Beautiful 3D printed Settlers of Catan tiles

Shapeways user Tedparsec has created a wide assortment of 3D printed, colorized Settlers of Catan tiles that you can have printed and shipped to you in a wide variety of materials. He's also got a good line on handcrafted, 3D printed RPG miniatures.

tedparsec's designs (via Wonderland)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: 3d printing • Copyfight • Games • happy mutants • shapeways

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soyonsici

How does one hand-craft something with a 3D printer?
Samuel Clements

An entire set of these looks like it would be pretty expensive.. and no place to put the tokens either.
Jason Wood

While they do look great, they don’t look great for playing SoC. As was mentioned, there doesn’t appear to be a place to put number tokens. The color scheme will make it more difficult to tell hexes apart (IMO), especially on hills. Last but not least, where are the water hexes?
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A flickr user called TevK bought one and took some snaps. Available here:
http://tev.bz/d
As he says “Ordered this from Shapeways to see the quality of full-color sandstone printing. Definitely has that 3D-print blurriness, but probably good enough for some things. Also, sandstone is fragile. Currently 3D printing is too expensive for casual use (this piece was about $20)… but give it a year or two.”
mappo

Dammit, I haven’t even received my Boardcrafting purchase yet, and now you’re tempting me with this!
Tynam

Too expensive for casual use thus far… but in the foreseeable future most board games will be made print-on-demand like this. One of the many ways in which the future really excites me.
neapel

Beautiful. Although he missed the opportunity of making them interlock (having a puzzle nose and receptacle on each edge should work?)
http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

All of a sudden I care about 3D printing. I want those tiles.
MelSkunk

Not suitable for gaming (yet) but the perfect gift for the Catan enthusiast who already has a teeshirt and a mug with a Wood for Sheep pun on it?
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These pictures aren’t the real tiles. The real tiles from the flickr photos look all fuzzy
Justin Kraper

I think the fuzziness is a plus, makes it look like a cartoon come to life. I would love to get these, but > $250 for a full set is too much.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MCYDTZUNUDTI3TMJBSCUPYCQ2M JTO

Wahwahwah! Sheesh. It’s pretty cool. If you’re that concerned about price, cut a bunch of hexes out of construction paper and write on them with pencil. Too blurry? Pull out the set of drafting markers and touch-up to your heart’s delight. Too fragile? I’ve seen the lengths mini-gamers will go to protect their 10-hour paint jobs. Sandstone can easily be set in epoxy and made pretty darn near indestructible. Think you can do better for less? Then man up and prove it.