I wasn't sure how this thin shelled hollowed out print was going to turn out.

I'm starting to get a little gun shy about ordering prints from Shapeways. Its a crap shoot. Here is a print I got from the same order.

Notice all the garbage on along the jaw. The image is sort of degraded but the ear is also in pretty bad shape.
The man in tights figure is a 4.8" tall figure with a volume fairly close to the head and with a lower polygon count (according to shapways the polygon count plays a huge role in the quality of the figure)
The head is 2.8" tall with 10,000 more polygons the same volume.
The man in tights is printed in frosted ultra detail and the head in Frosted Detail because I thought (incorrectly) that the support material line was more defined in the FUD that the FD. This was based on 3 FD figures I received that did not have that disgustingly huge support material line.
I think Darko was right, I am going to have to hold off on selling these printed figures and sell castings instead. I will have to do a lot of clean up on this 1:6 head to make it work.
The upside to this order is that I learned two things; I now know that you can make the walls of your models extremely thin to save on material and the quality of prints is going to be inconsistent no matter what material you print it in.

Fascinating results, thanks for sharing.

I see a lot of potential for using them for in-organic parts. Accessories, weapons, wheels, etc. All the annoying stuff to sculpt!

Thanks Gordy.
The man in tights figure is will be available at a discounted price at http:scalehumans.com/PREORDER as resin castings. I am currently on schedule to start shipping July 29th. If you haven't already ordered you may want to do so before the price goes up.

Thanks for showing Richard. While not everything worked out to your satisfaction its still interesting to see where this technology is going. To add to Gordys ideas, how about doing a range of low resolution anatomical dummies for hobby sculptors.

By low resolution I mean the way digital sculpts look like in the early phase with the major planes blocked in. Slightly on the thin side so the sculptor can use his favourite epoxie on it. Would save work and help immensely with symmetry. They could be single or multi part. Male and female. Say from 1/48 to 1/6.

Manfred, thanks for the suggestions. I will keep that in mind. I especially like the blocked in sculpts idea. Maybe even add some joints so that the sculptors could modify the parts to fit a particular pose they want.
I think anything like that would have to be done with various body types available.

I've extended the Pre Order sale of the man in tights till August 3 so that I can concentrate on casting and making the Kaiulani molds when the the print arrives tomorrow.
To take advantage of the sale price go to http://scalehumans.com/PREORDER

This update is for Tim, mehan. I thought I would share my recent very good print of a 5.3 inch tall figure I recieved from Shapeways and go over what I like about it, and where I think they need to work a little harder.

It's hard to tell, by this photo because the FUD material is almost transparent, but this is the first print I've gotten that actually lives up to its minimum detail size .1mm boast.... on one side that is.

The fosting on the back is a residual effects of the support material and it deminishes the detail level significantly. This figure how every was a lot cleaner from the blemishes frequently left by the support material. I light brushing with a tooth brush and some baking soda paste cleaned it right up, but also cleaned up some of the detail with it. I have to say; if all my prints were as good as this one, I would be fully endorsing Shapeways.com. I have 3 more prints on order that should be completed in a week are so. One is 7/8ths scale, another is 1:20 scale and the last one is 1:32 scale. I took it to the edge on wall thickness and I don't know if they will get rejected or not. That is also a major concern is the evaluation process is lengthy, so if you are planing a figure release, better set aside at least 2 months to go from prototype to shipping.

interesting. Thanks for posting your thoughts about FUD. How much did it cost to get your man in tights printed and this conductor too?

In FUD the man in tights was just over 50 bucks. The engineer was a little less, but he isn't as buff. They were both hollow prints and both over 5 inches tall.

That includes the shipping charges.

wow, fifty bucks is a very reasonable price. shame about the detail washing off. i wonder if thats due to 'painted on' detail with sculpt brushes? still its a good enough piece to take to wax and finish. i forgot to say Richard, another excellent wax for Masters is ASBRO from the Compleat Sculptor in NYC. its a formula based on Hasbro' own that they use for prototypes. runs about 21 bucks for 2lbs.
i am looking forward to having something to print. be interesting to see what turns out.

atb Richard --tim

I contacted a company in my home town of Tulsa, Ok and they said they can print what I want. I haven't seen a price quote back yet but I'll let you guys know what I find out.

Tim,
Baking soda is a mild abrasive. The detail that was being rubbed away was embeded in the crusty remnants of the support material, so it was not really washed away, but buffed away.
Meehan, thanks. It will interesting to see their quote and the quality of their work. If it is reasonable enough, I might use them on a couple of prints and if they are consistent, I would switch to them so as to bring a little work back to the good ole U.S.A. not that a zenophobe or anything, but we can use it.