3D Printing and Art

I finally designed, uploaded, and ordered a model from Shapeways.  I'm hoping that they will appear at our house before August 1, which will be my and Mark's tenth "wedding" anniversary.  More realistically, they probably won't get here until just before his birthday in the middle of August.  

I've been wanting to have things 3-D printed for some time now, but man, it's not exactly inexpensive.  Or, to be more accurate, you can have something large or you can have something cheap.

I always thought it would be fun to reproduce something like this Art Deco elevator door from the MET.  For one thing, it's too large to be printed in one piece; and for another thing, the amount of metal in it would make it something like $400 -- never mind the shipping costs.  I could make an H-scale reproduction out of plastic for about $20.

In terms of an art revolution, I always thought a 3D printing service like Shapeways could fulfill the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's dream of beautiful things for everyone... but right now the service is still so new that it's beautiful things for designers with CAD software and a little extra cash.

I know I sound a little grumpy, but really, I'm excited and looking forward to receiving the final product.  Pictures in August when things appear.