Looks like we now have N scale full-color 3D printed figure from Noch

[robert3985]

I disagree Bob (although that will not change the price). 
CAD design is only done once, then millions of figures can be printed from that design. The cost of designing can easily be amortized over the production run.

Long printing time?  Sure, but they can likelyt spit out few hundred at each run of the printer.  No human needed to suprrvise the printing process.  The only possible human interaction would be to remove supports (if those are even used in the color printign process) and to package them for sale.

But yes, the technology seems to be fairly new (expensive equipment and raw materials).  But I bet you dollars to donuts that even few years from now the price will not go down. Yeah I know - inflation. 

I ordered couple sets last night - should have  them by the weekend or early next week.

Peter, you make some good points. When I looked into the technology a year or so ago, I remember I was surprised to see how long it took to print...even fairly small objects, and, if I remember correctly, there's also extra steps in the process other than what "normal" 3D resin printing has to go through.  But, it's been a while, and I'm sure the technology has matured some in a year or two, so I could be wrong.

One thing for sure is their quality...which is top-of-the-line and definitely leading-edge.  Those factors should be worth a bit extra, even if production costs are lower.  A higher profit margin is always a good thing for a company so, I don't begrudge them for not lowering their price.

No matter.

One good thing about them is the quality should be consistently better than hand-painted figures since the variable human factor has been removed.

I'll look forward to your review of the figures when you get them!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Mark5]

I ordered couple sets last night - should have  them by the weekend or early next week.

Are they still "in the mail"? 

[peteski]

Are they still "in the mail"? 

No, I had them for a while but need to find some free time to  take some closeup photos and a writeup.  It'll happen.  One thing for sure - they could use  a coat of Dullcote, but I'm also not sure if that will make the colors run. I'll have to sacrifice one for experiments.

[Chris333]

I'm pretty sure they are not painted. Each dot of color you see is printed in that color. But then again I have no idea if those colors will run 

[peteski]

I'm pretty sure they are not painted. Each dot of color you see is printed in that color. But then again I have no idea if those colors will run 

Actually they appear to have the inner core printed in white and the outer layer seems clear (like they were dipped in thick clear coat.  It is that clear coat which seems tinted with colors. The colors are sort of translucent. That is probably why they appear so shiny.

[Chris333]

So they were painted/printed with that same jet printing MTL is using?

[peteski]

So they were painted/printed with that same jet printing MTL is using?

I don't know, but it doesn't quite look like it, although I think it  is some sort of jet technology.  I'm really not very familiar with the full color 3-D printing technology.  The links I posted here earlier describe some of the technologies.

[bbussey]

So they were painted/printed with that same jet printing MTL is using?

No, it's different.  Shapeways has this process also.  If you create a vector file with all the surfaces changed to specific colors and output to VRML format (WRL extension), Shapeways can render in color if you select the Standard High Def Full Color option.  It creates the parts similarly, with a white resin/plastic as the base and the outer surfaces in the colors as specified.  I tested the format with both the RBB&B Caterpillar D7 crawlers and with some of the ESM well car payloads.  As Pete indicated, the colors are bright and translucent while the finish is shiny.  Similar to when Fuji slide film introduced back in the 1980s had the overly-vibrant high-contrast colors juxtaposed with the subdued yet intensity-accurate Kodachrome. And no simulated metallic finishes are possible.  Definitely not suitable for the payloads but it probably is passable for people in contemporary clothing.  I think the colors would be too vibrant to represent people and clothing of the mid-20th century, but maybe the Noch process has deeper hues than the Shapeways process.

I don't know if you can change the colors of object surfaces in Sketch-Up, but you can in SolidWorks. Interestingly in SolidWorks, it doesn't work if you change the base color of the object itself.  It only works if you change the color of each outer face.  That can get tedious when "coloring" the tracks of the D7 for example.  SW allows you to select all outer faces of an object and change the colors en masse.  But you have to re-think the design of the model and try to render the features of a 3D model as separate objects by color.  For example, the D7 body, tracks, seat cushion and headlight lenses all would be separate adjacent objects.  Small details such as lever handles could have their colors changed easily.

Here's an example through Shapeways.  It's also expensive, but probably in line if you factor in your time to prep and paint one that was bare plastic.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/YP5V77RNC

[learmoia]

Time to 'expand' the Sexy Scene line of figures.... 

[Chris333]

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Polyjet resin printing

[C855B]

...the colors are bright and translucent while the finish is shiny. ...

Hmm. That should work quite well for printing car models to populate open auto racks. Calling @Rasputen !

[Chris333]

In the video it says you can choose the finish.

[dem34]

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Polyjet resin printing

New era of cottage industry with this being on the market. Even given this one being $85k, give it 5yrs. I have a feeling its going to have a similar impact as Laser Cutters did a decade ago.
Still don't think the color accuracy is good enough for in your face details, Locomotives, or Rolling stock. But think of the time savings to add some flair to a layout. A full set of era appropriate cars made to order without the manufacturer needing to stock them all. Full sets of unique scale figures that aren't just dual color blobs. Freight car loads. Hell maybe even plants and trees that are too time consuming to make a forest of.
Just the idea of having any details you want essentially RTR.

[learmoia]

Just wait til Micro-Trains gets their hands on this technology...   

[JoeD]

 

  [/url]  I'm looking at these systems...  50K but if you can make stuff no one else is, it could be a good investment. 

Gozer.