3D Printing: A threat to Sideshow etc. and a money saver for collectors?

Hi,

as 3D printing is getting more and more into private territory, I'm asking myself if this could be a breakthrough for home collectors and the wish of lifesize busts / robots on the one side and a real threat to companies like Sideshow etc.?

Why? You buy a small but well detailed robot / figure or whatever from Sideshow or another company. Than you use a 3D scanner and scan that thing with high resolution. Upscale it to lifesize, visit your next 3D printer shop and print all the parts. Will save you MUCH money compared to the lifesize robots. Ok, you surely have to learn painting!

That's my theoretical thinking: Would that work? What do you guys think?

Current Home Use 3D printers can't print using hard materials, many use them to print out prototypes then use traditional mold method to produce a tougher version. For small items i guess it's ok, but for printing Lifesize bust etc, the end product would be too fragile...

also when you upscale a smaller item, you end up with a very simple sized up item that lacks the detail. same as expanding a 720p photo to 1080p, it won't look good, in fact it probably look terrible. that is why you see people downscale, but never upscale their items.

3D printing is a long ways away from providing anything close to the detail and engineering required for high end collectibles. Great for certain applications (like prototypes and miniatures), but not really a threat to companies like Sideshow.

Don't get me wrong - my friend works in a medical 3D printing lab and they've made an incredible amount of progress in the field. It'll still be a long time before you can ask a home setup to print you out a complex figure, though. At least one bigger than a few inches tall.

Home printers also don't come in sizes large enough to accommodate a bust unless you do it in pieces. You'd need a very large (read: expensive) unit to do a solid piece, so buying the equivalent life size statue or bust may actually be more cost efficient.

even if we all woke up tomorrow and had a state of the art 3d printer in our homes we would still require a file with the hi poly 3d model to print out. companies like sideshow and pop culture shock don't just give those out to the public.

Can a 3d printer replicate Sideshow googly eyes though?
I think we're at least 5+yrs away from a statue being being 3d printed to Sideshow's quality......though probably 2 years to HCG

Can be done with a High definition 3D scanner.

NataN said:

even if we all woke up tomorrow and had a state of the art 3d printer in our homes we would still require a file with the hi poly 3d model to print out. companies like sideshow and pop culture shock don't just give those out to the public.

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I'm should be getting a 3D printer at the end of this year and I can't wait to try to make accessories for my 1/6 scale figures. I'm not concerned with trying to do a HS or figure because I don't think the home units are quite there yet with the quality I'd want--especially for a HS.