for those kitbashers and customizers

[kristofferrer]

Ok - I'm seeing lots of opportunities in this area -
specially to all you customizers out there.
Essentially, it's a 3d Printer (yes a 3d printer) -

If you have an CAD drawing of (i dunno say, custom figure head or even new accessories you wish your TF ought to have, heck even a new figure) ... making it (on a production level) has become easier! just plug it into a 3D printer and watch it get built.

You can buy a 3d printer for $1500US 50/KG for the medium it uses to construct the item.
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/09/06/cheap-portable-perso.html

Or... if you have extra time, you can build one (instructions are on the following video).

http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page

And.... if you're feeling very generous, you can use the one you previously bought and have it build a replica of itself! (one for me).

What if you're not good at CAD you say? - simple, just grab the drawing and print it yourself. You can download a car!

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:249

There's plenty of alternatives.

Bits from Bytes: http://bitsfrombytes.com/
And Purple Platypus (which is selling the RapMan): http://www.purpleplatypus.com/
And Fab@Home: http://fabathome.org/
And the Ultimaker: http://www.ultimaker.com/
Then the super cutting edge projects that MIT is doing:
http://web.mit.edu/imoyer/www/portfolio/fabmate/index.html
http://web.mit.edu/imoyer/www/portfolio/plaster/index.html

No I'm not a reseller for this product- though i do see lots of benefits to the TF community (even if niche) because now all the rip-off customizers are in for some competitiion.... and we may see the MP Ultra Magnus Armor come to fruition pretty soon! ... YES I AM DREAMING!

[SMHFConvoy]

3D printing technology is awesome. I've seen a few threads on other boards where a customiser has created a TF using 3D printed parts...

[gamblor916]

0.3mm resolution is pretty good. I'm sure in a couple of years the price will come down a lot further on these while quality goes up.

[UltraMarginal]

That is very interesting and pretty sweet. might even have a use for it in the near future...

[kaiden]

i'd like a 3d scanner to go with that!

[kup]

It's almost like a Star Trek replicator! It's awesome!

[Lint]

You can buy a 3d printer for $1500US 50/KG for the medium it uses to construct the item.
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/09/06/cheap-portable-perso.html



That is so awesome to see in action! I remember in Japan I saw that the more advanced printers can actually build moving/interlocking parts in situ.

[gamblor916]

www.pp3dp.com

They've increased their resolution to 0.2mm! If it gets to sub 0.1mm and $1000 this thing becomes very tempting.