life like 3d printed animals?

[Craig Keller]

If I want to make 3d printed animals like horses, dolphins and such but want these to look life like in coloring. my only choice is resin or pla and air brush these? Other then that they will look like colorful toys animals?? Does this sound correct. Maybe print the horses in black PLA or white? Has anyone done these before? In this case a multi head printer would not be needed?

 

[JBurton]

Mimaki's offering has come down in price: https://www.mimakiusa.com/products/3d/3duj-553/

 

[MikePro]

yeah, i fell in love with that machine when it was $250k+.
I really hope they keep developing the tech behind the 3duj-553 to make it more affordable for a hobbyist/smaller sign shop. I believe they have a smaller model too but its still at like $80k+

on the lower-end, a $1-2k+ resin printer is your best bet for smoother finishes right out of the printer but PLA gets you printing at half the price and then a heavy coat of primer and a lotta sanding to makeup the difference.

 

[JBurton]

yeah, i fell in love with that machine when it was $250k+.

Yeah, it's an insane piece of tech. I was really trying to figure out how to start selling much smaller stuff and make it profitable to buy one, but after realizing you have to do 10x more work than a traditional print in a software I'm not proficient in, let alone getting coloring and blending and everything to look great. I wonder how far off AI is from generating printable files...
Also, this thing can totally print top shelf ADA signs, background and all... at about an hour for a 4x6. No clue on the material costs for ink. I do wonder if it could print onto a substrate, but it's really not designed to do such a thing.