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So, I've always wanted to do some 3D design work and learn how to make models and print them via places like Shapeways.

I finally got around to getting Google Sketchup for Dummies.

2 hours later... and I'm off to a start. The end goal is Tau themed Blood Angel Jump Troops.

I'd totally dig a Tau Jump Pack to have some nice "counts as" Vespid. I loath that model.

Awesome....just please share the files with other tau users when you get a chance!

(I might use that aegs line as a starting point for my own).

thanks for sharing!

Ok, I did a little more work. Let me know what you guys think. I believe I have the measurements correct so that this thing will fit a space marine when printed out. I'm going to futz with it some more after getting some feedback and then upload to Shapeways for printing sometime this week.

Keep this thread updated. I run marines with tau allies and this would just be too cool to see

I made some more changes and then sent the file off to Shapeways to be printed. Cost is $8 for one backpack in the Frosted Ultra Detail material.

I'm considering doing a Space Marine Dread and having it count as a Broadside by giving it a smart missile system left arm and a rail gun right arm. I decided to mock up what this would look like and decided to go for the Multi-Melta/Large Fusion Blaster as a first attempt since this would be an easy counts-as.




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Obviously, lots of work left to do on this.

Interesting looking concepts. I really like how you pulled tau and space marine designes together in those jumppacks.
This got me thinking of doing 3d printed stuff myself - at least for the weapons of my projects. How hard is it to do something like that in sketchup?

It really didn't take me very long at all to do these in Sketchup. I think I have less than 20 hours involved at this point. I think it depends on your average "tech level".

I jazzed up the Dread arm a little.

It looks promising but to boxy. So either add another angled element to the outer edges of the gun barrel or add details runing along it to break with the box appearance.

btldoomhammer - I decided to give some more angles to the Fusion Blaster to make it look a little less blocky. I think it looks nicer now.

The second weapon is the start of a smart missile system/missile laucher arm.

I also decided to change the design to make everything modular. You can see the round circular holes that I added to hold 3x1 magnets. The idea is that you get one shoulderpad and a bunch of magnetized, swappable weapons.

Please let me know what you think. More stuff on my website at kriswallminis.blogspot.com.

Thanks for sharing!

I have been wanting to get into this for a long time - and this is inspiring me to finally do it!

Great stuff!

I decided to attempt to create a "Taugis" Defense Line. Let me know what you think. This is actually great fun making these things. I doubt anything will ever come of them as 3D printing is CRAZY expensive for larger items.

Looks good- some advice on the jump packs though- try your own design, the ones on the XV8s is worthy! Your work looks good- I hope it prints well.

 Kriswall wrote:
I decided to attempt to create a "Taugis" Defense Line. Let me know what you think. This is actually great fun making these things. I doubt anything will ever come of them as 3D printing is CRAZY expensive for larger items.

Very nice.

To save on cost, one method to is to make larger sections hollow - although I have no idea how challenging that would be.

Also, most folks don't need to print an entire line....you just need one end, and one middle (if designed this way) and you cast the rest of them.

 Kriswall wrote:
I decided to attempt to create a "Taugis" Defense Line. Let me know what you think. This is actually great fun making these things. I doubt anything will ever come of them as 3D printing is CRAZY expensive for larger items.

I have a 3d printer at work. It is not too crazy expensive if you already own the printer. This is a marine ADL I made. I did not have the exact dimensions so it is a bit stretched out. I was really printing it to see the quality and if the plastic took paint decent. One long section and one short section of ADL is about $1.25 worth of material.




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davethepak wrote:
To save on cost, one method to is to make larger sections hollow - although I have no idea how challenging that would be.

The slicing software the printer uses should already be doing this. The software analyzes the shape and hollows it out but also honeycombs the interior so the finished piece is stable. All of this happens automatically. You just send the finished model to the printer and it is hollowed and honeycombed before printing.

Here is an image of a Leman Russ tank being printed. The honey comb is the "solid" middle part of the tank.

Loborocket... thanks so much for the info. I've toyed around with getting one of the less expensive printers... like a Makerbot or something, but I don't think they would have the resolution I would need.

I'm looking forward to the day in the not too distant future when I can buy something perfectly sufficient at Walmart.

I am using a Makerbot. The resolution is good enough for big stuff like terrain, or vehicles. Probably not good enough for an individual figure.

No all printers do this, nor all software - most services just print what you tell them too - they make money off the materials you use, so have no incentive to remove interior spaces.

To be honest, while cool, a markerbot as loborocket points out, does not have the resolution for a good quality mini.

For that you want at least 100 mircon resolution, or lower.

Make the files, then put them out so people can print them as they wish...the most popular place is shapeways.com.

To get good quality, you want frosted detail, or ultra frosted detail - which are exceptionally more expensive than the lower resolution stuff (more expensive printer + more expensive materials).
.
I have had many prints done there before, I have just not designed my own stuff yet.

Makerbot (at least the one I have) will go down to 100 microns. Even at that level you will have some banding/layering on the model, but for the most part that is not able to be seen when placed on the table top. It can however be noticed while painting. The Makerbot is a cheaper alternative to shapeways, but only if you discount the price of the printer itself (around $1,500). Of course you also need to have the talent and software to develop models to print as well.

There are tons of other threads on 3d printing, and a lot of other resources out there about it of anyone who wants research on that topic.

Regarding these designs, I really appreciate the OP sharing, as I just have not invested the time yet into learning sketchup well enough.

I would ask the op that when they decide what they want to do, to please share with the rest of us....either your stl files directly, or indirectly, let us know which 3d service you are going to use (if you don't buy your own printer - but please, that is a different topic) so we can buy them from them!

So far, I love the aegis line, would like to maybe see a few more very minor changes to make it more...tau?

maybe change the shape of the slits a bit? or round some corners?

Very cool stuff, and thank you for sharing!

Really nice stuff there
This is to make your space marine allies fit in aesthetically with your main Tau force?

I really like the Jump Pack design though it could probably use a little more detail.
They remind me of the alternate universe Dornian Heresy Ultramarines. (In a good way )


I'd really love to see a fully Tau'd up Dreadnought too

For further design and concept inspiration make sure to have a look at Forgeworld's Tau battlesuit designs.
They really do the tau well.

Peace

Yeah, I drew some inspiration from the Dornian Heresy "Damocles" Pattern Power Armour.

I just got an email stating that the backpack is shipping from Shapeways. I plan on buying a suitable Space Marine to put it on tomorrow. I'll take pictures and post them whenever it shows up. I'm guessing within the week.

I did a little more design. I've started working on the weapon. I'm going with an ion cannon look. It's still very blocky as it's very much a work in progress, but tell me what you think.

Thanks!

Pretty tallented! I would just attempt to make it look less like the Imperial Guard wall. Maybe rounded instead of angular shooting ports. IMO

It showed up! The detail is pretty hard to see, but it looks as I imagined. I'll try to get a model converted and assembled/painted ASAP so you can see the details better.

Wow this is actually some amazing stuff going on here this is the first example i have seen of a gamer designing and then printing his own models

How much did it cost to get that made?
I've also had an Idea for an alternate ADL, and I've got the file somewhere....

It was 8 USD + shipping. Kind of prohibitively expensive depending on your point of view. I spent about 20 hours learning the software and designing the model. 8 bucks is nothing in comparison. Even 40 bucks for a squad isn't bad since they are unique.

I priced out the long piece of my Aegis above and it would be about 70 USD to have it printed in the highest quality. I think it's only truly viable for people who are going to crank out resin copies and sell them. I obviously am not going to as these have GW logos on them. This is all personal use for now. I might make some generic stuff and try to throw together a Kickstarter at some point to see if people are interested.

I don't have much time to type, but let me know what you think of my current work in progress. I love the concept of the Remora, but I've bought 6 of them and they were all a pain to assemble. I'm thinking it might be easier to just 3D sculpt my own version.