Scrap metal sculpture

Vijay (aka. VirtualV) has recently helped us to create a digital model of a scrap metal sculpture. We just gave him a set of photos. The project went very well and many thanks to Vijay for a job well done.

Since we had only asked for a generic model without material and size considerations, we still had to do that piece of the game.

The first set of files for glass, sandstone and plastic is now pretty much done and we are about ready to place the orders.

The rusty one will be in sandstone and the other materials in two colors, the girl in white, the boy in black. We are very curious to see how the glass variation works out and we may even want to try steel in two finishes.

May the wall thickness lottery begin and let the Shapeways-gods have mercy ...

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Cool! I'll be excited to see how it looks when the printers replicate already well-known industrial objects (like those screws).

Perhaps I am missing something but what is the point of a digitised copy of a sculpture made from scrap ? surely it would be more work and cost than making one from ........... well scrap!

Well say you need 50 identical pieces for a game you're prototyping. You'd like to test it out with your friends and other demographics... you'd like the pieces to look identical and have the users feel like they're not playing with trash.

this is just one example.

...and for some of us, it can just be really fun to see what the platform can do. The pursuit of experimenatation!

My post was not a criticism , I am trying to get an idea of what the thoughts are of users of this manufacturing system.
I can understand the need to "test" the limitations of any system and have done a fair amount of " experimenatation" myself , with Shapeways and other RP suppliers , but if I required several identical models then I would go the silicone rubber mould route as the cost of RP and the quality of reproduction would be to expensive for the first and not good enough for the second .
Just my view of course but I get the impression that there are not many "hands on" people using the forum facility , plenty who know how to use the software maybe but with limited experience in the working of metals and other materials.

(Kind of) as expected:
Wall thickness lottery has started ...

Order rejected due to
LEFT ARM NOT ATTACHED VERY WELL
which is crazy because the cross-section between left arm and body is larger than with the right arm.

Now taking bets: What will happen when we "fix" the current issue and re-submit.

I vote for thin walls on the screw's threads & tops xD

Seconded on that. Those areas seem the most likely to 'fail' the check.

Is that for color print, by the way?
What's the diameter of those screws?
Long 3mm tubes *do* in fact break off easily during production (and even after infusion) if they're not attached solidly to the mesh on both sides.
The threads will likely have some minor damage, as they seem a bit thin, the heads of the screws should not be a major issue, aside from the fact they add additional complexity in the outer point of the screws increasing chances of the screws breaking off, basically.
Imagine it's like they're taking cookies out of a large block of heavy sand.

This has been ordered in several materials and sizes. From the screen alone, you can never know how it looks and feels.

The one above was for glass, the sandstone order was also rejected for another (understandable) reason. We'll resubmit shortly.

We actually *want* an amount of imperfection on the surface and details. They are supposed to look a little rough, aged, corroded, ... we are a bit worried that the machine operators won't realize that.

You are going to need to bury the limbs of this figure into the body section. If you want it to look like found object scrap metal try creating "weld beads" around each section joint(just like actual welded scrap metal art. Parts fail (a lot) when sections and elements just lightly kiss. This design is a poor candidate for glass printing due to the amount of shrinkage in the manufacturing process. Even if the print turned out it would be extremely fragile in glass. They would never withstand board gaming.

Yes, Sir, done that.

BTW, glass is pretty much out of consideration. From what we've seen, it just looks and feels way too 'cheap' for the effort.