3D Printing 1/6 heads

[bruce_brucee02]

Is anyone here familiar with 3D printing for 1/6 heads?

 

[robbiethepainter]

What info are you looking for?

 

[bruce_brucee02]

What info are you looking for?

I was wondering how well the sculpts would compare to a mass produced head sculpt, since I'm of the impression that you can 3d print in resin. It seems like a cool way to do your own custom figures since learning digital sculpting would probably be easier for me than learning how to sculpt good looking heads with sculpey.

 

[Pro Design]

Depends on the type of printing. I can only speak from the filament printers which I have and they would not be good for head sculpts. The nature of the layering it prints creates deviation / ridges in the surface which would not bode well for smoothness and detail.

 

[robbiethepainter]

Depends completely on the printing service. Also depends on the sculptor. There are some amazing artist that work in both on here and I can tell that both are equally skilled in there art and both require great skill to achieve quality work. That's why there aren't a ton of people doing them. Exceptional sculptors are hard to find and have been working on their skills a for some time.

You can't print in resin. They're often printed in acrylic and cast in resin.

 

[shocktrooper_au]

We had a modded 3d printer, switched out motherboard which doubled the resolution, we tested printing a 3d skull with and without the mods, the higher res version would need little work to make viable, some printers spray theirs with an acetone spray as a final process which smooths out the print and if done right should be minimal lose
you can buy a decent 3d printer for a $1000 and 400 for the upgrade

 

[Riceroket]

Would love to see some pics of this.

 

[ageofstrife]

I've printed a 1/4 scale spine and skull on a Stratasys Fortus 250mc printer (around £20k/$30k) where I work, it uses ABS filament with a resolution of .25mm, and while the layer lines were very clear they didn't take much buffing out. More of a problem was that it was my first 3d print and I hadn't considered that smoothing on screen doesn't always mean that the actual print will be smooth, so it was a little more work to buy out the facets.

I've previously posted pics in
https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7392016 and https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7421111 . you can clearly see the layering in the pics in the first post, in the second I'd buffed out with a soft sanding pad on dremel prior to painting and I'm happy with the result.

I'll be printing another model soon, still working on it but it should require less cleaning up as I've already smoothed it by increasing the poly count and running it through some smoothing processing so the facets will be much smaller. No posts about here, but current progress on my own blog here: Predator bio mask 1/4 scale modelling

At a smaller scale, and with finer details, the .25mm resolution probably wouldn't be good enough, although it might only require a coating of something like liquid green stuff to smooth out the layering.

 

[Darklord Dave]

I know some of our talented sculptors use professional services to print 1:6 heads. I'm very curious too in knowing how you finish a head that's been printed though, since the pores and ridges that make a realistic sculpt might get buffed out trying to smooth out the print.

 

[darthviper107]

It depends on the printer. I have the Form1+ which prints in UV curing resin, it's much higher quality than the filament type printers, but has its own problems, though I don't think it's as big of a difficulty. Main issue is print volume which the other printers can do really big objects.

If you want really really high quality, there's some services that use some really good printers that print in wax and go down to like 10 micron layers, but it's a service so it's a bit more expensive than printing your own and you have to wait for it.

 

[Riceroket]

Very cool stuff

 

[bruce_brucee02]

Thanks for all the insights guys!

It depends on the printer. I have the Form1+ which prints in UV curing resin, it's much higher quality than the filament type printers, but has its own problems, though I don't think it's as big of a difficulty. Main issue is print volume which the other printers can do really big objects.

If you want really really high quality, there's some services that use some really good printers that print in wax and go down to like 10 micron layers, but it's a service so it's a bit more expensive than printing your own and you have to wait for it.

Is it something similar to this? Not sure if this is 3D printed, but it looks like they made the model from a 3D model software and sanded it after "printing"?



I also saw some cool step-by-step processes of how people 3D printed busts of themselves. The finish of the final print of both look pretty smooth IMO.

Here are some references:


A 3D Scanned and Printed Bust of Myself - Sink Hacks
View attachment 170460

Tutorial Thursday: Creating a head bust with Autodesks 123D Catch and Zbrush | i.materialise 3D Printing Service Blog
View attachment 170461

 

[bruce_brucee02]

Hey guys! Quick question. If i 3D print a head in the resin format, would it still be possible to add some Sculpey (I.e. To add smaller details, like a beard) and bake the head in an oven?

 

[shocktrooper_au]

Epoxy yes sculpy no

 

[bruce_brucee02]

Epoxy yes sculpy no

Thanks man!

 

[toycrypt]

What's the best 3D printer on the market for under $3K? I'm interested in picking up one.

 

[vik2001]

does anyone know whats the best printer to use to get a 3d 1/6scale head printed. regardless of cost just after the best quality.
is there a service online that offers this? whats the best material also to use?

ive read up on form1+ and Pegasus, but wanted to know if theres any high end printers, and what do people use?

 

[Darklord Dave]

does anyone know whats the best printer to use to get a 3d 1/6scale head printed. regardless of cost just after the best quality.
is there a service online that offers this? whats the best material also to use?

ive read up on form1+ and Pegasus, but wanted to know if theres any high end printers, and what do people use?

To make even passable 3D prints for portraits I recommend using a service. Consumer printers just aren't there yet.

 

[vik2001]

Can anyone recommend a service for 1/6 head printing?

To make even passable 3D prints for portraits I recommend using a service. Consumer printers just aren't there yet.

 

[potato]

main problem would be the toughness on the neck section, whether it can withstand the force when you plug the neck onto the peg.