The Modular Diorama System: Toy or Model?

DioWarriors.com makes a series of props for building modular display sets for 1:18 scale toys. The system is actually a construction system where a person builds a display set by connecting one component to another at specific attachment points. Unlike a toy, which may have some minor assembly, a DioWarriors prop requires full assembly, including full hands-on working. So, is the DioWarriors system a toy or model?

The DioWarriors objects are 3D printed. When someone orders items they are buying the raw 3D printed output. No post work is done -- the items are not painted, not sanded. Instead the customer must work with the item if any clean up is needed. Parts are also not assembled. A wall might be just a frame with hollowed areas where a cabinet door is to be placed. Things might need gluing. So what DioWarriors actually offers is something similar to a model kit.

Model Kits in the 1:18 Toy Market

DioWarriors.com is a toy photography web site which sells 3D printed components for the purpose of enhancing the toy photography hobby. The market is not the toy themselves -- namely 1:18 scale figures such as GI Joe, Star Wars and others -- but the hobbyists. The age groups tend not to be children either, but high school and college age, active and retired military, professionals and others, everyone except children. It seems kids are not into the toy photography hobby, but their older siblings and parents are.

Knowing this the folks at DioWarriors have designed their diorama system into a type of model kit where the products are stored in zip-lock style bags, loose and need to be assembled. Assembly may require trimming parts that fit a bit too tightly, or sanding objects where the signs of the 3D printing process -- the layering -- is obvious, or gluing where the parts have no other way to attach. The assembled display may need to be painted and water slide decals added. A lot of work for a toy, and in the toy market this amount of work is rare. But the amount of work is not rare for those who do customs -- modding a figure or vehicle. 

Those in the toy custom communities do a lot of hands-on work changing the appearance of a toy. But the DioWarriors props are not customs. They are raw 3D printed objects unfinished by the end user's standpoint. It is up to the person to finish the items bought. So in this way the DioWarriors products resemble a model kit.

Fine scale model kits have to be assembled. It is up to the skill of the hobbyist that determines how well the kit looks when finished. Skills need to be prepared: a serious model builder may spend weeks researching the subject of the kit, studying rust and weathering then practicing the techniques necessary to reproduce the effects onto the model. A lot of work gets put into building a kit, and yet the market for the DioWarriors modular sets is not the fine scale modelling community, but the toy photography community.

The toy market typically eyes children, not adult collectors, and especially not the niche of the adult collectors who take photos of their toys. With fine scale models taking macro photos of the kits displayed in a diorama is nothing new. Diorama displays of model kits are common, especially in a gaming or hobby store. But displaying toys in a diorama is not common. One reason is that the displays available are not in the proper scale. Another reason is the offerings simply do not exist. The genre's for 1:18 scale toys are extremely varied -- anywhere from military to science fiction to fantasy -- that an offering of props and sets do not exist unless popularity in a specific toy line is great enough. Another reason is the toy photography niche is very new and hasn't caught the eye of toy manufactures as a viable market.

So toy photography enthusiasts are left with two choices: hire someone to build a display or learn the skills needed to build one. It is in this light that the DioWarriors system comes into play. A cross of both toy and model kit, the system is a hybrid tapping into the common traits of the toy photography community: the need for specific, in scale, props in a modular form to satisfy the growth of a toy collection; and as build-able sets that the toy collector can assemble and customize to the specific need: the genre of the toy line as well as the tone of the photo.

So it's a bit of both: model kit-like modular system intended for a toy collecting niche that typically enhances their collections with custom built dioramas for photography purposes. It is neither a kit nor a toy, but a combination of both.

Remembering CC's Coffee Shops

The coffee shop experience is shared by many. I've seen students pile books on tables and engage in group study sessions; I've seen architects assemble around drawings with clients at the coffee shop. For me I started going to coffee shops back during my university days -- I was one of those students hitting the books with a cappuccino. Small tables, wooden and uncomfortable, but I would spend hours reading some history or doing calculus. But now days when I am at a coffee shop, it's to do computer programming.

When I do programming it really doesn't matter where I am: thoughts flow regardless I'm in an office, at home, library, or coffee shop. But when it comes to enjoying code, having the most free thought, it's in a coffee shop. There's probably a link from those university days. Instead of books it's a laptop and instead of paper, it's something like Microsoft Visual Studio.

Today, for example, I'm in a Starbucks in South Florida. Not my preferred location. For that I would recommend the chain from Community Coffee called "CC's." For years -- university days -- I could be found at the CC's in Baton Rouge, Louisiana near the LSU campus. It was a small store crowded with tables and chairs. Not very comfortable on purpose -- to discourage long staying students, and secondly to handle the large number of students. Several other CC's locations opened in Baton Rouge, students could be found crowding all of them. They hand more comfortable seating as well -- sofas, lounge chairs, desk lamps for a secluded corner.

But today I am at Starbucks, working on code for my web site, diowarriors.com. The focus today is handling the way Internet Explorer misbehaves with the new Microsoft ASP.NET buttons. Not a lot of fun, and I would much rather be at a CC's. Back then CC's had a drink called a Mochassippi -- similar to a Starbucks Frappuccino. An ice blended drink that was basically four shots espresso (for the large size) mixed with 50% milk and 50% ice cream base. CC's offered a wide selection of flavors, and my favorite was chocolate. Sometimes I would go for hazelnut. The taste was sharp and powerful as the espresso was freshly brewed for each drink. By contrast Starbucks Frappuccino is brewed the previous day, or elsewhere, so the baristas save time from having to make the espresso shots. Unfortunate, really, since coffee taste starts to degrade something like twelve minutes after going through the espresso machine.

The last time I visited CC's (as of this writing) was around 2012, December, when I drove through Louisiana. The New Orleans French Quarter CC's (pictured above) was a pleasant experience. There was a bit of atmosphere captured. Rough and worn wooden floors and equally rough brick walls transformed the small coffee shop into an ambient getaway. Too small to ensure always a table at every visit. But the setting caused me to wish I could have more time to stay at that shop and visit more often. If you are ever in New Orleans, that would be the CC's to go to. It does capture the mood of the city well -- historic, rough and old. And in a way, it's perfect because coffee itself is an old world drink with centuries of history.

  

Thoughts about Toy Photography and 3D Printing

Cobra Deviant with 3D printed weapons

Negative Stereotypes It is a matter of perception. Anything can be a toy, any toy can be something more. But by-and-large all stereotypes have a starting point. With toys it is a cultural stereotype. Just the word "toys" denotes images of children and objects of play. But there is a niche, a growing niche, of adult collectors breaking the classic stereotype, and applying serious money to it. Tools of the niche: photography, 3D printing, resin casts, photo editing, and an active community that is growing around the world. And here is what I am doing with this niche: I am doing 3D printing.

Setting a Foundation

There appears to be a lot of stereotypes when mentioning the topic of toys. A lot of folks might just assume toys equate to play and children. But there are a lot of hobbies out there in the world that involves miniature sets, vehicles, and people. And a lot of those hobbies are viewed with respect -- model rail roads, for example, and fine scale models of WWII airplanes, battleships, and tanks.

My primary interest is the aspect of a diorama -- capturing a moment of time using miniatures. Museums use diorama's to educate visitors -- a wax museum, for example, or an anthropology department in a university may use a diorama to display how a culture of the past might have lived. Dioramas are also common in the entertainment industry. Film-makers use miniature models, traditionally physical, but increasingly now renderings of 3D computer models. My specific interest is the 1/18 scale diorama which is common in the realm of action figures.

Toy Photography

Share your anime memories

People are social creatures. It is in our nature to seek groups and join them. We want to belong. From families to sport teams, to working in a company, people are social -- birds of a feather flock together. Socialists call this "in-groups." We seek out in-groups or make our own.

In the niche world of toy collectors there is a sub-niche of toy photography -- enthusiasts who enjoy taking snap shots of their toys and sharing for others to see. There are many kinds of toy photography enthusiasts. Some don't care for anything other than photographing a collection to show the size. Others get artistic and recreate a scene from a movie, comic book/manga or anime. But most common are those who just like the way the toy looks. This last type is me and it is what I do with my own toy photography. I find a place outdoors with a nice miniature feeling or build a set indoors, place figures and accessories, and snap shot a scene.

This hobby I find entertaining. It combines various skills, the obvious is photography. But it also combines lesser assumed skills for photo editing. Smart phone apps make altering a photo simple and hassle free. But photography is only one side to the art. The other is the posing of the figures, the placement of the camera, lighting, but still other skills are building a set, modifying a toy to make it more real looking. Toy photography isn't just about photographs and digital editing, it is also about building and modification.

Enter the World of 3D Printing

3D printing changes the world in more ways than might be assumed. 3D printing enables a person to have complete manufacturing capabilities at home. No need to outsource an idea, just make it into reality right in the living room. If it is an original idea all that is needed is some skill to design a 3D model and send it to the 3D printer. Things are even easier if someone gives you a file of a 3D model -- skill to design the model need not be a factor.

Home 3D printers tend to print an object by extruding layers of melted plastic onto a platform. The printing mechanics move in the X, Y and Z directions over-and-over. When one layer of melted plastic hardens, and they harden very quickly, another layer is applied on top. This activity continues until all of the model is done. The value of a 3D printer is so varied that new industries are developing every day. This includes the industry of the toy collector.

But before the availability of 3D printers, building a diorama has been to use traditional craft materials: foam board, epoxy resins, plaster, wood and glue. The process to build an alley or a mechanics garage would take weeks and the skill to make a believable scene largely depended on the skill of the builder. Some builders would sell their diorama set online on ebay, and these tended to be one time builds. The process for replicating multiple diorama sets using traditional methods just doesn't efficiently exist. But that changes with 3D printers.

3D printers can be used to make just about anything that exists in the mind of the enthusiast. Existing toys can be modified with components that they did not come with. Entire diorama sets can be made in a style completely unique and even completely new toys can be made. 3D files can be shared among other enthusiasts for printing, or any of the printed models can be re-printed over-and-over and sold or given away to others. Furthermore 3D printing is not limited to the intended scale. Depending on the software a 3D model can be increased in dimension or reduced. The same 1/18 scale model of a mechanics garage or side-street alley can be re-scaled to 1/6, 1/12, 1/72 or even HO or N scales for use with model rail roads.


Conclusion

3D printing has been around for a while since the 80's, but only within the past decade has 3D printing become both affordable to the average user and available. The technology is getting easier also. 5th generation printers are just beginning to hit the market promising wi-fi convenience and streamlined set up process for printing right out of the box. The technology is still new, but as more and more toy enthusiasts try their hand at extending their toy collections with modifications or new creations using 3D technologies -- modeling or printing -- anything can be made. And this will only serve to excite new toy enthusiasts to start new creations, and ultimately new toy lines.

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For more information or just to look at my latest adventures with toy photography, please have a look at the DioWarriors web site: www.diowarriors.com