The NEW Thingmaker from Mattel!

I wonder if the new Thingmaker will be as useful to hobbyists as their old Vacuform was? The price is certainly right!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech...el-resurrects-thingmaker-3d-printer/80236104/

That is a great price.

I had the old Thingmaker and Vacuform (at age 5).
With the old Thingmaker - Nothing like giving a five year old a hot plate and liquid plastic!
After your plastic was heated and hardening you used a thick wire handle to lift the
hot metal mold and dunk it in tray of water to cool it down.
When the metal hit the water there was a Shhhhh! sound and steam.

In the 1960s, definitely not a safe toys for kids.

It would be nice to be able to make the "Detail Doohickies" like fin actuator armatures and gusset stabilizers.
The look of the front fins on the AIM-120 AMRAAM would benefit greatly from a 3D rendered part.

gpoehlein said:

I wonder if the new Thingmaker will be as useful to hobbyists as their old Vacuform was? The price is certainly right!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech...el-resurrects-thingmaker-3d-printer/80236104/

Click to expand...

Looks very promising, especially at that $299 price point. I already have an M3D which I acquired via their Kickstarter campaign and have been waiting for the Tiko 3D, a printer with some very innovative features. It should be shipping shorty, initially to its Kickstarter supporters which is fine by me because that allows any final bugs to be worked out before I buy one:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?127871-179-3D-printer&highlight=tiko+3d

I, unfortunately, missed out on their incredible $179 Tiko 3D Kickstarter price. I'll have to compare specs of the Tiko 3D with the Thingmaker after I find detailed specs on the Thingmaker. Mattel teaming up with Autodesk is perhaps a positive point.

I'm thinking about the things I'd like to see... Much like TR's bits and pieces. I just thought of something that would be cool for scale applications... Creating simulated screw wells and other details, like what you see on the Standard Missile in the image below.

You can print stuff alright, but don't sand with anything below 200 grit, the plastic will get really hot, burn and deform your part. Sand slowly with plastic and whenever plastic debris forms take it off.

RocketryBill said:

You can print stuff alright, but don't sand with anything below 200 grit, the plastic will get really hot, burn and deform your part. Sand slowly with plastic and whenever plastic debris forms take it off.

Click to expand...

Currently I get all the satisfaction I desire in just sanding balsa.

I want a 3D printer that produces parts that need no sanding.

And I suspect it will arrive shortly past the time I'm 6 feet under ...

Trident said:

Currently I get all the satisfaction I desire in just sanding balsa.

I want a 3D printer that produces parts that need no sanding.

And I suspect it will arrive shortly past the time I'm 6 feet under ...

Click to expand...

This^^^