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Free 3d printed miniatures


Miniatures best STL files for 3D printing・Cults

ford falcon supercars kit

€10

volvo fh eletric

€13

Conan the Barbarian

€3 -30% €2.10

long haired chihuahua

€10

volkswagen amarok

€5.79

Shipping container 28mm 1/64 scale

€1

Sd Kfz 7 3D print model

€22

Sd Kfz 7 3D print model

€24

sd kfz 7 1 3D print model

€35

postal car

€22

FIRE ENGINE

€22

fire engine

€22

opel p4

€22

retro sport cat

€22

opel

€22

Street Light, Street Lamp, Lamp Post

€0. 50

opel

€22

mercedes benz 170

€22

mercedes

€22

mercedes 540

€19

mercedes 260d 3D print model

€22

horch 3D print model

€22

bmw 237 cabriolet

€22

Lupercal Pattern Bolters

€0.96

Jackalope

€3.86

SM Pulse Weapon Set

€1.93

Egyptian Goddess Bastet

€4.63 -50% €2. 31

SM Plasma Pistol

Free

Henry Ford founder of the Ford Motor Company

€12

ford mustang 2022 nascar

€6

toyota camry 2022 nascar

€6

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 2022 NASCAR

€6

Simple Void Armour legs

€3.50

OMEGA SPAWN

€19.94

KINTARO

€19.15

MINIATURE PARTS (BOX)

€2

Star wielders

€4.58

Enzo Ferrari Italian race car driver

€12

Strawberry House

€3. 86

TinkerBell 3D Print

€19.57

STAR WARS LEGION CIS B1 BATTLEDROID Squad

€10.30 -11% €9.17

Orc bust

€4.50

dodge monaco

€6

Cat Archer

Free

international durastar

€5

Cosmos dragon

€5

cupra formentor

€6

Cartoon Goat

€3.86

Best Way to Get Miniature 3D Printing Files (D&D, Warhammer)

So you got yourself a sweet resin printer and now you are ready to print some miniatures for Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer or your favourite skirmish game. The problem is: you do not have any files to print!

In this article, I go through how to get some good miniature 3D printing files. I explain what you should avoid and what you should look for and I tell you the best place to acquire miniature 3D printing files for your specific needs and use case.

Note: I am not sponsored or affiliated with any of the sites or creators mentioned in this post. I am merely a person that use those services and these are my opinions on what is best.

Places where you can get miniature 3D printing files

So there are quite a few options when it comes to getting your hands on miniature 3D printing files. The files are either free, something you buy on-demand, part of a subscription model, or part of a Kickstarter bulk deal.

The sites and places where you will get the files will be via the following types:

  • A Patreon subscription where you pay each month to receive a batch of miniature 3D printing files.
  • Websites where a specific company are selling their miniature 3D printing files
  • Platforms where you can buy files from various companies and sculptors.
  • Kickstarters where you buy a big bundle of 3D files.

Each method of acquiring miniature 3D printing files has various benefits and drawbacks. What works best for you depends on your use case. If you have no idea what to print, check out this page with 3D printer project ideas.

This is how I get my miniature 3D printing files:

  • I am a subscriber of various monthly Patreons. I have picked those subscriptions because they provide the style of sculpts that I like and because they give me a steady stream of miniatures of a qualitry I know I can trust each month. Sometimes the theme of the miniatures of the month is not to my liking – then I can either pause my sub or just stick with regardless. The amount of miniatures you get via these subscribtions is high and the cost is low. They are often very good quality.
  • At times I might have a specific need for a miniature for say my Dungeons and Dragons party. I will go to one of the platforms and search for the miniature I need and buy that specific file. It can also happen that I find a free one I like, but it is quite rare.
  • At times I will also invest in a Kickstarter what types ofr miniatures I like. As an example I have done that with the Titan Forge Miniatures Kickstarters and the Kickstarter for Hagglethorn Hollow to get some good terrain. These Kickstarters are most of the time a good bargain, but in most cases you will need to wait to recieve your files. But it can be a good way of building up a quick library of files for printing.

The type of miniature 3d printing files you need and the quality of the files

So what you are looking for are STL files that you can print on your printer (preferably a high-quality resin printer). If you do now know what else to do, our beginner’s guide to 3D printing miniatures will likely help you out a ton.

Get 3d printing files with supports ready made

If you want to make it as easy as possible on yourself, you should get miniature 3D printing files that come with “supports” already made in the file. The supports are there to make sure the print goes smoothly and nothing breaks off. If supports are not made for you, you will have to make them yourself. Not only is this time-consuming, but if something goes wrong with the print it might be the supports did you messed up (this leaves you with more things that can go wrong and more things you need to test to figure out the problem). I just hate doing supports, so I almost never buy files that are not pre-supported.

Bought vs free 3D printing files

You might have noticed in my description above that I rarely look for free files. There are two reasons for that:

  1. Free 3D files are often sculpted by amateurs that are just creating the 3D sculpt for fun or trying to get better. While this is cool, it also means that the finished result will most likely not look super good. With the sheer abundance of extremely good looking miniatures you can print, I think this is a bad option. For me, low quality sculpts leads to a poor painting experience.
  2. Free files will most likely not have supports on them when you get them. So while they are free, they are more time consuming to print.
  3. If you print big miniatures (think monsters) they are going to use up a lot of resin. If you buy premium 3D printing files they will most likely hollow the model for you, making you save quite a bit of resin and money in the long run.

There are of course exceptions to the rule. As an example, these 3D printing files for Dungeons and Dragons miniatures are free and super awesome!

Good Patreons for getting miniature 3D printing files

Patreon is my favorite way of getting my miniature files. I just love that steady stream of miniatures each month and it forces me to paint types of models I would never otherwise have touched. Below are some of my current favorite Patreons. This is by no means an exhaustive list (just go search on Patreon yourself).

All Patreons below do it in sort of the same way: each month you are a member you get access to a new batch of 3D printing files in a particular theme. If you want something from the old months, most of them sell it via Myminifactory (usually at a discount for Patreons). Most Patreons will also have some sort of welcome package with minis in it. It is possible to see, from the Patreons open posts, what the miniatures for the current month is.

Totally not a Stormcast EternalA Stormcast Eternal from age of Sigmar

I have on purpose not included any Patreons that borders way too close on any copyright infringement stuff. The images above are an example of what I would consider cutting it way close to stealing from an IP (the one is a Patreon selling his files the other is a Stormcast Eternal from GW).

If you just want a big old list of a lot of creators / studios making 3D printing files: this list is great!

Titan Forge Miniatures August 2020 release

Titan Forge Miniatures

Titan Forge Miniatures are by far my favorite Patreon for my miniature 3D files need. I recently went through my collection of files and I can see that I own every one they have made (Patreon and Kickstarter).

For me, they make a perfect combination of miniatures. I really like their style of sculpts. Some say they are bit blocky or bland, but I guess I just like them!

Titan Forge Miniatures September 2021 release

Each month they have a theme and the miniatures are made with that theme in mind. You get terrain and miniatures in that theme + a few heroes for use in say Dungeons and Dragons. I use them for making warbands for skirmish games, for DnD miniatures, and even to add units for my Warhammer armies.

For me, it is a good combination of big miniatures and smaller miniatures, monsters, and humonaids. They do not do busts, so if that is a must you are better off looking elsewhere.

Welcome package included.

Some of my favorite months of Titan Forge have been the Vampires and The Tavern (see images)

Titan Forge Miniatures May 2020 release

Titan Forge Miniatures Patreon

Titan Forge Miniatures Myminifactory shop

Artisan Guild release

Artisan Guild

Artisan Guild produces some very high-quality miniatures and their Patreon is super popular. For me, I only sub when it is something I really like. Each month is less diverse in what models you get, as it is very much the same style of the model with different weapons and loadouts.

Each release they do follow a specific pattern with 6 modular models, 4 special models (many times cavalry), 2 heroes, 1 boss or epic thing and some terrain.

They also have a welcome package.

Artisan Guild release

You can check out each month’s release via their Youtube Channel as well.

Artisan Guild Patreon

Artisan Guild Myminifactory shop

Archvillain Games

Archvillain Games is another super popular Patreon with monthly releases. These are a bit more grim dark and focus more heavily on monsters. If that is your jam, I can highly recommend them. They are perfect for a Dungeon Master trying to spruce up their collection with some nasty minis!

As is custom, they include a welcome package with minis. Also, as you can see from the images, they are very good at rendering the 3D files in a way so they look really good!

Archvillain Games Patreon

Archvillain Games Myminifactory shop

Punga Miniatures February 2021 release

Punga Miniatures

Punga Miniatures makes miniature 3D printing files designed for use in “Fantasy Football” (read: alternative teams for Blood Bowl). Some of the miniatures I really like, others are a bit off. They are more hit and miss, so this is a subscription I have on and off depending on the teams coming out. They mostly split the teams they release up in several different parts, so to get everything for a team you might need to sub for 2-3 months (but there are a lot of extra for the team you get).

Punga Miniatures November 2021 release

If you are into Blood Bowl, this is definitely a way of getting good alternative models or Big Guy models that are not from games workshop.

Punga Miniatures Patreon

Punga Miniatures Myminifactory shop

Platforms / Sites where you can buy or find free miniature 3D printing files

There are a lot of platforms where various creators can sell their files or give them away for free. These are the ones you should know about if you are into miniature printing.

Myminifactory

Myminifactory is my favorite platform for buying single miniatures. Creators set up a shop and you can buy from all of them via one site and login. Most of the big Patreons are also on there selling their miniatures (and if you are a Patreon you can get a huge discount on earlier releases). The common theme here is high-quality bought miniatures. Compared to the other platforms, Myminfactory really caters for the miniature side of things (so not a lot of weird other 3D printing stuff).

It is a good place to discover new creators because you can more easily see all of the miniatures they have made. There are also frequent sales from various stores.

One of the greatest things is that the things you buy are connected with your user, so it gets easy to figure out what files you have and find the one you are looking for (or just browsing your own collection once you get a huge list of files). Some Patreons have also connected their monthly sub, so you also get access to the miniatures on Myminifactor (which is a blessing if you forget to download them before the month ends).

You can also join the “Tribe” of a particular store. Most of the time this works in the same way as joining a Patreon. Because I am used to using Patreon for other things, I have not tried the tribe method.

If you buy a lot of stuff via Myminifactory, they also have a subscription program. For me, it looks kinda weird, as it only gives access to buying 3D printing stuff cheaper.

They also have an app, but it seems worse than just using a browser (you cannot buy things in the app as an example).

Thingiverse

Thingiverse is one of those sites: you either hate or love it and most people will mention it when they talk about 3D printing. The good thing is that everything on there is free. But it has a lot of stuff and most of it is not aimed at making good-looking miniatures. But you can find some gems on there, especially if you have a plastic printer as well. Not a place I would recommend you start, but once you get the hang of things (and can do manual supports), you can get some cool free stuff here.

Gambody site (maybe a biiit close to original models?)

Gambody

Gambody is a bit like Myminifactory, but the miniatures are less me style so have not used it much. The minis are all super high quality, so if that is your jam you can find some awesome things on there. Looking over some of the minis you will definitely see some that infringe on copyright (hello Space Marines), see yeah now you are warned. Most miniatures cost quite a lot on there, so definitely not a cheap option.

Cults3D

Cults3D is yet another platform for free and paid files. There is quite a lot of trademark and IP infringement on there, so if that is your thing it is likely one of the good places for you.

Pinshape

Pinshape does not have a lot of the things I am looking for, but it has some good ones. Not super miniature focused.

3DWargaming

If you are not into fantasy or sci-fi stuff, 3DWargaming might be your jam. The historical miniature aspect is not something we spend a lot of time on here on the site, but that is mainly because none of us actually play it.

Hero Forge

Hero Forge is a slightly different beast. You make custom miniatures that they can ship to you or that you can print Hero Forge miniatures yourself.

Wargame Vault

Wargame Vault is great if you are into historic wargaming.

Thingiverse

Thingiverse is the place your grandparents know you can get free 3D printing files. Mostly for FDM printers and not a lot of mini specific things. A lot of free stuff, but beware of super crappy files.

Thangs

Thangs is an agregrated search thing, where it find files from other websites. Pretty neat.

Websites where you can buy miniature 3D printing files

Loot Studios February 2022

Loot Studios

Loot Studious do a “Patreon like” subscription service, but just through their own website. That has some pros and cons, but I tend to subscribe on the months when I think there is something good. The price is a bit higher than other subs, but the quality is also a bit higher. Can totally recommend them, really like what they do.

The minis come in a small scale and a big scale and the big miniatures are hollowed out beforehand (saving you resin).

Printable Scenery

I have bought a few things in the past from Printable Scenery on backed some of their Kickstarters. I think the sculpts are awesome and they have a host of different designs. I think the price is a bit on step site, so I always buy from them in bulk or via a discount.

Waylayer

Waylayers sells sci-fi wargaming terrain. Not my thing right now, so I have not tried them

Storing and managing your 3D printing miniature files

So I just took a look at my folder with all 3D printing files. At is closing in on 300GB and I actually think I have quite a small collection. 3D printing files can be huge and once you get a lot it can be hard to manage. So from the start, you need some sort of system or else you can quickly get in trouble ( I know i messed up and lost a lot of files).

You need a system my friend!

A way of storing all your files

So most places will just let you download the files and store them however you want. While that is cool, it also means that they are not storing them for you. This is the case with most Patreons – which also means that you need to make sure you download the files for the month or they might be lost to you forever. Also, if you lose your files they are lost.

At first, I just uploaded my files to google drive or whatever. It quickly become clear that I needed way more space than any clod service could provide for a good price.

So right now I have settled for the following option (which works out great):

  1. Store it on a big hard drive (speed is not that important here, but size is) on my pc. I have a solid folder structure with a lot sub-folders for each Patreon, the month and so on. Should be easy to find what you need when you need it.
  2. Do a backup of computer with Backblaze (as I also create content it is the best way to backup A LOT of data). Backing up unlimited amounts of data is the key here.
  3. Do manual backup once in a while and store it on a big external harddrive and store that drive somewhere safe.

A way of knowing what miniatures you have acces to via files

So one thing is to have a good system in place for storing the files, another thing is to browse the files. I find it best to have images of all the files I own, preferably rendered in a nice way (the ones you get from the Patreon subs are very ideal). Right now I store mine in Google Photos, just because it is easy to browse every miniature I can print and I can easily send a link to the images if I need to share it with someone else.

Other great resources:
  • 3D printing miniatures guide
  • Best 3D printer for miniatures
  • Mars 3 Pro Review

3D printer models

Looking for 3D printer models? The Internet is filled with sites that offer them for free. We have collected the TOP 10 catalogs that you can use to search and download free models in STL format. We hope you can find what you are looking for.

  1. Yeggi
  2. Yobi 3D
  3. STLfinder

→ myminifactory.com

My Mini Factory is a 3D model depository operated by iMakr, an online store that sells 3D printers and accessories. It also has one of the biggest 3D printer shops in Central London. The site contains 3D models designed by professionals, and all models stored on it are checked for quality. You can also make a request for the desired model, which their designers will create and put in the public domain. Billing itself as a 3D printing social network, MyMiniFactory is a thriving community of makers who love to showcase their creations. Users vote for the best models, which allows popular creations to rise to the top of the list and gain popularity. The site presents models that are stored on its social network, as well as outside it, for example, on the Thingiverse and YouMagine sites.

→ thingiverse.com

The most popular and famous site among 3D printer users, Thingiverse is owned by MakerBot Industries, the creator of the popular Replicator 3D printer series. The site allows users to store and share 3D model files that are used with 3D printers. It's a very popular site and has a large community of people hosting various categories of files on it. So if you're looking for "cool" printable stuff, Thingiverse is worth a visit. It is a portal designed to provide its users with ways to share their designs and to help print 3D creations. The site has a system that tries to find out what you like. The more you interact with the site, downloading and evaluating various developments, the better its recommendations will be.

→ 3dshook.com

Another online community for 3D printing hobbyists showcasing interesting 3D printer accessories, electronics and most importantly 3D models. The site contains many very interesting models of cars and buildings, as well as various add-ons and spare parts for your 3D printer. A huge catalog of paid and free models for a 3D printer. There are original unique products. Convenient search, navigation, rubricator. 3DShook has over 40 categories and adds over 100 new models to its collection every month. On 3DShook you can always find something for your home, animals, kids or something special for yourself.

→ youmagine.com

YouMagine catalog for Cube series consumer 3D printers manufactured by 3D Systems. The site mainly offers various ways to buy 3D printer supplies and files, but it also has a number of cool free items available, mostly in the Kids section. Some of these elements can be customized by children using an online application. The company offers 3D modeling and publishing tools on its website for both hobbyists and professionals. The site offers a content warehouse where the community hosts and shares models. Registration is required to download files.

→ 123dapp.com

Autodesk 123D is a suite of computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D modeling tools aimed specifically at hobbyists. Along with the toolkit, Autodesk also has a website where users can record their designs and share them with other users. Many of these models can be downloaded and printed using Autodesk as a utility to interface with the MakerBot 3D printer. The goal of the Autodesk website is to "help engineers build products faster." The site offers tools to help them collaborate on their files. For the casual 3D printing enthusiast, the best part of the site is the large library of free files created by a community of over a million engineers. Registration on the site is required, but the number of files that are then available is worth it.

→ cgtrader.com

Being primarily a place to buy and sell a variety of 3D models (not necessarily just those designed for 3D printers), CGTrader does offer a selection of free models that can be used on 3D printers. The site has a system that tries to find out what you like. The more you interact with the site, downloading and evaluating various developments, the body will have better recommendations.

→ cults3d.com

A French community and marketplace where developers can share or sell their creations. The site has a collection of high quality models that you can download. Users can follow the work of the designers they like and get instant updates when a new creation is posted on the site. The site's name, Cults, is a backwards spelling of St. Luc, the patron saint of artists. The site also supports English. This is a relatively new community, so the number of its users is not very large yet.

→ instructables.com

The Instructables website is a community where users can share their DIY projects. This also includes products obtained using 3D printers. The site also provides explanations and instructions describing how to build 3D elements, and some designers take the time to answer questions from site members. Instructables allows users to store and organize their 3D printing projects. This is done to help them work together in the future. You can think of this site as a GitHub 3D printing site where users can share their files, discuss projects, and participate in them. The site also offers the ability to make a request, so if you can't find what you're looking for, you can ask the site's community about it.

→ pinshape.com

Pinshape, a marketplace for 3D models, is similar in style (layout, look, and ability to capture likes) to the well-known site Pinterest. You can buy models from designers, or download them for printing yourself if they are offered for free. Pinshape allows users to host and share 3D model files on it. Basically, this site acts as an online store where you can buy 3D printed parts, or order your own 3D model to be printed. But if you look closely enough, you can find people who sell their products and also offer the files you need so you can print them yourself.

→ 3dfilemarket.com

A new and growing repository of 3D File Market models. All models are tested for suitability for 3D printing. You can download as many models as you like without registration, although you must provide your email address to access the 3D model files. This is a very simple site aimed at being a repository of model files for 3D printers, and nothing more. The basic design of the site allows users to put files on it for public access, and download files that they would like to use. The site contains many small, simple 3D models ready to be printed, as well as a good selection of everyday items and even spare parts for 3D printers.

Search engines for 3D models in various formats, including STL for a 3D printer. Use queries in English, these search services collect information about models from all over the Internet.

→ yeggi.com

Yeggi is a search engine that will browse major 3D printing sites to find files compatible with 3D printers. You can also browse some popular searches to get an idea of ​​what the community is currently interested in.

→ yobi3d.com

When in doubt, use yobi3D to search for files that match the desired 3D printer. This tool is useful if you want to search for one thing across all sites at once. A very convenient format filter, fast search, high-quality previews and stl models prepared for 3D printing for printing.

→ stlfinder.com

This is another STLfinder that surfs the web looking for 3D printing. To select files compatible with 3D printers, he goes through many 3D modeling sites.

Examples of positive and negative applications of the 3D printer

Every year 3D printing becomes more and more popular. The 3D printer, as a tool for turning a digital model into a physical object, is gaining popularity, outperforming other production methods in many ways due to its affordability.

But do not forget that a 3D printer is just a tool. A lot depends on how this tool will be used.

Available 3D printing technologies

All 3D technologies can be conditionally divided into 4 types.

Layer by layer welding with molten material.

The principle of operation is similar to the familiar glue gun. The print media is melted to a semi-liquid state in the print head and applied with a nozzle to the print surface where it solidifies. This is how the finished 3D model “grows” layer by layer on the printing table. Not only thermoplastics can be used as consumables, but, for example, chocolate, icing, concrete, etc.

This is the most common type of printer. Inexpensive FDM printers are often used as home assistants. This is facilitated by an inexpensive price and a variety of consumables.

Selective curing of resin (photopolymer printers).

The material used is a photopolymer resin that hardens under the influence of UV radiation. As a source of UV radiation, a thin laser beam, a DLP projector or an LCD screen with a UV matrix, or any other design can be used. For example, some industrial 3D printers apply a photopolymer using thin nozzles and immediately illuminate it with a UV lamp.

Previously, these printers were quite expensive. Today, with advances in technology, photopolymer 3D printing has become affordable and photoresin printers have become popular as home hobby printers.

Selective bonding of powdered material.

On the print head of the printer there are several nozzles through which a binder is supplied, which is selectively applied to the powdered material. Various materials can be used as a material: for example, gypsum or metal powders. But gypsum is most often used.

Since dye can be added to the "glue" during printing, such printers are usually used for the production of color demonstration models or souvenirs.

Laser sintering of powdered materials.

The youngest technology, but with great potential for use in large-scale production. With the help of a laser or a heated print head, selective sintering of the metal powder occurs in an environment filled with an inert gas.

These are already serious industrial printers that are used for the production of functional metal assemblies and parts. Currently, such 3D printers are actively used in the aerospace industry.

Unethical use

3D piracy

Where there is duplication of objects, there are always disputes about copyright and piracy.

The production of any product is a long and painstaking work, and often more than one person. Before you get a finished decorative product, for example, a figurine, you need to think through everything to the smallest detail. Usually, before modeling, the artist draws a lot of sketches, the details of clothing and accessories are thought out. Only after that the 3D modeler gets to work and begins painstakingly recreating the 3D model.

Functional models are often redesigned by engineers after the prototype has been made. There can be a very long way between the initial idea and a stable working mechanism. And it’s very disappointing when such work is simply copied and posted in the public domain.

LEGO

It was one of the first mass manifestations of "3D piracy". At that time, 3D printing was only gaining popularity, and many users, having printed a dozen figurines, were looking for a useful application for a 3D printer. Given the low plastic consumption, the printed LEGO blocks were very inexpensive.


3D printed LEGO bricks

Despite the far from ideal surface, many were satisfied with such a copy. Some have argued that the accuracy of a home FDM printer is not enough for the bricks to fit well with the original LEGO, but for most users everything fit perfectly.

At the moment, LEGO is actively removing models that copy the original sizes of the famous bricks and men from the network. On popular sites, only custom elements of LEGO-men and LECO are left that are not the original size.


Custom Heads for LEGO Men

Games Workshop

Games Workshop, which produce the most expensive table soldiers in the world, sued Thomas Valenti (USA) back in 2012. Thomas has modeled, printed and made publicly available several miniatures based on the Warhammer universe. The court sided with Games Workshop and the models had to be removed.


3D Printed Chaplain


3D model of a chaplain from Warhammer 40k

Games Workshop went one step further by banning fans from creating art and other work based on the original settings and characters. As a boycott, users of the Warhammer 40,000 section on Reddit are proposing to abandon the company's products as much as possible - print game figures on 3D printers, use paints from other companies, or switch to other universes.

Hollywood

The production of modern films is not a cheap pleasure, and film companies try to recoup their costs not only by showing them in cinemas, but, for example, by producing souvenirs.

DreamWorks has an entire consumer goods division that helps recoup the cost of a movie if it fails at the box office. Film companies recognize that fan-made productions often surpass the official "souvenir" in accuracy and detail.


DC Batman fan model

Many film companies are closely following the development of 3D printed merchandise, but do not yet know how to respond. For example, Paramount Pictures, Marvel Studios and Warner Bros. They themselves began to upload models for 3D printing to the network, before the release of new films.

Weapon Seal

Weapon Seal

24-year-old law student Cody Wilson was the first to make a gun on a 3D printer. Cody designed and 3D printed a combat pistol on his own. After 8 years, the idea of ​​making firearms using 3D printing has not only not died out, but flared up with a bright fire.

It started in Texas in 2012. It was there that the company Defense Distributed was registered, the ideology of which was the development of models of firearms that anyone could make on a home 3D printer.

Guns

Liberator

The first “swallow” was the Liberator - a compact plastic pistol printed on a 3D printer from ABS plastic. The only thing that could not be made on a 3D printer was the striker, which was successfully replaced by an ordinary nail. The first printed pistol was made on a Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer.


Liberator - the name is borrowed from a cheap pistol that was developed in 1942 in the USA.

The Liberator fired a rather weak .380 ACP cartridge and could withstand a maximum of ten shots.


Failed Liberator

Zig Zag

In the spring of 2014, a video appeared on the Internet with a man shooting from a plastic revolver with a huge drum. The video greatly stirred up all of Japan.

Zig Zag

Unknown was Yoshitomo Imura (Yoshitomo Imura) - 28-year-old employee of the Shonan Institute of Technology. Despite Imuru's claim that he fired blanks on the tape, he was arrested and sentenced to 2 years in prison.

The Zig Zag design was a reimagining of revolvers popular in the 19th century, which used a rotating .38 caliber barrel block mounted on a pistol grip.

Washbear

In 2015, mechanical engineering student James Patrick posted a video online showing a 3D printed PM522 Washbear in operation.


PM522 Washbear

The PM522 visually resembled a children's pistol from a science fiction movie, but at the same time the pistol had a strong and rigid frame. Washbear is also safer than its predecessors. At rest, the firing mechanism was not in line with the primer, so the PM522 was protected from accidental firing, for example, when dropped. The only metal part was the nail that replaced the striker.

Rifle

Grizzly

Canadian with the nickname CanadianGunNut, ThreeD Ukulele or simply Matthew, inspired by the Liberator project, designed and posted his project - Grizzly. Grizzly is an ABS+ plastic rifle. It took the Canadian 3 days to design the rifle and another 27 hours to manufacture it using a Stratasys Dimension 1200es industrial 3D printer.


Grizzly 9 Rifle0189

The first version of the Grizzly had a smooth and straight .22 barrel. But this turned out to be not a very good decision, and the barrel cracked after the first shot. Subsequently, Matthew replaced the barrel with a tapered barrel with rifling inside.

Plastic “cutting” could not affect the ballistics of the bullet in any way, but added strength to the barrel.

Shotgun

Liberator 12k

The Liberator 12k is a 12-round shotgun made by a well-known, in narrow circles, enthusiast in the world of 3D printing - Jeff Rodriguez.

Liberator 12k

Rodriguez managed to create a simple and at the same time reliable design, "mixing" a pistol and a pump-action shotgun in the design of the Liberator 12k. A huge plus for manufacturing and reliability was the absence of small parts in the shotgun mechanism.

Since the plastic was not strong enough, Rodriguez reinforced the design of the Liberator 12k with metal pins and added metal tubes inside the barrel and drum. The metal parts were purchased from a regular hardware store, so anyone could easily make a Liberator 12k with their home 3D printer.

Semi-automatic weapons

Shuty-MP1

The first sign was the Shuty-MP1, a semi-automatic pistol made by an amateur gunsmith with the nickname Derwood, in April 2017.

Shuty-MP1


Shuty AP-9

The Shuty AP-9 still uses a pistol barrel, but the trigger and return spring are taken from the civilian version of the M16. This improved the reliability of the rifle.

Ethical use

Despite the negative examples of application, 3D printing is actively used in many areas, helping to save time and create products that cannot be produced by other methods.

Medicine

Implants

Metal-printing 3D printers are actively used in medicine for the manufacture of titanium implants. For example, a patient needs to have a hip joint implant made. According to the results of CT, the necessary area of ​​bone tissue replacement is agreed with the doctors and a prosthesis model is created that is ideal for this patient. After all approvals, the finished model is sent for printing.


3D model of implant

The main areas of 3D printing of implants in medicine are maxillofacial surgery, traumatology, orthopedics, oncology and veterinary medicine. A big advantage over the classical methods of manufacturing implants is the ability to create a cellular or porous structure. This allows for better integration of the prosthesis into the bone tissue.


Samples of printed implants and pins

Dentures

The manufacture of even a relatively simple traction prosthesis is a rather laborious and lengthy process. 3D printing has reduced costs and accelerated the production of prostheses. In addition, it became possible to customize the prosthesis.


Customized child prostheses

Some enthusiasts are modeling and posting models and detailed instructions for assembling traction prosthetic hands and fingers in the public domain so that any user can print and make a prosthesis at home.


Simple traction prosthetic hand model

Production

Building custom drones

Aerialtronics is a small Dutch company that specializes in building unique, customized drones. Aerialtronics manufactures and develops unique drones, the characteristics of which can vary depending on the needs of the customer.

Initially, a basic concept model was designed, which consists of a platform and a set of elements that can be changed at the request of the customer. Changes can affect almost any part of the drone. The customer can choose the number of motors and their power, payload, flight time, supported software and much more.


Aerialtronics base model

But any, even minor changes in the characteristics and design of the drone required the manufacture of new elements and design changes. Classical manufacturing methods turned out to be quite laborious and long. To save time and money, a Stratasys uPrint SE Plus 3D printer was purchased.


Drone Assembly

Thanks to 3D printing, it was possible not only to speed up production, but also to devote more time to improving individual components, because the finished model is ready the next morning. Rapid manufacturing allows you to print a part, test it, make the necessary changes to the 3D model and make a new sample. Aerialtronics engineers manage to manufacture and test 8-10 variants of a part in a few days in order to achieve maximum quality.

Prototyping

Prototyping of gas turbines.

Prototyping by traditional methods is often time consuming and expensive. Because of this, the price of an error in calculations and 3D modeling can be very expensive.

For example, the production of turbine engine parts is usually based on careful preparatory calculations, but even this does not always prevent errors in the production of a test prototype. After all, even the most modern software methods cannot replace physical tests. But due to the high cost (over $20,000), it becomes impossible to produce multiple prototypes for testing.

Turbine Technologies (Wisconsin, USA) and its subsidiary Kutrieb Research have found a way out - 3D printing. Thanks to the 3D Systems ProJet 3D printer, it was possible to reduce the cost of prototyping by about 10 times to $2,000.


3D model and printed part of turbine

A turbine model is printed on a wax 3D printer, tested and then cast from metal. In addition to the cost, it was possible to significantly speed up production.

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