Hello

I have been seeing various companies promoting 3d printed minis all over facebook lately.  I do not like the idea personally for 6mm.  I feel like we have established companies that actually employ workers and that have supported wargame shows, the hobby for many years.   Then here comes along a guy who 3d sculpts and just sells the files.... Its just not the same to me.  I must be getting older because i just cant understand why anybody would want to undercut established businesses with a product like this.   I mean its a bit of a rant but it just lacks decency in my opinion.   I have seen 10mm resin figures before and was not impressed.  i think I personally need the deeper groves metal gives me to paint these little figures.   The 3d sculpts are super detailed and are more shallow where details are defined and they just dont seem the same to me.  I support Baccus and others and hope this 3d thing is just a fad.

Traditional painters might have said the same thing about digital art, and both point at AI generated art too in similiar fashion. 

A 3D sculptor is also an artisian, they just use a different medium. I like metal miniatures and plastic. I also have subscription on a 3D 28mm miniature manufacterer (although I have no 3D miniatures) because I really like what they are doing and will definetly be using them once I have the oppertuinity to get a 3D printer. The main advantage I see is printing out conversion bits like heads, equipment and pouches for 28mm. And of course terrain pieces. 

I would prefer metal small scale figures over 3D printed one's, although I do want to try my hand at 3D sculpting 6mm Boshin War figures as there are currently no figures on the market for them. 

In the end what matters is what material you like, the price you want to pay for the product and the products history. I am unlikely to buy a rule/game book that uses AI generated art than a book with art from an artist. 

I would never buy 3d printed figures for 6mm mainly because recently i dropped a 24 figure infantry base ( Baccus figures ) and apart from 1 bent spear , which was easily bent back to shape there was no other damage..  I have had  3d printed in 28mm scale  where things like hands/ spears/ muskets just snap off. gods know what would have broken if the base i dropped were  3d printed.........I will stick to metal for 6mm figures  :-D

Flexible resins solve this problem, even with 6mm figures. A spear can literally be bent back on itself without breaking. The resin just bounces back to the original shape when the pressure is released. Acrylic paints are still more than adequate, despite the flexibility of the figures.

As to the question of displacing established companies, it is important to note that many 'traditional' manufacturers are already adding this medium to their offerings.

Robert