappoint.

Here's the deal. These things have a limited (usually 7 by 7 inch) field they can "print" in. There are several kinds of these printers. One even uses sugar to "print" with, but the RapRep (that stands for Rapid Reproduction) printers you are talking about use plastic. It basically lays down a 3-D object with melted plastic, a bit at a time (some, "tank" printers, use lasers in a tank of solution to solidify the object.) The "cheapness" of your objects depends entirely on how good you are with the software so you can squeeze as many of the parts you want into the 7 by 7 inch cube. So people can make, oh, say a LOT of BJD size weapons and sell them much cheaper than anyone has ever been able to before. But for a doll you will have to get very, very good with the software, AND very good at "ganging" your parts. You will have to know exactly how you want your doll to fit together and the tolerances for the parts fitting together. Your margin for error is pretty much zero. Mess up and you have to re-draw the part and re-print it.

Oh and I did not mention that the surface of the parts you produce is VERY rough. No seams but imagine a doll being printed pixel by pixel, thousands of little dots being fused together. The cheaper the printer, the more rough the surface. $1000 for a printer is very cheap indeed. And I don't know what the strength of the plastic it uses is.

You can do what Kiki-chan is doing, and get time on a bigger, more expensive printer (the one she uses is in Holland I think). You get a nice object, and it can be of very tough plastic indeed, but the cost is going to be very, very high indeed for a doll, you will be paying for shipping back from Holland, and because of the time to ship you won't find out if your doll parts actually fit together for some time. And you absolutely will need higher-end software to model your parts. Kiki-chan has the advantage of being at MCAD and so can use the school's software and computers.

Mind you, all this has come down SIGNIFICANTLY in price from what it was even a year or so ago ($100,000 for a baseline printer, and no such thing as a desktop or hobbyist version).

When you see all of this stuff being talked about in Makers' forums, you have to remember that Makers can run the gamut from people like us, putting things together from scavenged bits, to people who are making competition combat robots for Robot Wars, huge Tesla coils and enormous art pieces for Burning Man. So when the folks at the cutting edge of this say "cheap" they mean "Under $10,000 and we are putting most of the hardware and software together ourselves." They don't mean "this is something the average person who does a few 1/6 figure mods can handle easily and costs $100."

I have the feeling you thought this was something you could just download from the internet and then somehow put together from a couple things you had in the kitchen or garage. Sorry.

Edit again: While we are at it....ever done maintenance on an airbrush or a high-end color printer? Now quadruple that for the maintenance on something that uses melting plastic instead of paint, and which needs to have absolutely zero-tolerance accurate calibration.

[Sixoclock]

There are some printing companies out there as well, that charge decent amounts to print out your 3D designs for you. I have no idea what the cost of a whole doll would be.. But I know a few people on other forums use these printing places to make things like jewlery, weapons, furniture, eyes, etc.

You still need to have the 3D skills to back it up, so that you can send the printing company the accurate files. That, or hire someone to do the 3D work for you. I will try to go through my favorites to locate the one company that I had been taking a look at.

[DollyKim]

I think some work off 3D scans of people or prototype figures, which again need someone to sculpt them. Don't get discouraged, just hone your modeling skills be they real or virtual.

[victoriavictrix]

There are some printing companies out there as well, that charge decent amounts to print out your 3D designs for you. I have no idea what the cost of a whole doll would be.. But I know a few people on other forums use these printing places to make things like jewlery, weapons, furniture, eyes, etc.

You still need to have the 3D skills to back it up, so that you can send the printing company the accurate files. That, or hire someone to do the 3D work for you. I will try to go through my favorites to locate the one company that I had been taking a look at.

I talked about that in my first post. The company I was looking at was the one Kiki-chan uses. Charges $75 for a 1/6 size doll head. For weapons and jewelry it's VERY affordable. Whole doll, something like $1000-$3000 dollars, each. Might as well just go buy a Volks or a Soom for that kind of money.

Plus, there is still the issue of the rough surface, and it is quite rough, from what Larry tells me.

[EAB]

Give it time.
I am old enough to remember when VCRs were expensive, DVDs hadn't even been invented yet, and NOBODY could afford a computer, much less had space for it.

[Jobee]

If you'd like to see another example of that sort of thing, you can check out http://www.figureprints.com/ They make static figures of WoW characters, and now XBox avatars.