I'm trying to create some small scale gaming miniatures, but I'm worried about scaling legs and such. I'm already aware that the arms will have to be positioned to merge with the body, the ones shown here are representative only. CS has a minimum wall thickness of 3mm, the Captain's legs only barely approach that thickness (at their thinnest). Will I have to arrange for some sort of pedestal under the figure to support it? The base of the figure is a 15x15x3mm plinth. Help and suggestions are what I'd like here, please.
Have you done color prints before? Do you know the material? I'm not sure whether it's suitable for gaming pieces. It is brittle even at more than 3mm and the pieces may not survive very long. 15mm is pretty tiny for that material. Also, at Shapeways, they infuse the pieces with a strange yellowish wax. The surface remains pretty rough and catches scratches very easily, e.g. from your finger nails. These white scratches are not easy to remove. Seems you might be better off with WSF, dyed in yellow and the eyes and mouth painted.
I was beginning to suspect WSF would be a better idea, but I was attracted to CS for its affordability. I'm getting some other figures printed in CS to see how they'll turn out, but otherwise, yeah, this is my first colour print.
Your model is a prime candidate for hollowing. Follow the steps at https://sites.google.com/site/3dprintfaq/workflows/hollowing -a-model and the volume for WSF will go down by +-60% and price will be lower than color. Make a tiny escape hole such that the inner material remains trapped in the model and makes it sturdy and a little heavier.
Thanks, I'm aware of the advantages of hollowing (from my other models) - I was more interested in experiences in how to use and consider CS as a material.
pssst... when making holes for hollowing out model interiors, You actually want to make 2 holes (they can be close to each other, thats ok) so they can blast into one hole, and the excess material can blast out thru the other!