Think GHQ should jump on the 3D bandwagon?

[STS]

For me, I'd always prefer metal over any 3d-printed-resin. If something is in the GHQ-lineup, I'll always buy GHQ first.

That said, there are also tons of models out there, that GHQ probably won't make in my lifetime, and where I'm thankful, that something like shapeways exists, so my1/2400 fleets can be completed with some obscure German minesweeper, US Coast Guard cutters or tugs. Same goes for my 1/285 Patriot battery with all the radar and support vehicles.

The printers themselves have just skyrocketed as far as quality is concerned. The leap between a high quality print from 2016, compared to one from 2018 or this year is astounding, as is the durability. I race slot cars as well, and I've recently bought quite a few 3d-printed chassis, and the difference between those and regular plastic chassis has become negligble. A few years ago, they were simply to brittle.

Also, it all comes down to the guy who creates the master 3d-file, and that's where we get huge differences in quality, but that's the case with metal casting as well. There are almost no 3d-modelers out there that come close to the amount of detail GHQ models offer, but a lot of them will put some of GHQs competitors to shame.

[Brigade Commander]

As of the latest GHQ order that arrived on Friday. The comparison below will show my results for cost of manufacturers over my total Micro Armor collection.

GHQ
% of Vehicles: 80.78
% of Cost: 75.98

Shapeways
% of Vehicles: 8.62
% of Cost: 16.90

C-in-C
% of Vehicles: 10.60
% of Cost: 6.86

The Exchange Rate has helped me on the cost of C-in-C whereas it hurts our fellow modelers from Canada when they buy GHQ. For those checking the math there is a 0.26% cost for some miscellaneous items not listed above.

Micronauts are 100% GHQ.

**And I just realized while typing up this email that there was no catalog in with the order.

[nashorn88]

I agree current 3-D models have improved in leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. The ones that I bought from Shapeway a few years back didn’t look that great and didn’t hold paint well. But the latest models that I received this month were incredible in both detail and durability in my opinion.
Shapeway is over price for the common stuff but I found
I do understand that it’s just not printing them up it’s a lot of prep work to get them ready to sell since there’s all the spruce that has to be removed.
With metal spincasting you were able to cast a lot at one time and very little work to have a finished product.
so maybe this is why GHQ will never make 3-D models because of the labor cost involved.
My collection is still 99.9% metal. 90% GHQ but recently I Commission an order for 300 trucks. I couldn’t resist because the trucks only cost like $.60 ea.

[7.62]

With regard to the OP I think the answer is no and I do not think they will.

I see the 3D printer as another tool just like a hammer.
You can bang out tin monkeys by the dozen with it or craft a finely bejeweled Fabergé egg worth its weight in gold.
It is still just a tool to be used to produce a finished item, it is not a business model or really that new. It is just that the price point has dropped to give access to just about anyone.
Mech's public library has one for general use which is great (way ahead of my little town) however it will be what you do with it that counts.

For GHQ to get into basically selling software would be a very hard market, anyone can make an .stl file so you are just another anyone.
Very, very few in this World could produce a GHQ level pewter item, they have very, very little competition.

If they just fill up the back room with printers and go with the same road map as Shapeway again it's going to be an ever growing competitive market.
(I see a few Asian shapeway like companies coming online soon, then it is a race to the bottom).

For me I do have access to a basic printer and as I said I see it as another tool.
The quality is there to allow me to make just about anything I need but it is how I choose to spend my time that is the driving force.
I seem to have an insane need to make only what I can not buy. I am happy to spend a whole day to make a Canadian Supply ship, then another day to try and improve it.
I have zero interest in printing out 100 tanks etc.
Just a quick check of a bunch of Imagi-nation Army boxes and all MBT,IFV, Artillary and APC are pewter (most GHQ). The only plastic/resin are trucks, 4x4, engineering equipment and SAM/radar systems.

My print run this week was for 1/2400 buildings for my new port. I could find no local offerings and did not want to spend too much time kitbashing something by hand.
This is where the new tool will come in handy.

[cg3]

I've tried for weeks to re-activate my account but complete failure so cg2 becomes cg3.

Anyway, a few months ago I bought a 3D printer for around $350 and I have been playing with it since so here's my 2 cents :

1. A 3D printer uses a software file downloaded from the internet and the product is available within hours and there is zero postage cost and normally no customs charge either. This is an especially critical factor for non-US customers and I would doubt GHQ makes any profit on postage & packing. That could well save $25 per order.

2. A 6mm model will almost always lose some detail from the real model due to scale. GHQ may do the best 6mm models but they can't compete on detail against a reasonable 15mm model that can easily be scaled down to 6mm in seconds. Equally GHQ could find a market by people upscaling their products to 10mm etc but it's normally easier to go down in scale.

3. A good range of files for vehicles is already available free on the web and these print at GHQ quality with standard settings. The WW2 range in particular rivals GHQ's and these vehicles can be modified relatively easily to provide a wide range of truck loads armaments etc.

3. A 3D print file can be printed at different scales easily for those people who model in different scales. For example, I can print 6mm figures in 1/1200 and put them on my Napoleonic ships or put Shermans as deck cargo on my Liberty ships.

4. Metal itself is expensive and may become more so and casting requires a lot of power, again becoming more expensive. GHQ also has to maintain a building and equipment to house the casting and packing and this is located in a 'difficult' area. I would expect their designers are going to remain home-based now so there is considerable savings to be had.

5. GHQ has some stagnant ranges like the Napoleonic Micronauts which are doomed : Other metal manufactures have better ranges and/or prices and 3D print files are 1/3rd the price and with a bigger range. Some designers are putting out a dozen or more new Napoleonic ships a year at $6 apiece and you can print that file as many times as you like. The GHQ equivalent costs $17 and you only get one. The result is obvious.

The simple summary is that 3D printing is a revolutionary technology and GHQ must adapt or go under. The best ** CENSORED ** I have is that that GHQ is a camera company making film cameras just as digital cameras are coming into the market at affordable prices and good quality. Some people will always want to buy metal miniatures because they like the feel and weight but these will reduce and that will mean that prices will have to go up as development costs are spread over fewer units and more niche items won't get produced because you won't be able to make a profit. I'd retrain my packers and casters into designers and dump the facility asap and try and churn out more designs (especially moderns) before other people get established. I can't remember who said 'Get there firstest with the mostest' but that may be the answer here.

I hope that's a constructive post and that GHQ comes through this better and stronger - they've earned the chance to continue to be part of the wargaming scene in the future. Good luck guys!

[panzergator]

Seems the opinions run the gamut. For me, it's a matter of where I can get e stuff I want. Since, at the moment, I want "what if "70s and early 80s, where might I get MBT70, XM723, XN800(T), or the General Motors version of XM1? GHQ is NEVER going to make that stuff, so I'm going with printing. Shapeways just made tank-and-pump units, but I need a 5ton trucj to carry them. Nobody makes on wity an open bed, but I can print them. Cheaper.

[7.62]

A few years ago I made a big 6mm LPD based on my idea of an updated Royal Navy Fearless-class (This was just a kitbash, no 3D printing).
Not much chance of GHQ or anyone else ever making that one in 1/2400!

My skills are limited but I think I now have the best 1/2400 Karma Navy Fearsome class LPD on the market lol.
This is how I intend to use 3D printers.
If I had wanted a Royal Navy Albion-class LPD. I would buy the GHQ one. More cost effective and better than I could make.
For the odd stuff that I can not wait for someone to produce I now have an extra kitbashing tool.

[Brigade Commander]

Seems the opinions run the gamut. For me, it's a matter of where I can get e stuff I want. Since, at the moment, I want "what if "70s and early 80s, where might I get MBT70, XM723, XN800(T), or the General Motors version of XM1? GHQ is NEVER going to make that stuff, so I'm going with printing. Shapeways just made tank-and-pump units, but I need a 5ton trucj to carry them. Nobody makes on wity an open bed, but I can print them. Cheaper.

I sent some photos of the tank & pump unit to Masters of Military and they put one out there in 1:285. I have some already and will be ordering more. Masters of Military also has M-923 and M-927 LWB 5-ton trucks but they come with two open top and two covered. I will end up with too many 5-ton trucks if I go that route. And I am still without the trailer. So while I continue to stock up on the tank & pump units I do not have the vehicles to mount them on. Yet. I keep looking. And every battalion HQ and some of the different companies all need them. So I need a lot.

[7.62]

Panzer, I hear you on getting what you need.
When I say I have zero interest in printing out 100's of tanks etc that is only because GHQ fills my needs for my MBT and IFV etc.
If there is something I need 100 of I would buy 3D printed if it is out there or make my own if needed.

[whenimaginationfails]

When a figure exists with a metal manufacturer, I prefer to go with that. The higher quality the metal miniature, the better.

That said, I have found that some 3d printed modern ship miniatures are good enough and when the miniature isn't likely to be carried by GHQ (or other metal manufacturers) then I will go for them. They tend to be civilian ships, small corvettes or ships outside the 5-7 major powers already carried by metal manufacturers. There is a fuzzy line between major powers and potential major powers. I am pretty sure GHQ won't carry any of surface combatants by Pakistan, Singapore or Taiwan, but five years down the road there may be ships from India, Australia or South Korea. Or not. I can never be sure without info from GHQ. At least GHQ is willing to share their release plan for the next year unlike pretty much all other modern naval miniature shops (metal or not).

GHQ seems to be moving toward bigger ships since they are higher cost and perhaps require less labor cost to make relative to the price. I expect an LSX or Ivan Rogov in GHQ's future and am pretty sure they won't product a Type 056 or Tarantul corvette. Thankfully there are several game quality and inexpensive Tarantuls out there. Type 056 with clean lines is nearly the price of GHQ and not nearly as detailed.

GHQ makes its name with (exceedingly high) quality metal miniatures. They are a one stop shop. They have to handle design, manufacturing, sales and marketing. Shapeways provides the manufacturing and a store front to aspiring designers. The designers don't have to carry inventory or have employees. For many of them, it probably is just a nice side job. They can sell in multiple scales if they so choose and even if they advertise by word of mouth, Shapeways benefits. Sometimes the designers are really responsive (1/1250 V-22s and T-AKRs of various stripes). Sometimes we get multiple poor representations of ships GHQ (or others) do so much better (too many to name).

I would like to see GHQ use 3d printing to make masters faster and hopefully have a greater number of designs each year. I see a lot of use in making one model and then varying the 3d model for all of the variants. The Boxer APC is designed to be modular and the back half is made to lift out and be replaced with a different module.



It would be great if GHQ came out with a standard version for the wheels and front and then provided the different modules for its many variants. Doing so isn't limited to using 3d models, but it is easier. Why come out with one variant of the Boxer or CV90 when you could have them all just by mixing and matching parts? More variants means more opportunities for sales while distributing the cost of the model design among the variants.

[panzergator]

Brigade Commander, check GHQs and Legions for Hires CINC WWII sections for those trailers.

[regia-marina]

I held off a long time on buying 3D prints. I was always hoping that GHQ would produce a Fiat 508 or a Gabbiano class corvette for example. I decided life was too short to wait for models that are not likely to be produced. When I finally began buying 3D printed models I was pretty happy with their level of detail. Also, I have found the designers willing to work with me on producing the models I want.
I have been able to negotiate better prices as well. They are no where near as robust as a GHQ model but look good alongside them on the gaming table. I would most likely replace them with a GHQ model if it were to become available since I am a GHQ addict. It's nice to have both available.

[panzergator]

It's nice to know who is responsible for getting those tank and pump units on Shapeways. I will be after them shortly.

I should point out that, for 3D models, it also depends on the printer used. The Capt Ahab MBT 70 that we printed is much better using the printer resin we have than the one pictured in Shapeways. I just can't get my son to print stuff fast enough. It is also important to verify the scale. We always tes print a sample before doing big numbers

One difficulty I have is I am not conversant in all the methods of payment ibvolved with commission work.. As soon as I get that cleared up, it will get easier.

[Brigade Commander]

Brigade Commander, check GHQs and Legions for Hires CINC WWII sections for those trailers.

I have. The only open top trailers are too short for the full setup. Both supply tanks and the pump unit. I have been looking since before I even approached Masters of Military about the tank & pump unit. They did a nice job on them. I fear however that they have met their match on the two WLR types. I have stopped getting updates on them. Usually not a good sign. They are fairly good at communicating.

[Brigade Commander]

It's nice to know who is responsible for getting those tank and pump units on Shapeways. I will be after them shortly.

I know I talk Masters of Military up a bit but they seem to me to be the GHQ of 3d printing. I have never had a model that I bought and after receiving thought that was a mistake. And I have over a dozen different models of theirs in my units. Some in numbers. They look like they belong right alongside the GHQ & C-in-C pewter. Where they exceed GHQ is in communication. And speed of new models. But that is the nature of 3d of course. It is neat emailing back and forth, forwarding photos and/or drawings and two weeks or so later getting an email saying start ordering! You start feeling spoiled.

As a comparison there are more than a half dozen I have never received a reply. One had a snarky response and one told me 1:285 scale was of no interest. And I was just asking to re-scale an existing model. Is that not one of the draws of 3d printing? Scalability? There are two others that have either designed new or resized an existing model but the majority seems to want to drive everyone away. So yes, Stefan and the rest of Masters of Military are 3d printing stars.