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This thing is not meant for modeling(unless some geniuses know how) but more for fun

gohkm wrote:
I bought into this. But it's largely for my son to play around with.

...

Can't go at all wrong...

It looks to be a cross between a laser-pointer and Etch-a-sketch.

I've been looking at 3d-printers for a few years, and I can't find a use for one of them either, yet.
But, for kids, let them loose with it for a few minutes and see what they come up with.

 BlapBlapBlap wrote:

gohkm wrote:
I bought into this. But it's largely for my son to play around with.

...

Can't go at all wrong...

Same as most things - supervision required. Depends on how fast he picks it up.

gohkm wrote:
I bought into this. But it's largely for my son to play around with.

They say 3D printers are huge with kids

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

It seems to me like a high tech puffy pen.

It should be interesting for crafty types (the current market for puffy pens) but I don't see too much specific use for miniatures. It might be handy for sketching out armatures - though the ABS isn't as readily adjustable as copper wire and solder...which is fairly easy to use already.

Good on them though. I think it is sort of an evolutionary dead-end for 3D printing technology, other than making components cheaper and more readily available for traditional printer configurations.

Like others have said previously in this thread, this thing looks like it would create really great armatures for traditional sculpting. We'll have to see what the rigidity of the plastic is like, but it could be a LOT faster and easier to work with than twisting wire.

I can see a use for this, though not really in modelling. If you want to make some small carbon fibre or glass fibre composite part that has lots of funky curves that you don't want to CAD and CNC but can do by hand more easily, you could build up a 3D model with this pen then either sand it back or cover it with body filler, coat with a sealant, tada, quickly made mould to make the part.

That's mostly why I want a 3D printer in the first place. I want to make something for my car and to do it with traditional methods of building up moulds out of various materials is just vastly too time consuming.

Of course there are other ways of making moulds quickly as well, so I dunno, maybe in the end it wouldn't be that beneficial.

The lack of control on the extrusion thickness will (unavoidably) limit its 'serious' usefulness. But for more organic looking squiggly things like vines and alien architecture, this would be fabulous. E.g. would be a really easy way to texture a plain egg shape into a Tyranid spore pod.

Heh well impressive start for this I must admit. 2 Days in and it already broke through $1 million

Looks like CNN picked up on the Kickstarter

http://whatsnext.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/21/a-3-d-pen-that-lets-you-draw-objects-in-the-air/?hpt=hp_t2