Make My Model

[ljudice]

Everybody knows makemymodel.com, the people who make a variety of detail parts and vehicles using rapid prototyping technology...

Anyone know why they went from introducing like 700 products in 3-4 months to zero products for the past 8 months?

The website seems not to have changed in a long time. Are they still around?

Some of the vehicles are workable (sanding, etc) - just wondering...

[engineshop]

Probably it was not as successful as they wished. I got some of there vehicles but with Tomytec and others cranking out trucks for under $4.00 a piece, the makemymodel vehicles are just a little bit too expensive what you get. Of course the golf carts are still my favorites. There Semis are okay and as long as GHQ does not produce theirs, it is the only maker of modern semi trucks.

[Pomperaugrr]

I bought a few of their propane trucks when they first came out.  There is a fair amount of finish sanding required for a smooth paint finish.  The absence of cab glass is also a pain.  I still like the products though.

Eric

[DKS]

I think their great contribution is in the Z scale market. We desperately need more in Z, even though it is a pain to do the finishing on thier stuff. It's worth it for some items.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Their products are very poor. I bought several vehicles from them and only one survived the the painting/finishing process. The paint will not adhere to the model because of the wax carrier used in the production process. This can be steamed off, but its tricky. The surface is so poor that it took over a week of sanding and 20... yes 20 coarts of paint to get the surface workable... not good, but useable. Maybe they can draw up designs, have M4D make them then cast the models?

[Mark5]

I looked. I saw detailed closeups. I moved on.

The machine they use aint the one M4D uses.

[DKS]

I found that it was easy to prepare the surface for painting by thoroughly cleaning the models with Bestine rubber cement thinner. I get the stuff by the gallon; it's absolutely indespensible for modeling and a great many other things. It quickly dissolves wax and gum-based adhesives, such as price stickers, etc., without harming most plastics or paints.

Word of caution: Do not place MMM models on or very near regular styrene. The RP material is highly reactive, and remains so indefinitely, as far as I can tell. I had placed a bunch of MMM items in a clear plastic storage drawer; a month or so later, the models had nearly eaten their way out the bottom.

[ljudice]

Yikes, that's all I need, is to have models that are trying to ESCAPE!

My experience was in the middle. A couple of models after painting never dried - ever. One model
turned into a blob.

But a couple of others, after extensive sanding and very careful painting turned out ok. I discarded
the cabs and used Atlas LNT8000 cabs and chassis. This was the utility body and the crane truck.

Lou

[randgust]

A long time ago I learned on Ebay that your own worst enemy is yourself.  You assume, or want to see, things that aren't there.  The best explanation of that was a new kato C30-mechanism with a very dark, very poor picture, dark background.  Couldn't see much.  Went ahead and got it.

Got it, no trucks.  Huh????  Where are the TRUCKS????

Copied down the photo, ran it into Photoshop, lightened and contrasted it.  Huh.  No trucks on the photo.  I just ASSUMED they were there, black trucks against a dark background.  Not the sellers fault....mine. 

What's that ever have to do with Make my Model?  This is like the ONLY product web page I've ever seen where nothing is painted.  It's hard to see the surface of a white item.  You ASSUME that it's kinda like white-cast styrene or maybe resin, only its not.  You ASSUME its no worse to paint than styrene or resin....uh, maybe not.

I still think that this is a great idea and concept.  I've almost ordered stuff, and I've handled some of the propane trucks (unpainted).  I couldn't figure how to sand stuff to a metal-sheen with that surface, thought I could probably surface with Squadron, but after what I'm reading I bet that wouldn't work either.

I even researched getting one of those lower-end RPP printers myself.  Not yet anyway.  The 'models' are still shown pretty much for conceptual use, not production, and they do that well.   I think it will mature and get better very quickly, don't dump on these guys just because they tried it first, but also don't deceive yourself based on what really is there.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I know M4D has had issues justifying the cost of a kit compaired to the price people are willing to pay. Their stuff is near perfect though. I really like their GP28-2 kits and the one I built off a GP40-2 looks every bit as good as the Atlas or LL GP38-2.

They said they are starting to experiment with resin casting as well, and I think this is where the technology is headed. The master is produced by RP and the models for sale are castings of that unit. This would have helped MMM smooth the serface and make the parts paintable. For M4D this would dramatically reduce unit cost.

[randgust]

Yeah, that makes sense.  All the heavy work on a resin project is developing the master.  Once you get good molds built, it's all downhill.  The materials cost is low and the material has excellent surface finish.  I've never had any issues, or had any complaints, about resin as a material.

The problem with resin (and believe me, I know) is it's still full of variables.  Temperature and humidity push results all over.  I've learned not to even bother when it is over 62% humidity and above 70 degrees.   It's certainly not as repeatable and controllable process as injection plastic molding, by any means, but the cost of failure is controllable, as well as the ability to (sigh) go back, fix the master, redo the molds, and just do it all over again. ;D

One amazing thing about resin is that 32 oz. of fluid can make one hefty garbage bag full of scrap flash.

[Catt]

Guys I've only had two problems with MMM.One is the fact I've never figured out how to get them apart (I even suggested he do them in some form of kit,he didn't seem to be able to grasp the concept) to make painting easier and two is the lack of window glazing.

I've painted mine with plain ol garden varieity craft paints from Wal-Mart and the like with no problems whatever.

[ljudice]

Oddly, when you cut a piece of one of these models apart - for example, taking the cab
off the crane truck (by snipping the frame connecting the cab to the rear) it practically
explodes into two pieces. I assume therein lies the problem with this particular type of RP,
it is some sort of airy cellular structure which gives it some its good and bad properties.

[engineshop]

...

What's that ever have to do with Make my Model?  This is like the ONLY product web page I've ever seen where nothing is painted.  It's hard to see the surface of a white item.  You ASSUME that it's kinda like white-cast styrene or maybe resin, only its not.  You ASSUME its no worse to paint than styrene or resin....uh, maybe not.
...

Here you go
http://www.makemymodel.com/catalog/painting_finishing.php

[DKS]

The problem with using RP to make masters for molding is that you're limited to simpler shapes. With RP it's possible to make parts that simply cannot be cast. One-piece finished items can have massive undercuts, voids or (relatively) fine sturctures that no casting process, resin or injection, could ever reproduce, except perhaps in kit form with multiple parts to assemble.

I still think there is value in what MMM can produce, even as crude as it is. The surface texture is fine for things that are made of wood or concrete, for example. I have some of their culvert parts and they are OK as is with no surface prep other than to wash off the wax. It's just not the right process for smooth, rounded forms like automobiles (unfortunately). Z scale desperately needs vehicles.