A cryptic comment a couple of posts back on a new company in the NZ120 area. I've been wondering for a while now when it would happen and its apparently about a month ago. My spies are obviously either asleep, running magazines or distracted by larger scales (Mike you have no excuse, 200 lines by the end of the week please).
Lewis Holden and a 3D resin printer have decided to try to try to take on Shapeways and the UPS shipping monopoly by licensing CAD files from local designers and printing them out on shore at 3 foot 6 models. So not only do we get to stick it to the big companies but the print quality is far better. I'm not sure about the prices (my cries of "you are not running a charity" seem to go unhindered alot in this country) but if he can keep it up then it just shows how much shapeways have been creaming off the top.
Designers on board so far are Peter Bryant, Simon Lister and Michael Gee. From reading the legalease the designers get paid per print, and with lower prices should be seeing more money (I think, I only just passed 7th form Economics and got the supply and demand curve round the wrong way. Probably best I'm a scientist).
I must admit its awfully tempting and I've aways hankered after a phase 3 Da to complete the set (even though the SD-7 chassis is earmarked for a tandard railcar). I don't see this as being a wider competition with Trackgang (and indeed his bogie sales might go through the roof. I wonder what his sons like with a soldering iron...) as there's items that I don't see ever being put into rubbers for lead casting.
I wish Lewis all the best for his new venture.
4 comments:
My excuses are (1) and (3) - asleep as a result of long Covid, and building a 300 by 2400 layout for the Fell Locomotive Museum, Featherston, as a condition of the museum receiving a donated working 1:34 scale H class locomotive (DCC with sound and smoke).
... and I'll claim excuse (2) as well as I'm supposed to be proof-reading a longish railway/tramway book ahead of its publication.
I think Lewis has been very busy so far and his printers are working overtime. I received a Dc body recently printed by chinese company for Neil Ward. he scaled it wrong and its like my diesel in a day Df loco ( about 1/100) quality looks very good and prices are ridiculously cheap from what I hear. US$6 . don't quote me
Thanks RAB, yes the printer(s) have been running almost constantly since I started 3 Foot 6, I've built up a bit of a backlog which I'm now working on before adding more models. I've now got a second printer which can do larger models (i.e. HO scale), but my goal remains to get a larger 8K resolution printer which will produce even better-quality prints.
In terms of prices, the main area that I've miscalculated appears to be postage, so I'll likely have to increase that in the new year.
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