Dan_O wrote:Mike,
You are getting there. When we (D3 Creation) started out my intention was to do exactly as you are doing, only we mold for others so I was going to scan their sculpt then clean it up digitally then print the molds like you have.
Well at the time there was no printer that was free of banding (and even today while the banding is so much better with liquid laser) that still is an issue today.
So I debated doing a hybrid of ... scan, then print the scan ... clean the print, then traditional mold the cleaned print, but the reality was I was not saving any time or money doing it that way, actually the investment was 5 times the cost of traditional molding / casting because of the scanner pricing and software.
In the doll world if you want to be considered high quality you most pour the entire body and limbs on one solid pour ... which can still be easily done with 3D printed molds, it just takes a little more effort ... but again it is very do-able, big industry does it all the time and not with a giant printer. Harris printed out an entire half scale helicopter from a printer with only a 10" x 10" x 12" print bed.
The real issues you need to over come in your method are:
1)The banding left behind on the surface (this is difficult because removing the banding also removes detail ... which is the reason we stopped pursuing 3D printing. We work for others and can not be removing detail, that is part of the realism)
2)The seams that are going to be on the doll from where your molds join together ... seaming silicone is a tough skill to learn.
I look forward to hearing about how you progress and wish you the best. Your concept is very feasible, you just have to refine its finish quality to be successful in the collectible world but it is already very close to high enough quality for the special effects world (can hide imperfections from the camera or remove then in editing).
Dan
"Well at the time there was no printer that was free of banding"
There's several work arounds for this. Easiest is just flat out ignore it. At 200 microns, it just feels like texture, add baby powder and it feels completely smooth. If that's still to much of a problem... I can work with as fine as 50 microns.
"In the doll world if you want to be considered high quality you most pour the entire body and limbs on one solid pour ... which can still be easily done with 3D printed molds" When you say one solid pour, are you still talking about a two part mold? You'd never be able to do this with a 3D printer, due to overhangs, and size of printers. Maybe if you use a 'liquid lazer' printer that you can "lease" for $40k a year...
The two issues with creating the molds: Overhangs (which is fixed by dividing into smaller sections.. which causes problem two) and putting all the parts back together.
Even if I can't get up to the $10-20k per doll quality level, if I can get something that's really good, and can be customized rapidly, I'll be quite happy. ^_^ From what I read, there is a great need for custom dolls... I want to fill that need.