Modelling bits for 3d printing

[mangozac]

I suspect because it's a design for which repetition doesn't make sense. Grate floors make more sense, since the grate panels are generally designed to be lifted. Solid floors not so much.

[Malika]

I tweaked the floor panels a bit...

Here's the 'normal' ones, so without the grill:


Here are the ones with the grill:


And when combined:

[Islacrusez]

Again it betrays the modular nature of the panels - it makes sense for them to be modular as a resin kit, but why would they be modular (especially in a grid system like this, with obvious removal points) in reality?

[Malika]

Rule of cool? IKEA styled space stations?

[Islacrusez]

Rule of cool only works if it is or looks cool. Last I checked, we were looking at this stuff not being quite right. If it don't look/feel right, it ain't right.

[mangozac]

Like I suggested with the wall panels, there should be floor panels of different sizes so that the repetition isn't as obvious.

[Malika]

The problem with floors set up in such ways is that it'll become a lot trickier to use them for different purposes (a hallway floor wouldn't automatically work for a large room for example).

What could perhaps be done is to keep the details on the sides similar, but add variation in the middle of the tile, kind of like what you have with the floors. This could be done in floor pieces of different sizes like you suggest. Or simply have more variant tiles out there?

Another solution I'm toying with is to make bits that can be connected on the floor tiles, kind of like what I did with the wall sections as well.

[RageofAchilles]

I like the idea of the modular resin flooring and it would be cool, but what is playing on my mind is that you will be endlessly casting floor tiles. It takes time to cast in resin , that's what adds to the expense of kits, not necessarily the material cost itself.

Say someone shells out for a couple of corridors and adjoining rooms, making the wall sections is one thing , but throw in having to cast 50 floor tiles as well and you will have to charge a fortune for these things.

For the flooring I would go for laser-cut plastics, most laser cutters can adjust the tool to cut to different depths in the material. I would have pointed out the HDF laser-cut scenery various companies produce, but have bought some , it's not nice to work with, plastic is much better. You could just produce a tile sheet A4 size and people could cut out rooms and corridors from the sheet as they need them.

you could still produce the odd custom floor tile with hatches chairs or acid damage from resin to compliment the plastic sections. I think the cost saving would be considerable, when you also factor in consumables, time and mould wear.

[Malika]

Hmm, laser cut plastic? That would totally depend on the type of plastic of course. As for laser cutters cutting in different depths, that's a new one for me. At my girlfriend's office they've got a laser cutter and a CNC machine, they generally tend to use the latter when they need to cut stuff in different depths.

The problem with the CNC machine however is that it isn't super fast. So for mass production it would be very annoying.

But casting the stuff in plastic seems really awesome though, kinda inspired by , and it seems rather .

Food for thought...

[RageofAchilles]

that is a cool looking dungeon building set!
In the olden days I had a silicone mould made by a company called Prince August which made durable moulds for minis and scenery, you bought the moulds which came with a ladle and white metal for the minis and plaster for the scenery. A great idea from the mid 1980s

I worked in a picture framing business and they had a laser engraver which could cut to variable depths in styrene, acrylic, wood,leather and rubber. Used adobe illustrator software and had an A3 sized bed.
I also worked in an engineering firm that had a laser that could cut through 12mm of hardened steel! and took up about 30 square metres of floor space. I think that would turn a sheet of plastic into a shrivelled lump of burning goop lol

There are many types of laser cutters each designed for specific industries, laser engraving machines
are just right for what I suggested. It was just a thought

[mangozac]

RoA's advice is very sound - you should do some more research into laser cutting. It's not going to give you much in the way of different cut levels, but for the cost benefit just laser engraving details into the surface could be adequate...

[Malika]

It does sound interesting. Especially if it can engrave stuff at different levels (even if it's just 0.5mm or 1mm). I could then make a bunch of basic floor pieces (corridor, room, etc), and then have a separate sprue with extra details that you could add on top of those floor pieces.

In case I would have more 'specialist' tiles (see through grill with pipes and such running underneath it), these could then be done individually in plastic/resin casts, but the main brunt could be done either lasercut MDF or plastic. Need to do a bit of research into the prices first though.

[Malika]

I've been restructuring my Photobucket, which means the pics might not work anymore. However, you can still check them all out over .

[Malika]

The CNC/laser cutting option is still open for the floor tiles. However, in the meantime I've also started working on some little components that can add a bit of flavor to the floors:



I've also continued working on a smaller console device and a possible wall/door variant (not the big main doors yet):

[Islacrusez]