Is a Vacuum-Forming Machine Worth It?

Jeremy of Black Magic Craft was sent a Makyu FormBox vacuum-forming machine to evaluate. He was skeptical about its usefulness to a hobby maker (at $700) as he started out, and after a few hours, he remained so.

When I was a kid in the 60s/70s, I lived for my Mattel Vac-U-Form machine. It’s really what got me into hobby modeling and I’ve remained there my entire life. So vacuum-forming is near and dear to my kid heart. I’ve often thought about getting a Makyu, or just making one myself (it’s not hard). One of these days…

As Jeremy himself admits, a lot of his issues were likely user-error. And he also realizes that you have to work around the limitations of vacuum forming to really get the most from it.

In the end, this technology does have its limitations, but it can be really valuable tool to modelers, cosplayers, tabletop gamers, and special effects folks, especially in concert with molding and casting, 3D printing, laser-cutting, etc.

Here’s a video that Adam Savage did extolling the virtues of the tech and how to get around some of its limitations.


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