Terraforming Mars and 3D Hubs

The next several articles talk about the convergence of 3D Printing and a traditional board game.

Almost two years ago I made my printers available on a service called 3D Hubs.  I did not do this to make money (in fact I donate at least 50% to the MS Society and the other 50% is used for expanding my collection of exotic filament).  What I did it for was the experience of working with other people's designs and subject matter.  It is this latter aspect that I now write.

#1

The first job that I did is what got me interested in the intersection of 3D Printing and the world of models (tanks!).  A lot of the blog to this point has been dedicated to that topic.   My latest job was to print some tiles for the board game Terraforming Mars.  The tiles that I printed for the customer are shown by image #1.  They were designed by Frank Straus and made available here on boardgamegeek (signup is required).  They are a really nice piece of work.

Just as with the tanks order this one hits a spot for me in that I like science fiction and terraforming makes for an interesting story, and in this case, game.  There is also an overlap with the whole modeling topic.  So I am going a little bit over the top.  Not exactly unusual!

#2

The first thing that I did was to design a new piece to replace one of the tiles that were part of Franks Collection.  I suspect that I could print the original if I spent some time tweaking my printer but I thought a more easily printed version might be a good idea.  There are two versions with the one on the left being more of a challenge to print.

Somewhere along the line I had found the instructions for the game and decided that I liked the concept well enough to buy one.  There in lies the rub.  They are not for sale anywhere except on the used market and then only for a LOT of money.  The game is being re-released next month so I will be getting a copy.  This is probably a good thing as I have started printing a set of tiles for myself.

#3

There are two things that I am going to be playing with.  The first is the choice of filament for the tiles.  This might be a case where some of my inventory of filament gets some exploration.  The second is the chance to paint the tiles.  I have done a little bit of painting of tanks and do enjoy it.  It is distracting!  Here is a sample that I did while trying to convince myself whether or not to get a copy of the game.

Selection of filaments will be the next article.