FigurePrints Brings Fun to 3D Printing

 Ask any geek what World of Warcraft (WoW) is and you’ll probably be treated to either raves or rants. Briefly put, WoW is a multiplayer online video game in which players create characters to take part in fantasy genre adventures. Each character can be created with different features and can be clothed and equipped differently, resulting in an individual character that can look much different from ones controlled by other players.

Blizzard Entertainment, the company behind WoW, has further tapped into their customer base’s imagination by releasing sculpted plastic figurines of common character types. This created a broad range of figures that appealed to a mass interest. FigurePrints instead caters to the individual.

Using a Z Corp Spectrum 510, FigurePrints creates custom figurines upon request. Interested customers go to the FigurePrints site where their character information is drawn directly from in-game models. The information is used to create a 3D portrait of the character. Further customization is possible by altering what the character is wearing, what sort of pose the character is in, and even what sort of base the customer prefers.

Once the customer is satisfied with their character, they proceed with inputting their ordering information and the blueprint is sent to the FigurePrints manufacturing team. From there, the figurine is printed out in full color. Customers usually receive their finished product in about a month.

It's one way that 3D printing services are being brought to the masses. The number of WoW subscriptions was reported to be 11.4 million last year.

Below you’ll find a video about the FigurePrints process.

Source: FigurePrints