Well, a new age of customizing began when 3D printing became more commonplace in our community. There are so many artists taking advantage of this technology it is hard to keep track of everyone. While some artists like ourselves may casually design a head for a singular project, there are a large number of artists who continuously create new model designs and release these numerous files to their followers every month. Some of these customizers have turned to Patreon to share their designs for a limited time through a subscription service where patrons pay a monthly fee for access to the 3D print files to print them on their 3D printers at home. Usually at the end of the month the files change, and if you did not download the files that were available for the month then you lost your chance to acquire them and you only have access to what is available in the forthcoming time period.
While customizing has always been a more underground artform that was protected under the parody clause which stated you can make one-of-a-kind action figures, vehicles and playsets, as long as they are not mass produced, the new Patreon model ventures into a more grey territory where 3D prints can be mass produced from these files without the artist who made the files mass producing the designs themselves. Technically, these artists are not selling mass produced Star Wars items. They are selling "access" to their designs. What the patrons do with the access to these designs is completely up to the individual who downloads these files and falls outside the control of the artist who made their designs available. Initially, we were nervous about writing this feature due to the legal ambiguity. Mainly because we were concerned with outing all the amazing artists who have adopted the Patreon model. They have done such a wonderful job filling holes in our collections with many designs we can't find on store shelves, and likely never will.
Therefore, before Disney or Lucasfilm starts cracking down and sending cease and desist letters, we decided it would be a good time to share with you some of the most well known artists on this platform so you can start subscribing to them yourselves. We will show you a small sample of the designs they have available and links to their Patreon where you can follow them. This is just an introductory list and is by no means an all inclusive master list. We will try and update this post with additional artists as we come across other accounts so be sure to revisit this post often.
Before printing be sure to dust off your calipers. These artists don't all work in the same scale. Some make 3.75" designs and others prefer 6" scale. Now you can occasionally scale the size up or down, but it is best to ask the artists who designed the file if changing the scale is recommended. Also be sure to thoroughly read over the terms for the different subscription levels so your needs will be met. Most importantly, have fun filling out your collections and displays with all these wonderful creations and designs!
Just click on the artist's name in blue below to be taken to their Patreon so you can subscribe.
