Out of the Box is having a sale!

[orionfield]

We are having a sale! Every model is 30% or more off, now that we have ditched our overpriced, 3D printing overlords for greener pastures! We are trying to raise money to buy our own 3D Printer to lower the costs even more! But, for those brave customers who buy a model between now and when we get our printer, they will receive a code for 50% off a flat rate model kit commission per model purchased.

[peteski]

I'm curious whether you are still planning on 3D-printing pre-colored items like you mentioned in this thread, or will the items be printed in white or some similar neutral color?

[orionfield]

I'm curious whether you are still planning on 3D-printing pre-colored items like you mentioned in this thread, or will the items be printed in white or some similar neutral color?

We still have the capability, its ridiculously expensive, but the option is still available for people who really want to pay for it. It would be cheaper to have one of our master modelers just paint and decal it for you though.

[coosvalley]

Examples?

Pilot models?

Anything besides ...words?

I think an example of what someone might get will help sales. Right now it seems like vaporware to those of us who are naturally skeptical..

[orionfield]

Examples?

Pilot models?

Anything besides ...words?

I think an example of what someone might get will help sales. Right now it seems like vaporware to those of us who are naturally skeptical..

Here you go, mind you, some of these are all test prints, at lower resolution, and from our old vendor that we fired yesterday. All of these were projects commissioned by our customers.

In N Scale we currently offer:

CBQ NE-12 Caboose, as built, (Also available in 2 later BN versions)


EMD E2A and E2B, as built for UP/SP/CNW in 1937


M88A1 Tank Retriver


We are close to releasing in N scale, and will be available for Pre-order later today.
SP class 40-BP-15 Harriman PRO-Baggage


UP Lounge car "Hollywood" from the 1941 consist of the City of Los Angeles


OHFX Radioactive material gondola top


Nasa Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster Engine Nozzle Spine Cars NLAX 170-171


Here are some examples of some models that we custom painted.

[Cajonpassfan]

Okay, I'll bite, I'd love to have the Holywood lounge car (if the print resolution is okay; can't tell from photo) but I am very confused. Website lists car at $30, announcement notes 30% off ($21??) when I click on the car, it says $250 for design...
Otto K.

[peteski]

No, I do not want to use the pre-colored option (I was not a fan of it in the first place). I'm glad that you do offer "unpainted", and hopefully higher resolution printing service.

And as far as examples go, we asked you to provide some  better photos back in that pre-colored thread, because the photos you provided back then weren't quite  good enough to give a good idea about the looks of those printed items. We again asked for photos here and we again get photos of some low-res printed items, and the photos do not show enough of a closeup to be informative. You need to learn to take better photos (which should not be very difficulty as even a smart-phone should be able to take a decent close-up photo).

It would also be nice to know the technical info about the printing process (resolution and material used) and even the brand and model of the printer (so the numerous tech-savvy Railwire members can look it up). Yes, I realize that I'm being blunt, but I really need to see the print quality and know the specs before I consider you as someone I will deal with.  Including this type of info on your website would also be helpful (I went there and there was nothing there telling me about the details of your 3D printing service). Why is this type of such a big secret? Even Shapeways provides this type of spec on their website. You know, as I see it, educated customer is a good customer.

[coosvalley]

Here you go, mind you, some of these are all test prints, at lower resolution, and from our old vendor that we fired yesterday. All of these were projects commissioned by our customers.

In N Scale we currently offer:

OK, well that's definitely better!.....However, imagine you were going to shell out big $ for an advertisement, is this what you would show?..If you want folks to bite, you're going to have to actually finish something first, with what you're actually using for a printing process, not something that changed literally yesterday!

I know I am sounding negative, but I'm pushing you because this is something I think has great potential. I like the idea, and I see some potentially great models, but so far, I wouldn't bite. I know that's not the most encouraging thing to hear, but honest feedback is not always positive..

[wazzou]

Yeah, what they said.  ^^^   

[orionfield]

No, I do not want to use the pre-colored option (I was not a fan of it in the first place). I'm glad that you do offer "unpainted", and hopefully higher resolution printing service.

And as far as examples go, we asked you to provide some  better photos back in that pre-colored thread, because the photos you provided back then weren't quite  good enough to give a good idea about the looks of those printed items. We again asked for photos here and we again get photos of some low-res printed items, and the photos do not show enough of a closeup to be informative. You need to learn to take better photos (which should not be very difficulty as even a smart-phone should be able to take a decent close-up photo).

It would also be nice to know the technical info about the printing process (resolution and material used) and even the brand and model of the printer (so the numerous tech-savvy Railwire members can look it up). Yes, I realize that I'm being blunt, but I really need to see the print quality and know the specs before I consider you as someone I will deal with.  Including this type of info on your website would also be helpful (I went there and there was nothing there telling me about the details of your 3D printing service). Why is this type of such a big secret? Even Shapeways provides this type of spec on their website. You know, as I see it, educated customer is a good customer.

Yes, you did ask me to take pictures with primer, and I didn't have any time do it. I also don't have a good camera either, I was taking most of the photos with my iPhone at work.  Out of the Box is a side business for me, so sometimes its not my top priority. I don't like to make excuses, but I do a lot of traveling for my main job, as a User Experience Architect, so I'm not able to get to my workbench very often.

My old vendor, that I fired, called GoEngineer, was using a Stratasys J750, but they were charging me 2 or 3 times more than shapeways, and the quality was going down. I kept them a secret, because when I first went to them, they were cheaper than Shapeways and offered better quality, but then they screwed me over. So, as of last night I switched everything to Shapeways FXD, which I think most people are familiar with. But that is just a short term solution.

I am going to buy a FormLabs Form2 SLA printer, which prints in a similar material as FXD, at 25 Micron layers. This will drop the prices for every product further by at least 50%, but I right now I don't have the funds to buy the printer.

OK, well that's definitely better!.....However, imagine you were going to shell out big $ for an advertisement, is this what you would show?..If you want folks to bite, you're going to have to actually finish something first, with what you're actually using for a printing process, not something that changed literally yesterday!

I know I am sounding negative, but I'm pushing you because this is something I think has great potential. I like the idea, and I see some potentially great models, but so far, I wouldn't bite. I know that's not the most encouraging thing to hear, but honest feedback is not always positive..

I really appreciate the 'tough love.' And I don't take it personally. Criticism is the whole reason I bother to post here. Its what drives progress. In hopefully not too far future I would like to get professional photos taken of the products. If someone were to volunteer to help me out in that area, I would throw in some free models and commissions.

Okay, I'll bite, I'd love to have the Holywood lounge car (if the print resolution is okay; can't tell from photo) but I am very confused. Website lists car at $30, announcement notes 30% off ($21??) when I click on the car, it says $250 for design...
Otto K.

The Hollywood car isn't listed on the site yet. What you're seeing is the flat rate commission item, which starts at $30 for N and Z Scale Vehicles. I haven't priced the Hollywood car yet, but I will get on that later tonight when I get home from work.

I like to think of Out of the Box as a Services company first, and a product company second, thats why we have more Services on our site, than we do products at the moment.

[coosvalley]

We are close to releasing in N scale, and will be available for Pre-order later today.
SP class 40-BP-15 Harriman PRO-Baggage

This photo is great, but the model is invisible. Take one, even a "reject", and shoot it with some grey primer, personally I use rattle can cheap stuff from local mart store, it is thin enough for n scale, or even use an airbrush. The Iphone camera should be fine, it's the models white-ness that makes them invisible...

Personally, I would be very interested in U18B shells, but current 3D printing is almost there, but not for something like a whole shell, with handrails and windows. Mechanisms could be Atlas GP7/9s or RS1s, and those are plentiful enough..

Would etched handrails be something you'd offer?...And what about windows?...And you mention(on the site) they would be resin?..As in, cast resin from a master, or printed resin?

If you want, walk me through this for all to see, as I'm only wondering about what it would take to have this done...

[orionfield]

This photo is great, but the model is invisible. Take one, even a "reject", and shoot it with some grey primer, personally I use rattle can cheap stuff from local mart store, it is thin enough for n scale, or even use an airbrush. The Iphone camera should be fine, it's the models white-ness that makes them invisible...

Personally, I would be very interested in U18B shells, but current 3D printing is almost there, but not for something like a whole shell, with handrails and windows. Mechanisms could be Atlas GP7/9s or RS1s, and those are plentiful enough..

Would etched handrails be something you'd offer?...And what about windows?...And you mention(on the site) they would be resin?..As in, cast resin from a master, or printed resin?

If you want, walk me through this for all to see, as I'm only wondering about what it would take to have this done...

Absolutely!

So, for a Locomotive shell, the first thing you would want to do is make sure that you have references that we can work from to create the model. Measurements are required, Drawings are preferred, but we can scale and measure from photos as well if need be. For locomotives that will use an off the shelf mechanism, we also need to know what mechanism we should design it for, as well as the frame dimensions of the mechanism. Once you have your references ready, you would go to our web-store and place an order for "Custom Designed Model Train Service" and select the appropriate scale from the first dropdown, and "Locomotive Shell" from the 2nd dropdown. Once you add that to your cart, you can purchase additional services, like our "Custom Photo Etch Parts" service. That way we know that you want Photo-etch for your locomotive shell.  Once you check out. I will email you to personally thank you for your business and ask for specifics about the project you want us to work on. Thats when you would give us your reference material, and we go over your royalty percentage.

From there, we start working on it, and send you status reports, either when we reach a project milestone, such as a finished draft of a part, or if you ask us for an update. We keep working and iterating on the design until you are satisfied, however long it takes. Once you're satisfied with the 3D rendering. We print you a copy of your model, and produce any Photo-etch or decals that you also ordered. In parallel, we post your commission to the web-store for pre-order.  And send it to you for final approval. If you find any issues with it, we will go back and fix them and send you another print, otherwise, we open up the model for sales. You will receive a royalty on the sales of your model, to return your investment, as well get exclusive rights to ordering prints of your model for pure material price.

[coosvalley]

A couple more questions..

Once a resin version is "executed", would the same info (basically) transfer over to the injection molding option?.

And you have the option of injection molding?..For that price, it seems quite reasonable( I have heard some really high quotes for that )..

Anywho, I like where this is headed,and I do understand what you're trying to do better now, and I wish you luck!...Also, there's no such thing as too many pics

[orionfield]

A couple more questions..

Once a resin version is "executed", would the same info (basically) transfer over to the injection molding option?.

And you have the option of injection molding?..For that price, it seems quite reasonable( I have heard some really high quotes for that )..

Anywho, I like where this is headed,and I do understand what you're trying to do better now, and I wish you luck!...Also, there's no such thing as too many pics

For Injection Molding, which honestly nobody has asked us to do yet, we would provide the CAD file, the same one we would derive the 3D printing file from, and shop it around to Injection molding vendors, and then they come back with a quote, we would go with the best price. One vendor, over a year ago, told us that their prices for Injection molding start at that number, but we don't have any data as to how much a model train would actually cost to mold. For the life of me, can I remember which vendor that was either.

[Chris333]

We went through the photo ordeal on the other thread, never got good photos to see what you are getting.

I'm sure an iPhone can get better close-ups than that. This is a photo of a 3D printed item I took with my (how many years old?) Galaxy S5


You can see the build lines (shapeways FUD), but all parts were printed flat so I think it looks OK.

Sorry, but if you want me to pay more than $20 for a 3D item I want to see it at least as good as the above photo.

More 3D items with my phone:

Notice when it's bare you cannot see anything:

More:


3D shell after some sanding, with my PHONE