shiftgreen

Every where you look at hobby stores or toy stores you see die cast/ or plastic models of bikes,cars,monster trucks, go-carts,dragsters,lowrider bikes,etc ... but I have never seen any good realistic models of powerboats. I'm not talking about r/c models, but die cast, or even the kind you can put together such as plastic models. I would like to get some peoples opinion on wether or not this would be a good idea for a side job. Here is some background info about me. Im a 3d designer/web designer/graphics designer. I work for a game company called icarus studios at RTP modeling there in-game objects. I also work for a company called JadeLEarning INC designing illustrations for there online college course books. I also know CAD, I wanted to get on with Fountain's design team, but I can't move to washington yet. Anyhow there are sculpting programs that will literally sculpt out what I design on the computer, miniture scaled down versions of boats, or cars, anything. These machines are exact, what I create on the computer is exactly what comes out in either wood/plastic/foam/ or pvc whatever I choose. If I knew there would be a demand for something like this I would jump on it and make a website for it and everything. For example, If you owned a Cig TopGun and wanted a scaled down version that you could take to work or just have to put on a mantel. I am even going to do custom trailors that fit the boat as well so they will have something to sit on.
Any thoughts ? ? has this been thought of before? I would love to be able to go online and order scaled versions of my favorite offshore boat. So im really considering in doing this. This may be crazy but it's no big deal, just something I would like to do.

here is an example of a donzi zx im modeling, I plan on doing my own custom paint for it, I will make it just like the real one, with all the nuts and bolts. I just started on it so its not painted yet nor have I put the engines/drive and cabin in, but it gives you an idea of what it is looking like.

I wanted to ask this a long time ago but never had anything to show for.

LostinBoston

http://www.2scale.com/

though you might like this site.

I thought about getting my dad a scale model of his boat for his b-day, but he's selling it now so maybe ill do it for the next one. Or get scale models of his first couple boats as a memento.

the sculpting machines that you're reffering to, are they the onle that 3D print with a type of plastic, or cut away from a piece of metal? Both are pretty cool.

shiftgreen

thanks for showing me that site, they do exactly what I want to do. It's good to see that it can be done and is being done. I don't know if they do this, but I would get photos of someones boat and use that as a reference so the model would be the same as what they own.
Atleast i'm on the right track, I have the 3d exp. along with paint exp. The machines I would need range from 2g's all the way to 35g's. The company that makes these machines is based in CA called roland dga. Im doing a lot of research on this b/c it would be fun non-the less to do this on the side, who knows.

open87

COOL SITE

CMG

Shiftgreen, With your .rtl file we can make a 3-d model

http://www.makepeace.com/repro/3D_Mo..._modeling.html

SR-24

I think it would be cool. Any idea on the size you would scale to and what the price would be?

shiftgreen

Hey CMG, thats great that someone on here does something like that, I would like to know more about how much in detail you could get with my 3d model , pending I have engine/drives/and cabin that are more complicated than just the hull.
SR-24 , the size would roughly be between 9 inches in length , to about 17 inches. Depending on how much you would want to put in it. Im guessing based on other scale model ships iv'e seen I would start at 150.00 The bigger and more elaborate in detail I guess it would be a little more. It's all a thought, but my dad can help me out since he designes r/c airplanes from a computer and cuts them out with a router.
-chris

LostinBoston

The last company i worked for was in the process of buying a 60' by 20' 3D Prototype machine for $5 mil.

shiftgreen

ya, thats big time, these are much smaller. Some are about as big as a closet, but since my models will be between 11 - 17 inches starting out it won't be nearly that big. I know what I would need and its 20 grand. Its called the MDX-500 benchtop SRP. I can maybe find a cheaper one if it's used. the dimensions it allows are 19.625(X) x 12.938(Y) x 4.125(Z) inches. Im still searching for the right one but it looks like this is the standard. Easily handles wide range of materials, including aluminum, brass and copper in case I added metal parts.

thedonz

Shiftgreen Ya Have Your First Customer Right Here. Are You Taking Orders Already? 38 Topgun Sitting On A Myco Trader
Twin 1000's With Charger
Number 5 Drives
And No Cabin