Panzer 35t

[Leon]

Read the whole sorry saga here...
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,18333.0.html

I've just had a read of that, sounds like a fun process!  We get simiilar glitches on our laser machine at times, when the laser head just decides to shift itself by a mm or two and it throws out the rest of the job.  Sometimes it's a corrupted file, sometimes one of the belts has snagged slightly and pulled the laser head wonky, sometimes it's just a gremlin somewhere...!  I imagine the added 3rd dimension on your printer throws up all kinds of interesting bugs!

The times on these prints is the one thing that makes me wonder whether it'll ever become a viable production method.  The material costs are excellent and much lower than metal, but nearly 2 hours per vehicle is miles away from commercial production times.  On our most efficient moulds we can knock out about 4 vehicles per spin and around 15 spins per hour, so you're looking at 60 vehicles per hour on a good day.  The SLA printers look to have the detail level required but the times on those are even longer.  We're keeping an eye on it for producing masters though, that's a definite possibility.

[Steve J]

A lot depends upon the type of printer and the material used. For masters you can get astonishing levels of detail using printers used by the jewelry trade; the downside is that the materials are not stable nor durable. For durability you then go to the printers that Wulf uses which are, shall we say, problematic in terms of reliability, consistency etc. In all of the this, the more expensive machines tend to be better, but not always, with them become obselete relatively quickly as new machines come onto the market, companies go bust or no simply longer support them.

Another thing to remember is the set up time which can be quick if you have good cad data, or a pain in the butt (and expensive in terms of man hours) if not. Also the clean up time, sundry equipment and materials are a big overhead to bear in mind.

I think the best route going forward at present would be to print some high quality tooling masters, from which to make production tools. Things may change but in the 20+ years I've been using rapid prototype parts, I've seen nothing yet that would beat metal tanks in terms of durability overtime.

[Wulf]

The times on these prints is the one thing that makes me wonder whether it'll ever become a viable production method.

One of the major issues is simply rigidity. If the print head moves around too much too fast it makes the whole printer - and the table, if it's not solid enough - vibrate, and that causes issues. If everything holds together, you get 'ripples' or 'echoes' in the surface of the print (I get those, you can see them in the sides of the tracked tractor with my 203mm guns), but sometimes it screws up the print entirely with the print head misaligning. Slower speeds cause less issues, but take more time.

[Wulf]

I think the best route going forward at present would be to print some high quality tooling masters, from which to make production tools. Things may change but in the 20+ years I've been using rapid prototype parts, I've seen nothing yet that would beat metal tanks in terms of durability overtime.

One thing I've not seen much on is the fact that PLA is bio-degradable. You won't be passing these on as family heirlooms... I have no idea how long the models will last under normal use, but it's a potential factor.