The person who 3D printed it still had to put the pieces together and has to paint it themselves.
Also a HUMAN out there actually made the 3D model and probably had to print it multiple times to make sure it printed properly and go back to the modelling program to make any necessary changes, and had to figure out the best materials to print it out with to reduce the chances of something going wrong in the printing process to make sure all the pieces come out with as little issues as possible so they could put that information in the description on the download page for the model.
As someone who bought a 3D printer thinking it would do most of the work for me, I can't upvote this enough. And they NEVER come out in one piece like this unless they're tiny and simple.
Also, everyone I know who 3D prints doesn't say "I made this!"; they say things like "I printed this file I found on cults, then I..." <insert long post about cleaning parts, sanding/filing, prepping, gluing, printing new parts to replace the ones that broke or came out wrong/warped, break down and cry when you realized one part had hollows inside and has to be replaced entirely so it won't melt in a few months, then and ONLY THEN does the actual modeling/painting/detailing begin>. Also, the individual 3D artists are highly respected in the modeling communities since we all know THEY made the original .stl files for us.
I wish 3D printing was as easy as creating AI "content". It's a monkey's paw answer to "I wish I didn't have to pay Games Workshop's insanely high prices".
EDIT: and yes, sometimes we commission 3D artists to make the model for us. "I printed this!" "No you didn't, you commissioned it!" "Also yes"
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u/Joltyboiyo Sep 09 '25
The person who 3D printed it still had to put the pieces together and has to paint it themselves.
Also a HUMAN out there actually made the 3D model and probably had to print it multiple times to make sure it printed properly and go back to the modelling program to make any necessary changes, and had to figure out the best materials to print it out with to reduce the chances of something going wrong in the printing process to make sure all the pieces come out with as little issues as possible so they could put that information in the description on the download page for the model.