Is 3D printing the death of Minis companies?

Setting aside any legality issues. What's stopping people from 3D printing any miniatures that they want? As the printers become better and more affordable it seems like you could just print your own. I could even see a lot of free print'n'play minis games being released by people that include whatever blueprints you'd need for models and terrain.

1. Quality.

If you want Defenders of the Last Stand style miniatures, then 3D printing is definitely viable. If you want GW quality, then not so much.

Plus we're already spammed to death with all these minis options thanks to ks. GW is far from the only game in town now. What does more mini possibilities add?

I guess getting the files and bootlegging gw minis may be an issue?

What about using 3D printers to produce molds?

I'm high on the idea of 3D printing game pieces. I have no intention of trying to bootleg a company's minis, nor do I believe I'll be able to 3D print anything GW quality in the near future.

HOWEVER: I love the idea of being able to 3D print janky mechs or crummy goblins for skirmish style games. There are a lot of (reportedly) great miniature rulesets out there that I don't have the minis to play, nor am I interested in the up-front buy-in to build armies. If 3D printing costs come down I will absolutely take advantage of that, because currently I'm test-driving these rulesets with random standees or tokens or even bottlecaps.

One of the things I really dig about Armor Grid Mech Attack is the papercraft mechs. The truth is they don't hold up that well and I've been playing it with random clearance Mechwarrior Dark Age mechs. But it's a pain to acquire a good variety second-hand (even with Miniature Market style singles) for a decent price. If I could print something even 1/3 the quality for around a buck apiece I would do that in a heartbeat.

Bottom line is I don't care if it's pretty, I just want to have fun for a fraction of the price. I am the target market for 3D printing in a few years.

Good lord, I hope so. Especially if they can also paint the minis. I'm not going to get a 3D printer just to make minis, but when I get a household one to fabricate everything from kids' toys to car parts, you better believe I'm going to make something better than cardboard standees.

I usually don't trade in absolutes, but there's no way that 3D printers will match the cost and detail of standard injection molding. We work with a lot of commercial grade 3D printers for work, so I try to keep up on this, and the tolerance and resolution just aren't anywhere near injection molding, and with the process that is used I think it will be super-difficult to get there. And consumer-grade 3D printers are much worse.

jay718 wrote: What about using 3D printers to produce molds?

The thing that mini maker do is that they use 3D printers to make a master, clean it up, and make molds out of it. I know Onslaught and Khurasan do that.