Monday 13 January 2014

Another step in 3D printing of miniatures

A month or two ago I wrote about the 3D revolution coming to wargames miniatures. It's moving on faster than I thought. See this Hero Forge Kickstarter with customisable 3D miniatures.

From the Hero Forge page on Kickstarter
From a marketing point of view it hits a good spot: getting exactly the miniature you want means you are willing to pay more per piece. It even gives an option for the quality of the miniatures. Not sure that it's going to be a huge success right now, because the sculpting is good but not great and the prices is still high, but it certainly shows the possibilities.

From the Hero Forge page on Kickstarter

But this also made me realise that it provides and instant marketing tool for the entertainment industry. How long before online video games make the link: 3D printing your avatar? EDIT: this is already happening in World of Warcraft.


And another step is of course to make it possible for people to print those customisable miniatures at home.

4 comments:

  1. I wonder if anyone is working on scanning miniatures from that Nottingham company so they can by 3D printed.
    If I was GW I would consider offering customized miniatures where you pick a set of options (from the rulebooks for example) and they make them like that for you. My money, however, is that right now their legal department is preparing cease and desist letter templates in Word for when they find 3D printed miniatures that hold a vague resemblance to their stuff. They are rarely at the forefront of pretty much anything.

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    1. Hi Erwin, I think they are doing this already, probably somewhere in eastern Europe or China.

      I get less and less interested in GWs response. I don't need them to play the games I like to play. My feeling is that they either adapt or fade away in the next decade. People should worry less about what GW thinks and does and take matters into their own hands

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    2. I don't worry, I just wonder :-)

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