There is nothing more amazing than being able to produce your own art work and printing it out. I can say that is like something of a fantasy many of us have had since were kids- the ability to make our own stuff.
However, while the idea is amazing and every year the technology advances by leaps and bounds, way too many variables go into getting a 3D Print made because you can't just go and use any 3D printer like you might assume you should be able to, like going into a Kinkos. It's not that simple yet. And the smaller the item with detail the more problems you may have.
The type of printer you use makes the biggest difference and there are tons out there. Then the type of material the item gets printed in makes a big deal. Then the resolution makes a big deal- all three components. Many popular 3-d printing places also skimp on the fine resolution, running the printer at a faster speed as opposed to a slower speed so they can print more objects in a day, also hurting the final print even when it's printed at their best setting.
Finding a printing service and building a relationship with the right people to help you is essential. They can save you thousands of dollars by leading you to the right machines and material. Then even once you know what printer you should use, printing is veeeeeery expensive. We routinely get quoted $800 for a single 4CM 1:6 head
, so you really have to hunt around.
Even printed at the finest detail, on a 1:6 head it is a problem for something as fine as skin texture to print out. You often have to over-emphasize it on the digital print to get it to show, and that means a few prints of the head to get it to work (which is again, very expensive). Then, you need to worry about the build lines from the 3d printer which need to be sanded off. Some heads have very little, some will have a lot. Obviously fine detail can be lost then by sanding tbe build lines off.
For things like the pock-marks on Sulus face from Star Trek, we will be adding them post as it will be easier. For Indy's stubble it may take a few prints, or will be tweaked post.
The Indys are at the printers with 20 other things- 3 Supernatural heads, 5 Trek Heads, Han, Phantasm, Doctor Who, Flash Gordon, etc Almost everything we have in inventory for printing is at the printers right now. Many heads are there for the first time, others are there for re-printing or re-re-printing since some were printing out stretched earlier which has been the primary delay on everything.
