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Comment by ffffwe3rq352y3 | Hacker News Reader

This could be a big deal for games Games Workshop and Warhammer like games in general. I don't think this could copy model because they are so small and detailed but the technology is advancing quickly! Why bother buying the models when I can 3d print them OR port the 3d file into TTS and play online?

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I wish I had a system like this when I was a kid, and spent a the equivalent of a few hundred euros over the course of a few years to buy just a few of these miniatures. These prices were simply outrageous, especially outside the UK.

Because buying the models even at GW prices is likely cheaper than the time and effort necessary to do a good job of printing them. Model piracy does occur but it takes the from of Chinese recasters making molds directly from the model sprues. That all being said there is a market for this and my guess is the BOM cost of the hardware necessary to make a 3D scanner capable of resolving the detail of a tabletop mini is in the $10-$30 range right now. No way there's enough market to foot the bill of SW dev tho.

Yeah with the current tech it isn't really worth it to print stuff unless its like an entire army and you would be ok not using GW models. However, in the future I'm betting this will change and It will be much cheaper to print the models at home or have someone you know do it!

You can search for 3D scan in your app store for current products and then try it.

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