Proline Releases a $600 Lexan Body <-That's not a typo

[Toykid]

Originally Posted by Joshs4x4toyz

This does make a lot more sense James. Yes, its a little more than a regular lexan body. But at $90ish it is complete with a grille, 2 piece body and the hood/engine bay set up (which could serve as small electronics tray even?).

Then, like any other product you have the option to buy the accessories that are specifically designed for the body, fair enough.

It is great to see that you partnered up with Proline and im sure things will only get better whatever the experience of this one may be. I think it was more the expectation that proline called this a "builder series", was that it would come similar as the ABS bodies out there with multiple accessories as part of a package. After you have mentioned that some files may be put file sharing sites, I am thinking this may be what the builder series was about?

I think they would have killed it as far as releases go had they said something about files being available for 3d printing at home to build what you want. Of course, that would come from mostly your hard work, nobody else

In any case, I look forward to see what the final outcome of this is because it sets up more options in the future if found very successful for everyone. As much as I like hard bodies (RC talk guys, hang in there), weight of lexan is a huge benefit.

Good luck

Thanks, and yes, regarding the builders series, you'll see more info coming over the next few weeks, stay tuned.

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

Many “Manufacturers” print crap, then sell it. It’s so much cheaper to 3D print vs making a Die for injection molding, huge unit numbers to break even on tooling, not sure that many would buy.
That said my Knights Parts are better and smoother than I could print in PETG, but being in nylon are loads stronger.

Some companies print PLA cheaply, and it fails quickly, BUT it didn’t cost much


Hang up and Drive

10-4 mike! The company I work for does injection molding. All told, for these bits, to cut molds would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $10-25K. There's not a huge ROI there obviously.

[Toykid]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

My fear is that this pricing will set a new higher price bar for all bodies. I remember looking at some custom hard bodies that were selling for around $350 and thinking they were over priced. This $600 strikes me as just outrageous. This hobby is too expensive as it is, and we can't afford vendors raising the price bar like this! I would not pay $350 for a 3D printed hard body, I sure as hell will not pay $600 for a lexan body with 3D printed bits.

Pro-Line's base body is going to be approx $55-60 retail, almost identical to the 2 part SR5 body, plus a $9.99 grill and light set combo you can print yourself via our MyMiniFactory store.

You only have to pay $600+ if you want it built a certain way and printed by Shapeways. Like all our builds using our parts, they get stupid expensive only if you want them too.

[Toykid]

Stupid expensive...



Stupid expensive...



Stupid expensive...



It’s just what we do


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mikemcE]

Wowsers is what I say!

If you ever need a southern swamp tester send me a DM!

I wouldn’t want to paint the shell, But detail everything else.


Hang up and Drive

[tapped-out]

I didn't understand how 3d printed parts are so expensive.

[mikemcE]

Originally Posted by tapped-out

I didn't understand how 3d printed parts a so expensive.

Quality parts on a large number need a quality machine and a well drawn .stl file from CAD. High $$$ machines and wages also
Some machines extrude, others use a high end deposit practice...... more cost. Then add mark up for a profit.

Shapeways makes great parts, but at High prices. They can print metal too. It’s a new quick method with relatively new company’s starting to use it.


Hang up and Drive

[smog]

Originally Posted by Toykid

Pro-Line's base body is going to be approx $55-60 retail, almost identical to the 2 part SR5 body, plus a $9.99 grill and light set combo you can print yourself.

You only have to pay $600+ if you want it build a certain way. Like all our builds using our parts, they get stupid expensive only if you want them too.

Are there any lenses for the headlight buckets? I cannot seem to find them.

Thanks

[Topher Builds]

Originally Posted by smog

Are there any lenses for the headlight buckets? I cannot seem to find them.

Thanks

I’d guess that the lexan serves as the lens, just leave it unpainted and bolt the bucket up behind.

[Toykid]

Originally Posted by Pant Danza

I’d guess that the lexan serves as the lens, just leave it unpainted and bolt the bucket up behind.

Correct. We will have some alternate lens styles in resin, whilst high in detail they are more fragile. We found with the Axial Honcho grills we did that you can get some good results using the lexan lens, and this certainly makes the body more durable. so we applied that learning to this design.

[smog]

Originally Posted by Toykid

Correct. We will have some alternate lens styles in resin, whilst high in detail they are more fragile. We found with the Axial Honcho grills we did that you can get some good results using the lexan lens, and this certainly makes the body more durable. so we applied that learning to this design.

Gotcha. Thank you

[JDM74]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

Quality parts on a large number need a quality machine and a well drawn .stl file from CAD. High $$$ machines and wages also
Some machines extrude, others use a high end deposit practice...... more cost. Then add mark up for a profit.

Shapeways makes great parts, but at High prices. They can print metal too. It’s a new quick method with relatively new company’s starting to use it.


Hang up and Drive

I’m not sure how long shapeways parts take to print but the print times are not insignificant. I just got done printing inner fenders and the set took a total of 17 hours. I also printed a almost life size human skull and it took 1 day and 10 hours.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by tapped-out

I didn't understand how 3d printed parts are so expensive.

You have to remember that Shapeways uses industrial resin printers that cost six figures. They have to recoup the costs of those machines. On top of that, they are the best at what they do right now. I haven't found a company that makes a higher quality print and they offer so many different materials. They are at the leading edge of 3D printing and being at the leading edge is never cheap.

Plus, they have to profit while they can because, in my opinion, the days of print houses are numbered. Eventually anybody that wants one will be able to afford a resin printer for their home.

[Jim85IROC]

Originally Posted by JDM74

I’m not sure how long shapeways parts take to print but the print times are not insignificant. I just got done printing inner fenders and the set took a total of 17 hours. I also printed a almost life size human skull and it took 1 day and 10 hours.

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

You have to remember that Shapeways uses industrial resin printers that cost six figures. They have to recoup the costs of those machines. On top of that, they are the best at what they do right now. I haven't found a company that makes a higher quality print and they offer so many different materials. They are at the leading edge of 3D printing and being at the leading edge is never cheap.

Plus, they have to profit while they can because, in my opinion, the days of print houses are numbered. Eventually anybody that wants one will be able to afford a resin printer for their home.

Now let's combine what you two just said. That widget you want is going to tie up a 6-figure machine for multiple hours. When you consider the initial cost of that 6-figure machine, throw in whatever recurring regular maintenance & babysitting costs there are, then consider the relatively short life span of that equipment (either because of end-of-life issues or technological obsolescence), the end result is a minimum threshold of $$$ per hour for that machine to be profitable. Even if it only works out to $5/hr, a 10 hour print would require a $50 price tag before any of the businesses other overhead costs are factored in.

[smog]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Eventually anybody that wants one will be able to afford a resin printer for their home.

How many years off would you guess?

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by smog

How many years off would you guess?

I'd only be guessing when resin printers will be commonplace in the home. With the way technology advances I'd say within 5 years, but that's just a guess.

You can actually have one now. It all depends on the build volume, print speed, print quality you require and, of course, your budget. Monoprice has a small 120mm x 70mm x 200mm resin printer for $400 and FormLabs has one that has a build volume of 145mm x 145mm x 175mm for around $3,500. As you can see the build volumes aren't all that different, but the price difference is substantial. I don't know anything about the Monoprice printer, but the FormLabs printers produce stunning results. The parts look molded.

Here are parts that StangKill SS got printed on a FormLabs Fusion 2 printer.



Source: https://www.facebook.com/TheScaleSho...type=3&theater

[JohnRobHolmes]

Resin printers are also extremely toxic. Both the raw materials, the printed plastic, and the fumes created. I had a dlp Photon ($500), which is pretty fast and accurate for the price but also had a good bit of flex to the frame. So any hard transitions of volume made the part warp a bit, requiring tilting the parts or sticking to more organic shapes. There are some better 4k resin printers for the $1000 range, but it is still a crap shoot on screen life. Sticking to name brands is the best bet for anybody looking to produce commercially.


It's a dangerous process to deal with, health wise. Didn't want it in my shop or home, didn't want to deal with the cleanup of said toxic plastics and resins. Sold my resin printer and haven't regretted it.



The break even for a LOW COST industrial printer is $3 an hour running 24/7, plus shop overhead. A 5 year service life is typical to keep up with tech, trade the old one in and re-up on a new machine to keep your business as fast as the Joneses. So realistically you can expect $5 to $6 an hour to barely turn a profit. What Shapeways will do is load up multiple projects that are using the same material to reduce the amount of time spent in setup/ teardown between runs and time spent between layer changes. So charge $5 an hour per part and gain a little efficiency by filling up the bed with parts. It aint a fun business to run. I've done a yearly assessment of buying an industrial printer and keep circling back to a big NOPE. I would rather buy an industrial Mill or Lathe again.

[JohnRobHolmes]

More to the point of printing yourself and "saving" money, the best intersection of value would be to print on a normal printer in ABS and vapor smooth or bondo and paint it to a perfect look. Nylon is great too, but materials costs can quickly make Shapeways look pretty nice. But that is still trading a lot of time for money.

[Mongo]

So I'm starting to understand a little more the process involved and the cost that goes along with it. I really like the concept that Pro-Line and Knight Designs has introduced, and people will buy it, just not myself at this time. I was curious as to why a snorkel wasn't introduced? Most overland rigs are all gonna run snorkels.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

[jcanuck]

This thread/post mades me chuckle,it`s kinds like people are complaining about a blank canvas that ahsn`t had a work of art painted on because its a blank canvas