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New Mimaki 3DUJ-553 printer and the end of the hobby.


Stringbug

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Having recently worked out I’ve got 116 years of of stash to build and probably enough paint, thinners and glue for 115 of them, I’m not too worried. Hell, I’ve still got six bottles of the original Kleer.

 

So it’s safe to say that I’ll be dead long before the hobby is in my house!

 

But just in case, I’ll buy a Kinetic F-104S when it’s available to buy here. That’ll give me 116.5 years worth of kits to go at.

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14 hours ago, Mr T said:

There is still room for human creativity and imagination even in today's digital world. 

Just came across this:

 

Isn't that great?

 

 

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On 6/17/2021 at 5:52 PM, Stringbug said:

after seeing this its been depressing me for a few days,  I just wondered if anyone here has any different take on this thing or something a I hadn't thought of.  Maybe I shouldn't care but scale modelling is one of the only things I find enjoyable and I'm not that old, so its a sad feeling that this is the way things are going to go from now on.

 

When I first read your post I felt something of a depressing feeling as well, but then I realised a couple of things that made me agree with most on this thread. First: The machine prints out from a design. For that you need to build a digital model first. I don't like designing things on a computer. Indeed it was my job for a while, but I don't like the activity at all. And I'm certainly not the only one. Lots of people would rather build an object using their hands (and feel an object coming together) than build it in a digital space. It is the physical act of modelling that's also appealing, not only the end product in itself.

 

Second: I, as others, have a stash. I think it needs to be completely converted into built models. There's loads of models out there that need to be built. Many of those kits that have been produced over the decades still are to be built. It would be a waste of plastic to just throw them away right?

 

Also, this development has been possibly saddening you - but actually: why? If a machine were to be able to print out qualitatively better results than one's modelling abilities allows; well, alright, but perhaps that's only relevant if modelling is seen as a competition. I guess I'm not alone in this, but I dislike that viewpoint personally. I build and finish whatever I feel comfortable with in whatever quality I expect of myself; not what is expected of me. 

 

Jay

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18 hours ago, Filler said:

Having recently worked out I’ve got 116 years of of stash to build and probably enough paint, thinners and glue for 115 of them, I’m not too worried. Hell, I’ve still got six bottles of the original Kleer.

 

So it’s safe to say that I’ll be dead long before the hobby is in my house!

But your heirs will have lovely shiny floors.

 

John

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17 minutes ago, John Thompson said:

But your heirs will have lovely shiny floors.

 

John

Either that or I was imagining them selling them at Sotheby’s for millions!!

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On 6/19/2021 at 10:02 PM, wombat said:

Terminology learned from that James May programme the other year: STABLE = Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy

I can treat that with the application of another equation: 

 

x + y / z = -STAMP

 

Where: x = being allowed to retire now; y = pulling my thumb out and getting on with kits; and z = not getting distracted by shiny new add-ons

 

Should result in a minus-STAMP.

 

Truth is, the 'model making' hobby is about just that 'making' a model. Not simply getting a pre-printed whole, it's about the journey and experience of the assembly and for many the additional joy of painting and personalising through details and more. Personally, I think innovations such as the above will actually make matters easier for those of us who want to continue 'making' models, by offering the chance to add more parts and with greater fidelity.

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I just joined 'them' and started learning CAD with Fusion360, designing the drivetrain for a Mk.IV tank.

While doing this doing this I noticed I was enjoying myself too!

Skills learned in decades of scale modeling are very useful.

New skills are added to those.

Rendering is a still unopened box for me, but making it look right seems just as much of a challenge as it is with kits.

Yup, learning curve is steep, but with a large user base and the power of Autodesk behind it everything is solvable.

One thing I do notice with the 3D printing crowd is wanting to use 'one tool for everything' (like the PE for everything crowd).

Using the right process is paramount for useful parts.

 

Edited by Bozothenutter
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It is, and it will be going better,and better. It will be cheaper as well. Part of the future, I guess.

25 years back, I paid more than 400AUD for latest and greatest 4.3GB hard disc 🤪

And don't you say, it will stop your "proper modelling", you got more kits, than you can hope to finish in your lifetime.

That, of course, if there is an objective, to build them :-))

It's a glimpse of the future.

Zig

 

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It will likely make a lot of professional model makers loose their jobs* (and maybe even get models back in movie making?), but I doubt it will kill hobby modelling.
 

 

*scratch that - it will force/enable professional model makers to use new tools

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40 minutes ago, Torbjorn said:

It will likely make a lot of professional model makers loose their jobs* (and maybe even get models back in movie making?)

 

To print such a model, someone must first design it in 3D. If someone does design a model, why print it for film when you can use digital models and do shots with them that cannot be done with traditional methods? And even if you can, you still have to process them later using a computer?

Professional custom model builders won't lose their jobs either, after all, they're already enjoying all the benefits of the aftermarket. Metal barrels, 3D decals for cockpit interiors, resin additives - they're already using this to cut down on the time it takes to complete commissions.

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5 hours ago, Bozothenutter said:

One thing I do notice with the 3D printing crowd is wanting to use 'one tool for everything' (like the PE for everything crowd).

Using the right process is paramount for useful parts.

 

 

To the man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail...

 

John

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2 hours ago, Torbjorn said:

 (and maybe even get models back in movie making?)…

I can assure you there’s plenty of model- making still being used on movies and TV…

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2 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

To print such a model, someone must first design it in 3D. If someone does design a model, why print it for film when you can use digital models and do shots with them that cannot be done with traditional methods? And even if you can, you still have to process them later using a computer?

 


Professional custom model builders won't lose their jobs either, after all, they're already enjoying all the benefits of the aftermarket. Metal barrels, 3D decals for cockpit interiors, resin additives - they're already using this to cut down on the time it takes to complete commissions.

 

1.  Because it might look better and less cartoonish (e.g. natural lighting).

 

2. Yes, that’s what I wrote

3 minutes ago, malpaso said:

I can assure you there’s plenty of model- making still being used on movies and TV…

Yes - but there’s also too much CGI 😛

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No need to panic about this IMHO, as this was expected to happen for a long time. However, I will give it 10+ years till the price of this kind of printers made it available to the average modeller.  

 

Regards,

 

Amaru in Lima

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One point as yet not addressed:  nothing in this technology makes it likelier to have a final product that is any more accurate in shape, colour or markings than those currently provided by the injection/resin/vacform producers.  So nothing that will endanger modellers here.

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It might kill off professional model makers who build prototypes or architectural models. That new head office that has had the plans drawn up in CAD can now get printed out and put in the board room without having to employ a model maker.

It will also be cheaper for small run prototypes than many alternatives, allowing new product ideas to be tested before scaling up using cheaper production technologies. If you plan to sell a million parts you don't care how much the prototype costs, but you care very much about the cost of making a batch of 10,000.

 

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I defy any 3-d printer to turn out completed turkeys like I am capable of. My stash of old kits will ensure that I never reach perfection although as my signature quote says, it will never happen anyway.

 

Dave

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On 6/17/2021 at 6:13 PM, Harold55 said:

I have to agree with Mike, we had typewriters, and now word processors and printers but Calligraphy is still practiced and is a hobby so I don't see making models going away anytime soon.  I am actually excited about this.  As more folks get to understand what these machines can do we should see new products.

 

On 6/17/2021 at 6:26 PM, LorenSharp said:

Same thing was said when injection moulding came out in the late 40's early 50's. (To emphasize)"ITS THE END of modelling, no more shaving, sanding wood and gluing bits of tissue paper to make a model, O the humanity". it didn't end it, it just enhanced what was being done. I've seen outstanding models being created in the "old" style by @AdrianMF, and @Marklo just to name a few. All the printer does is give you a new set of tools.

Of course, it also gives you, more headaches, ideas and whatif's too because now your creativity gets a super shot of what can I do with this? I'll get off my soapbox now :angrysoapbox.sml:and return you to your regularly scheduled programing

 

On 6/17/2021 at 9:49 PM, AdrianMF said:

When I were a lad, I’d just finished a degree that it turned out I wasn’t really interested in (my fault) and fell into computer programming quite by accident/elimination.

 

Six months on we had a day out to a computer show in early 1981, where there was an exhibit called “The Last One”. This was going to make all programmers redundant overnight. After spending a few sleepless nights, I realised that it wasn’t - it simplified getting data out of a database and formatting it for printing, a chore at the best of times, but it wasn’t going to find Russian submarines in the Atlantic or any of the other things we had to do. 
 

That said, I think plastic modelling is going to either evolve radically or disappear when all us boomers have emptied our last sprue. None of my team now even knows what assembly code is, let alone writes it.

 

I will be quite happy working through the stash until I can’t do it any more. My wife has offered to buy me a printer for birthday/Xmas more than once, but I have declined, on the grounds that I’d rather be messing about with stuff than doing CAD/CAM at a computer all day. It’s building and, frankly, this forum that gives me the joy, not a perfectly realised product (with maybe rather overly emphasised panel lines)

 

Regards,

Adrian

 Seems like the message is clear to me. It'll change stuff but the hobby will continue. I think I was at that exhibition too as that rings a bell.

I also remember IBM predicting a world market of 6-7 computers. Given the amount they spent on R&D they were so far off it's embarrassing - especially as at Palo Alto Research Center the whole distributing computing network concept was pretty much defined and most was designed.

 

However things change some will stick to old methods, others adopt the new while the wise will pick and choose. We still have thatched roofs after all.  

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