Nowadays 3D printer includes so many different types, such as 3D color printer, solid printer, 3D ink printer and so on. With the forefront of fabrication technology exploding, 3D printers are going to be a Godsend to modelers and hobbyists. I was privy to some samples a guy brought to the last SDCC and let me tell you. 3D printing needs support of high tech.
Remember the opening scene to Small Soldiers? China actually has that sort of machine that solidifies things from liquid resin. McFarlane uses/used this technique to send molds back and forth to China for comparison. Instead of mailing a test shot back to the US or to China, you'd just download the new data and print out a corrected copy.
What does this mean for us in the near future? If you can scan it, get the data for it, you can make the part(s) with a 3D printer. Imagine wanting some GI Joe weapon. You'll pay $3 or something for the data file and hit 'print'. A few minutes later the plastic weapon pops out of the hopper. Scan your face, select 1:6th scale, hit print. You now have a head for your Hot Toys True Type body. The possibilities will be endless. People will be able to design the most intricate and unique 3D models like those you see on DeviantArt...and make them. Gone will be the days of sculptors, it will be programmers.
Another amazing thing is that you can make the insides of everything now and designs that were once physically impossible to mold with traditional steel dies because a 3D printer creates something from the inside out. That means you can have a lattice of parts inside your Transformers, gears and pistons, a floating crystal spark, and then it builds the parts around that from the ground up. You'll be able to make ball joints that don't pop in to place but are permanently secured because they were built inside the leg. No more pegholes or screws because the internal attachment points were printed first and then the rest of the figure around that.
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