The Energon Pub

News Credits: 6 · by **City Commander** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 5:52 am

So I know, at least over on tfw2005, that personal customisation of figures is a pretty huge thing for long time collectors, and hell even fresh faced collectors these days! Some customise, some scratchbuild, some commission and some use 3D modelling and shapeways to produce awesome designs, accessories and upgrades, for their figures.

I was just curious how much peeps over here at seibertron did this sort of thing? I rarely see it mentioned and even less see stuff from designers, but that could be because the customisation forums are laid out a bit differently to what I'm used and I'm just not finding them!

How much do you guys get from shapeways?
For those who don't know, shapeways is a 3D printing service that accepts 3d models uploaded by users, and uses them to print amazing models/gadgets etc in a range of materials from plastics to gold. The prices are generally pretty low (especially for smaller items- ie whole deluxe figures, while possible, would cost a bit more (about the same as a third party figure I'd imagine)), and the quality of the printed product is improving all the time.

I myself recently had some designs tested by a yank friend on tfw, and by gum not only do they look fantastic but the finish looks amazing with very little cleaning from the box.

I really want to spread the word about this sort of stuff, cos the possibilities are endless! I've seen targetmasters, micromaster combiners, upgrade kits (like generations Wheeljack leg extensions and a Roadbuster conversion kit) and lots more put up by some very clever users. Best of all, designers actually get paid a small amount (of their choosing) every time somebody purchases one of their designs.

This thread here over on tfw has a great little list of just some of the designers out there, and the products they have to offer.
Really, I recommend this place to everyone. It really makes customisation easier for those without a knack for engineering, and means figures like classics Mirage or the classics Seekers can have more G1 styled weapons.

Of course I talk a lot about G1 homaging stuff, but there's loads of designs for lines like the movies and even Prime. There's definitely something for everyone out there, so have a look!

News Credits: 9 · by **Mykltron** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:33 am

I'd not heard of this before. I think I'm about to spend a whole lot of money there! These things look amazing and they're cheaper than other 3rd party stuff.

News Credits: 767 · by **Dead Metal** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:40 am

First off, awesome to see you again CC! How have you been?

Secondly.

Yea, I started a thread on shapeways a while ago in the 3rd party forum, peole lost interest in it. You can find it here.

I've ordered a few things, I posted a "review" you can check out here if you're interested, in short stay as far away from Strong and Flexible as possible.

News Credits: 6 · by **City Commander** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:03 am

They truly are Mylktron! I recommend heading over to the thread DM posted and reading everything (maybe stop by tfw, read some of the tutorial threads there too) before buying things from shapeways. You really want to be prepared for the kind of work required to get high quality finishes out of your orders. But it's totally worth it. Some of the weapons I've designed on there are beautiful in person and work great with their designated figures(like my recreation of the GoW Mirage shoulder rocket launcher).

Hey DM! Good to see ya buddy, hope all's good? I'm not too bad, just bogged down with my final year dissertation, but it's coming to an end soon so I should hopefully be around here, tfw and indeed you know where more often

:lol Everyone learns that about WSF. Believe me, it's all about the treatment techniques. Prepared properly WSF can make nice weaponry and is great for prototypes, but I'd recommend at least WSF polished or one of the detail materials for anything else. Shapeways is great stuff, I highly recommend stickying that other thread for people to see, maybe putting it in toy forum too since I'm sure it'll reach more of the right people here.

by **Valandar** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:40 am

Considering I make my living with ZBrush and 3D Studio Max, it has LONG been a temptation... but I once swore to put off doing things like that until a viable end-user 3D Printer came out below $4,000 and just do it myself.

News Credits: 9 · by **triKlops** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:44 am

i had read the TFW post a while back but have not ordered anything myself yet.
however the Superion chest upgrade looks like a good place to start
anyone on here grabbed it yet?

News Credits: 3 · by **Midnight_Fox** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:48 am

I've thought about doing some 3d printing for custom parts but not from Shapeways because one of the game stores here has its own machine in the store.

No point ordering from Shapeways when I can get the same materials for the same price right away.

News Credits: 767 · by **Dead Metal** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:52 am

triKlops wrote:i had read the TFW post a while back but have not ordered anything myself yet.
however the Superion chest upgrade looks like a good place to start
anyone on here grabbed it yet?

I have, and buy it!

News Credits: 6 · by **City Commander** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 12:01 pm

Midnight_Fox wrote:I've thought about doing some 3d printing for custom parts but not from Shapeways because one of the game stores here has its own machine in the store.

No point ordering from Shapeways when I can get the same materials for the same price right away.

Lucky SOB :p

News Credits: 12 · by **GuyIncognito** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:05 pm

I don't really get this. Are these people producing actual, working, transforming figures? Or are they just models/statues?

News Credits: 6 · by **City Commander** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:28 pm

While there are some statues no doubt, people are genuinely producing transforming, articulated (ball joints), detailed headmasters, targetmasters, powermasters and casseticons. I **** you not good sir!

As we speak, I'm designing a replacement head for the Energon Superion mold modelled after the G1 design. After that, I'll draw a balljoint and the collar component suggested by the member that contacted me about it, then it'll be available on shapeways to upgrade the gestalt so that he stands as tall as Bruticus, and actually has a proportional torso.

Then, I'll upscale the head and add more details, for use in my own custom Superion (will stand almost as tall as Energon OS), print it, prep it, and add it to the custom.
This stuff is so awesome, I highly recommend anyone with the spare time download google sketch up and have a go!

News Credits: 9 · by **triKlops** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:36 pm

Dead Metal wrote:
triKlops wrote:i had read the TFW post a while back but have not ordered anything myself yet.
however the Superion chest upgrade looks like a good place to start
anyone on here grabbed it yet?

I have, and buy it!

which version did you grab?
i am debating between 2http://shpws.me/3UI5 and 4http://shpws.me/3QJD.
any preferences?

News Credits: 767 · by **Dead Metal** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:19 pm

triKlops wrote:
Dead Metal wrote:
triKlops wrote:i had read the TFW post a while back but have not ordered anything myself yet.
however the Superion chest upgrade looks like a good place to start
anyone on here grabbed it yet?

I have, and buy it!

which version did you grab?
i am debating between 2http://shpws.me/3UI5 and 4http://shpws.me/3QJD.
any preferences?

I have 4 and like it, eve though I don't plan on using it in any other mode than Gestalt.

Also, CC, that sounds pretty awesome.

News Credits: 9 · by **Mykltron** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 5:45 am

I'm not planning on designing my own stuff yet. I had a look through the stuff available and saw lots of stuff I'm interested in.

I'll read the thread DM posted of course, but when the order arrives what will need doing to it?

News Credits: 6 · by **City Commander** » Tue Mar 27, 2012 8:28 am

Depending on the material you order in, you'll need to put in a varying amount of cleaning. As a start, you will always need to give the parts a wash in soapy water, to remove any flash or residue from the printing process and generally prepare the surfaces for painting etc.

Now, if you order in the cheapest material WSF, you'll need to sand the surfaces down a little to really get that smooth finish, this is done for you for polished WSF. Standard detail plastics will require less sanding, but still some to clean up the surfaces perfectly. As far as I know, ultra detail and frosted detail shouldn't need anything beyond a bath, but I've not printed in these yet (they're generally used for high detail pieces, like heads and replacement parts).

I highly recommend reading shapeway's material page, learn a bit about each of the plastic you plan to use. It'll tell you how strong it is, how it deals with paint and stresses, things like that.

As a shop runner there too, I'm always looking for ways to increase business. If there's ever a design you'd like to see, it's probably worth PMing me and I'll see what I can do.

For your viewing pleasure, and early design for Superion's helmet! Still need to finish the face, the ball joint, slice the face open and prepare as two halves, maybe add light piping, and the head'll be done!

EDIT:: The night's flown by, it's now six am. But, I present you, pending the addition of a ball jointed neck...

Superion! Scaled to fit RotF Superion.

Designed with cues from Calloway's gestalt design, the extended Mosaic "War Journal", a custom Superion that makes use of a modded supreme Cybertron Starscream head, and Masterpiece Grimlock.

by **bdickason** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 9:54 am

City Commander, thank you so much for posting this guide

I've been a transformers fan since I was a kid and still have a few of my figures. We at Shapeways are huge fans of the awesome custom designs you guys have been uploading and selling!

Are there any big issues that you've run into that I can maybe look into or resolve? :michaelbay:

News Credits: 6 · by **City Commander** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:09 am

No worries! If anyone has any questions I'll definitely help as best I can. I think what shapeways enables us to do with our collections is quite simply fantastic, and I want as many collectors to know about it as possible because it really opens doors. I just finished my second Superion head and it's a beaut! The amount of effort it would've taken to scratchbuild the same head would've been phoenomenal, but graphic design means it just takes a few good hours and some concentration and bam! Awesome original head sculpt I can resize to any need.

hmm I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but thankyou for the offer

Maybe you could answer a quick query though. Some of the details on this design I've posted a few replies up, especially in the face area, are 1-3mm in size. I think I've read that WSF deals with details down to 5mm, but I've not dealt much with the detail materials.

Could you give a quick breakdown of the detail levels capable in regular, frosted and ultra detail? And, if you can, could you recommend a material type that balances durability against intricacy for the level of detail I mentioned?

Thanks, keep up the great work over there!

News Credits: 402 · by **Mkall** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:13 pm

I've seen some cool TF-related stuff on Shapeways. The problem is I have no interest/talent/time for painting, which restricts me pretty much to hole-fillers and weapons, which I have plenty of thanks to various 3rd parties.

News Credits: 6 · by **City Commander** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:53 pm

Some designers do go the extra mile and order their shapeways product in in bulk, prepping and painting it before selling. That's how Venksta started Renderform I believe. I'd love to do that one day, but not yet. Money and time aren't quite good buddies with me right now, but maybe a year or so from now.

News Credits: 6 · by **City Commander** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 2:05 pm

Very busy this week (I'll reply to your pm tomorrow DM!) with work and whatnot, but thought I'd drop by and show y'all something I'm particularly proud of; a functional prototype for my upcoming RotF/FP upgraded Superion upgrade kit. Between this, process' ab filler and FP's upgrade set, Superion Maximus is very nearly on par with Bruticus!

Of course, it'd take new limbs to go that extra step.

I just need to add detail, trim the ball joint slightly and reposition further forward in the head, and the whole set will be ready for trial printing

Very proud of this work, hopefully it'll get really popular and help me pay of my credit card :lol:

News Credits: 11 · by **kirbenvost** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:41 pm

Your image seems to be broken... sounds like a really exciting upgrade though, I'm definitely interested.

News Credits: 767 · by **Dead Metal** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 3:10 pm

City Commander wrote:Very busy this week (I'll reply to your pm tomorrow DM!) with work and whatnot, but thought I'd drop by and show y'all something I'm particularly proud of; a functional prototype for my upcoming RotF/FP upgraded Superion upgrade kit. Between this, process' ab filler and FP's upgrade set, Superion Maximus is very nearly on par with Bruticus!

Of course, it'd take new limbs to go that extra step.

I just need to add detail, trim the ball joint slightly and reposition further forward in the head, and the whole set will be ready for trial printing Very proud of this work, hopefully it'll get really popular and help me pay of my credit card

Put those Pot nudles down and add yer fecking shop to my list you damn poor lazy student

Yea, PB killed oyur pic by the way, oh and I'm working on something myself:

That#s how you troll Fantasy LARPers, you make your own coins full of SciFi symbols! :michaelbay:

News Credits: 6 · by **City Commander** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 4:27 pm

Dead Metal wrote:Put those Pot nudles down and add yer fecking shop to my list you damn poor lazy student
Yea, PB killed oyur pic by the way, oh and I'm working on something myself:

That#s how you troll Fantasy LARPers, you make your own coins full of SciFi symbols!

pff pot noodles, I'll have you know I'm a fine chef!

Where's this list then, was it that other thread? I'll pop the link in here so you can add it to your first post if you like.

Master Blaster's blaster boutique, home to many forthcoming classics upgrades and more!

My fault with the PB picture, I forgot to update the link when I moved the photo to a customising folder for my project partner. Here's the photo::

:lol and indeed. That's a pretty awesomely accurate render mate, nice one! I only just got round to rendering the autobot sigil myself today, more of a pain to get just right then you'd think:

News Credits: 3 · by **DISCHARGE** » Wed Apr 04, 2012 9:27 pm

You may be able to make even more realistic transformers soon:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-17614392

Is the age of the Terminator far behind?

News Credits: 9 · by **Mykltron** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:23 am

DISCHARGE wrote:You may be able to make even more realistic transformers soon:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-17614392

Is the age of the Terminator far behind?

I'm thinking it's more like the Azimov robot novels. Caves of Steel perhaps.