Unpainted Plastics?

[pawsplay]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but why aren't there unpainted plastic miniatures, apart from clones in skirmish game sets? It occurs to me to wonder this because the price of a D&D mini beholder is appaling, whereas the other likely option is a knockoff mini which probably weighs a couple of ounces. Even if plastic isn't ideal for casting sculptures, it seems that from a gaming standpoint, the same quality of detail seen in D&D minis or Heroscape pieces would be fine for painting a useful and attractive mini. I would totally buy an unpainted beholder (or "eye creature" or what-have-you).

 

[dbm]

Games Workshop have an extensive range of high quality plastic miniatures, so it can be done. I think it's just a case of the scales of economy needed to make it financially viable. People will buy several units of 'core' troop types, but not everyone needs multiple beholders.

Cheers,
Dan

 

[Henrix]

Alkemy, Wargames Factory, Warlord, Victrix, Mantic Games....

There are quite a few miniature makers out there who are starting to do plastics.
Just a few years ago it was prohibitively expensive to make moulds for plastic figures, but now it's a lot cheaper.

 

[MerricB]

Are you asking why DDM doesn't have unpainted plastics, or why there aren't plastics in general?

Answer 1: DDM doesn't have unpainted plastics because the core line is painted minis. MageKnight tried doing an unpainted line a while back, but it wasn't successful.

Answer 2: Plastic molds are more expensive than metal molds, so small production runs are extremely expensive (better in metals). Most companies can't handle plastics. That said, it seems to be getting better. (Catalyst Labs have just announced a range of premium BattleTech minis, for instance).

Cheers!

 

[Henrix]

Answer 2: Plastic molds are more expensive than metal molds, so small production runs are extremely expensive (better in metals). Most companies can't handle plastics. That said, it seems to be getting better. (Catalyst Labs have just announced a range of premium BattleTech minis, for instance).

It has gotten a lot better. We're starting to see a lot of historical minis in plastic, and no doubt we'll see more fantasy soon.

In order to make the most out of each mould it is best to make whole sprues with several figures in many pieces. This allows you to get a lot of variation from each sprue.

Right now I think only Alkemy (or rather, Kraken Editions) and Mantic Games are doing fantasy figures in plastic.

 

[jdrakeh]

Right now I think only Alkemy (or rather, Kraken Editions) and Mantic Games are doing fantasy figures in plastic.

I'm not a huge minis guy (anymore), but I was sorely tempted by the Alkemy figures.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Vaguely related question, I suppose: Are there any 3D "print-on-demand" shops up and running that can do plastic models at mini scales yet?

I suspect the technology isn't quite there yet, but I imagine cheap "POD" minis aren't too far in the distant future.

btw: here's a shop that looks like it can almost support this kind of thing. Kinda nifty....

 

[Krensky]

Vaguely related question, I suppose: Are there any 3D print-on-demand shops up and running that can do plastic models at mini scales yet?

I suspect the technology isn't quite there yet, but I imagine cheap POD minis aren't too far in the distant future.

btw: here's a shop that looks like it can almost support this kind of thing. Kinda nifty....

I have a friend who uses them for his current gaming project. It doesn't do really fine detail or castings, but it makes great gaming minis (as opposed to art minis).

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

I have a friend who uses them for his current gaming project. It doesn't do really fine detail or castings, but it makes great gaming minis (as opposed to art minis).

Cool. I kinda figured detail would be lacking.

Does your friend upload his own 3D files to have manufactured, or is it a shop that caters to gamers (at least in part) that provides a catalog of models to pick and choose from? (Or does he use the one I linked too?)

 

[darjr]

There was a post here where a 3d printer that has affilliate sections of their site for artists to sell designs and actual models.

The coolest thing I saw that seemed to work great was the guy who was doing dungeon dressing. Furniture, columns, stuff like that.

I'll see If I can't find the link.

Edit: duh. that was shapeways... here is that post http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan...008-your-very-own-3d-printer.html#post4879107