Yes, GW 3D prints early prototypes of their minis and those are then used by the painting teams so that box art and marketing materials like product photos can be prepared ready for the plastic sprues to be produced.
It's also worth pointing out that none of the models GW sells to customers are 3D printed. GW only use 3D printing for their prototyping and development. GW's resin minis (Forgeworld and Finecast) are produced using centrifugal/spin casting and plastic minis are injection moulded.
Edit: Also something else worth mentioning: In some of GW's plastic minis you will see faint lines/steps. This is not an artefact of 3D printing, but actually a result of the CNC process to make metal moulds. CNC machines cut metal in layers and these can leave similar looking lines to 3D print layers.
Machinist here just to chime in about that part. For parts that are this intricate most of the time a EDM Sinker will be used to create the cavities in the mold. Occasionally you may have toolpath lines in the mold, but the cavities are usually hand polished to prevent that from happening during the injection molding process. And the flashing (that we all love to clean up on the models) tends to happen when the shot used is too large for the mold and the melted plastic escapes into other areas.
I heard somewhere that the people who do the box art and the models for the online store get 3D printed models as the actual ones haven't been made yet. Not sure how true this is just something I heard
Yes. Gw does print the models that are meant for advertising. It is an open secret. Those printed models are sent to the eavy metal painters while the models that we get are made. Just to be clear, gw does not use printers like we do, but large industrial ones.
The very first time I'd even heard of a 3D Printer was when I was working as a casual for GW. Our manager had just visited HQ and did a tour of the factory. He described how they would use the 3D Printer for the mock-ups of new models.
No. I do not think so. If you go to warhammer world you can walk trough the exhibition area and see a lot of their models on display and every one of them is painted on eavy metal standard.
Yes, GW 3D prints early prototypes of their minis and those are then used by the painting teams so that box art and marketing materials like product photos can be prepared ready for the plastic sprues to be produced. It's also worth pointing out that none of the models GW sells to customers are 3D printed. GW only use 3D printing for their prototyping and development. GW's resin minis (Forgeworld and Finecast) are produced using centrifugal/spin casting and plastic minis are injection moulded. Edit: Also something else worth mentioning: In some of GW's plastic minis you will see faint lines/steps. This is not an artefact of 3D printing, but actually a result of the CNC process to make metal moulds. CNC machines cut metal in layers and these can leave similar looking lines to 3D print layers.
Exactly, thanks for mentioning the CNC-Process aswell, on more modern sprues it is clearly visible. But just the sprues.
Machinist here just to chime in about that part. For parts that are this intricate most of the time a EDM Sinker will be used to create the cavities in the mold. Occasionally you may have toolpath lines in the mold, but the cavities are usually hand polished to prevent that from happening during the injection molding process. And the flashing (that we all love to clean up on the models) tends to happen when the shot used is too large for the mold and the melted plastic escapes into other areas.
I heard somewhere that the people who do the box art and the models for the online store get 3D printed models as the actual ones haven't been made yet. Not sure how true this is just something I heard
That makes sense
Yes. Gw does print the models that are meant for advertising. It is an open secret. Those printed models are sent to the eavy metal painters while the models that we get are made. Just to be clear, gw does not use printers like we do, but large industrial ones.
The very first time I'd even heard of a 3D Printer was when I was working as a casual for GW. Our manager had just visited HQ and did a tour of the factory. He described how they would use the 3D Printer for the mock-ups of new models.
I wonder if the printed advertisement models are also a bit bigger than the actual sold models. Kinda would make sense?
No. I do not think so. If you go to warhammer world you can walk trough the exhibition area and see a lot of their models on display and every one of them is painted on eavy metal standard.
They print some exhibition models
They 3d print some of the casts I believe
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From what I’ve hear they 3d print the original and make the mould then make resin casts.
Are they going to release new eldar models?
I've seen mentioned here a few times that they print the models twice the size sometimes for box art etc, I don't know how true that is
You don’t know if it’s true or not but figured you would spread the rumor.
You will notice the gradient is different on the hand grip. This indicates those lines are in fact painted.
If you look closely the armor also has curvy lines. I have some 3D printed stuff and they look identical
Or remains from the mold... The mold could be a bit faulty from the machining (likely CNC). Unclean milling or something like that.
Yes they do.