[jano11]

The future looks bright, isn't it?

However at the end it all depends on the costs.
No matter how you look at it, it takes many work hours to make a realistic and printable 3D model.
Than you print it or have it machined, than you clean it up, because let's be honest the 3D printed or machined parts are far from being good enough to be directly used for molding.

Than you have to take into account the molding and casting process, this takes more time than using an injection machine.

In the end, after investing hundreds of hours of work and a lot of money for the materials, one will probably go as far as making a few hundred copies, that would have a high price. Just take a look at what a simple resin kit costs compared to a plastic injection kit, it's anywhere from 100 to over 200 Euro compared to 30 Euro.

For now the future of model kits production stays with the bigger companies, we others can use the new technologies to improve kits or make rare kits, unless we are planing to invest huge amounts of money which in turn would turn us into a model making company.

BTW, big model companies also use rapid prototyping to design their products.

Did you see what is the cost of a good ready 3D model? It ranges from a few hundred USD to over a thousand depending on the level of detail and accuracy.
Having it printed even with the cheapest and lowest quality service will be, for a detailed 1/24 scale model, around 200 USD. The quality will be nowhere near that of a plastic kit, you'll need to work hundreds of hours to get a good kit, and than you can start to build it.
Trust me I know what I'm talking about.

For now the technology exists, it get's cheaper every day, but it's still to expensive for the usual modeler who wants to take pleasure from building a model.