As always I shall tell you what I see, provide up close high resolution photos, and turn it over to you for inspection. For me, I greatly wanted to see how artist Alain Rivard’s produced STL files for 3D Printing in studio scale would actually turn out. Using a high quality 3D print service, (which Alain himself hired out to make these parts that I purchased) the result is nothing less than amazing! These parts are perfect! The fine detail work is all present, and I can see no leftover print lines that we see with some printed items. That stated, the printer makes a huge difference, and one must do their research as to which is best to use. Below you will see the parts as I had received them back in early February, along with some comment on each model. My bottom line is that I love it! While hand crafted excellence shall never be replaced (in my opinion), I can now state with full confidence that 3D Printing is a wonderful alternative to perfection. The technology is amazing, and the artists talents are just as important as those who hand craft art works today. I am humbled by it all.. and grateful. As for using STL files for your own kits… I recommend them as a wonderful alternative if you have a 3D Printer, or 3D Printer Services that you know to be high quality.
Kurt Kuhn
Kuhn Global Incorporated
Modelers Miniatures & Magic
The studio scale TIE Fighter has always been a favorite of mine. I always think of the scene in A New Hope when the four TIE’s are battling the Millennium Falcon after the bold Death Star rescue of Princess Leia by Luke, Han, Chewy, Obiwan, C3PO and R2-D2. The way they flew in formation always stuck with me… and today I have several on display here from many different makers, and build artists because of that film. The most notable and amazing kits to date have come from NICE-N Model Designs, whom also was responsible for the eFX studio scale TIE Fighter release. Of course the NICE-N HERO version requires one to obtain the ever illusive KOOL Shade, which was fabricated back in the 1970’s. It is very hard to find. The new Kool Shade is available, but spaced differently and loses a bit of the original look. That stated, some of you may remember a company named ICONS Replicas. ICONS released a studio scale TIE Fighter, among other pieces. NICE-N’s original TIE Fighter Kit Releases over a decade ago much resembled the ICONS wings… which were made solid. The same was done on the eFX release for the ease of reproducing in mass quantity. I am fortunate enough to own every version mentioned thus far, plus yet another not mentioned, and I am able to compare them. I brought those releases up because the 3D printed TIE Fighter Wings made from Alain Rivard’s STL files are also solid. I suppose just the wing stars could be a 3D print option if it were made so by Alain for those who would want to recreate the Kool Shade look accurately. However, what Alain did make is very well done, and the 3D printer utilized made very clean detail work of the wings as well as the highly detailed wing stars.. not to mention the wing edges. When examined closely, the wings edges are clean with three separated layers, just as it should look if hand crafted. A very accurate look. While I thought of placing other makers studio scale complete TIE Fighters next to these parts for comparison, I chose not to do so as we are showing these parts today for the purpose of showing what quality can come from using an STL file. The parts turned out beautiful…. using a top of the line Printer of course. Alain even made a “mount” part that is very heavy duty. All of the parts are correctly sized, and detailed. A beautiful kit made from Alain’s STL files!
The TIE Interceptor… the Ferrari of TIE Fighters… at least up until Episode 6…lol. This design has always intrigued me with a feeling of awesomeness when I view it. As stated above, the most notable and amazing studio scale kits of this model have come from NICE-N Model Designs. I have one here staring at me in it’s beautiful TIE Fighter Blue that artist R.L. Bleecker painted upon it. It is truly fantastic to view. That stated, again I am impressed with the quality that Alain Rivard’s STL files achieved with a top of the line 3D Printer. All the parts are so crisp and clean, and fit perfectly together… like the cockpit (which is two pieces in this kit). Like the TIE Fighter kit, this one also comes with a mounting block that looks like it will fit behind the cockpit module. The wings are very strong! The material design of the wings looks amazing as does the entire model kit. I am looking forward to these builds being done.
Kurt Kuhn
USA
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Alain Rivard
Sherbrooke, Quebec
Canada
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