While I was struggling with sculpting my Eldar Aegis Defense Line, I had the idea that if I could make a 3D model of it, I could just print out as many copies as I needed. The best part was that it would be symmetrical and not suffer from my poor clay and greenstuff sculpting skills. To that end, I took a course at the community college on Computer Aided Design or CAD and learned how to use Autodesk Inventor with a fair degree of skill. As a bonus, I got access to a Dimension 3D Printer.
My final project.
I have bitten the bullet so to speak and ordered a few test prints of my "Space Elf Defense Line" pylon from 3 different 3D Printers. I have also chosen a variety of materials that I think will work best. I used Shapeways, Ponoko, and Sculpteo. All three offer a variety of materials, and easily accepted my uploaded .stl file that I exported from Autodesk Inventor. They all offer a variety of 3d design tools or services to help young designers get their concepts into a 3d file and printed.
Edit: As it turns out I also ordered a print from i.materialise. So that makes 4 different 3d Printers.
Expect excited posting when they come in (near the end of the month). Based on the price of printing each individual item, trying to sell a set of twelve pylons may not be feasible. At close to $20 per pylon, a full 3d printed set would be over $200, but at least you'd get free shipping! However, if I like the quality, I will put them up for sale.
So what will I do with my newly 3D printed goodness? Well, assuming I have one pylon that is in excellent condition, I may re-attempt casting it with more care this time. If there are more than a few orders, I will make additional molds to speed my casting process. If interest continues in "Space Elf" fortifications, I would continue to design various terrain items to be printed then cast and sold.
