In the case of what Mark is looking for, i really think CNC machining or 3d printing are not practical, because he already has these parts in plastic. The best would be to take molds from it and make these in fiberglass, or carbon if wanted. for those that have not looked at Mark's link, here is what he is looking to make ( replacing the weal vacuformed covers over the strut)



CNC is going to give you a lot more detail and a better surface, unless you get into some really expensive 3D printers .. With CNC parts can also be prototyped put of hard wax, and then make duplicates out of cast resin. Any of the $2K range printers are great, but even with the best resolutions, they output rough parts with ridges and steps. Not good for scale detail at all unfortunately. I would suggest anyone looking for one of these units to first order up a sample pack to see if the quality is what you need. The technology has a few years to go before affordable ( relative term here) printers are available that output a quality which is adequate for scale modeling.

here is an example what i think guys look for as to the kind of detail desired from a 3d printer, however you will not get this from any printer in the $2k ballpark :\ in this case, its jet deposited UV cured acrylic .. This fuel cap as an example is straight out of the printer and just primed in acrylic finishing primer. this is just over an inch in diameter, and you can see, there is still some stepping visible even here .







[link=http://www.all-scale.com/PROD4_3DS.html]3D printed scale parts[/link]


with that said, the Makerbot, and similar printers, are great for prototyping , and proof of concept work. They are very slow, but useful ... making things like brackets, holders, etc is great out of these . I am myself looking to get one for the house for my 12 year old. He just got into CAD, and I hope this keeps him interested .. ( anything is better than the internet and video games ! lol )


Voy