3D Printing Full Color Plastic: Shapeways Offers it First

August 13, 2014

It seems that almost everyone has now seen a 3D printed plastic product. Likely, one made from filament by an extruder, or perhaps for the more 3DP savvy, a product made from nylon powder, selectively laser sintered by us. Regardless of whether it was ABS, PLA, FDM, or SLS, I would be willing to bet it was only one color. In the past, as a Shapeways Designer, you had to choose between the colorful form of our Full Color Sandstone, and unparalleled function of our more durable SLS plastic that can handle moving parts.

Until Now. Meet Shapeways Full Color Plastic!

We are elated to be the first to offer this diverse Full Color Plastic material to our 3D Modeling community. It will initially be released to a select group of Pilot Designers as a part of our Design Pilot with the material. We’re rolling this out slower than normal because we want our core community to experiment, touch, play with and explore this new material before we offer to the public and begin managing customer expectations. If we deem it worthy of all your creative shoppers, we will make the material public for all to enjoy.

The color resolution is similar to Full Color Sandstone, and you’ll have the ability to create moving parts like you can with our Plastics. Signups for this material Pilot have been closed for the time being. You can find out more about Full Color Plastic’s design guidelines on our material page.

What would you like to make or buy in this new material? Does this open new doors for you as a Designer?

Comments

Ittyblox

August 13, 2014 at 12:59 pm
Thats awesome, can’t wait to print my current miniature buildings in this new material!

Michael McNeill

August 13, 2014 at 1:35 pm
I was actually talking to someone in our community about this over the weekend.

Action figure heads! I know, we have to have someone design them first, but there are several designs already on Shapeways that would benefit from access to this – basic skin-tone, lips, eyes, and hair add up to 5 colors in one object. If there was a way for the end buyer to select the colors to sit personal taste, that would be great.

Gaming miniatures – like action figure heads above, but add in clothing, armor, and weapons.

Vehicle shells – slot cars, railroad rolling stock, spaceships, etc.

Not all my customers feel comfortable painting what they buy, so the ability to offer a complex item in “pre-painted” options could make a difference in sales.

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 10:46 pm
oooh Michael, the notion of custom color apps is a great idea…

M

August 13, 2014 at 1:49 pm
Fantastic! I can’t wait to start playing. A year ago I designed a model that suits full color plastic perfectly. I’ve put a lot of ideas on the back burner because they’re not right for sandstone or a single color in plastic. I’ll be starting on these immediately and all the new ideas rushing in. Thanks Shapeways 🙂

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 10:41 pm
Can’t wait to see what you make, Urbano!

Doug Friend

August 13, 2014 at 2:27 pm
I cannot find the design guidelines. Is it the same as strong flexible or polished?

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 10:42 pm
Hi Doug! The design guidelines will be up on our materials page shortly. In the mean time, they’re listed in our forum here: http://shpws.me/vwQZ

Shane

August 13, 2014 at 2:52 pm
I have also made a few 3D models that are in multiple colors that I would like to print.

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 10:46 pm
Can’t wait to see!

Ariel Yahni

August 13, 2014 at 3:10 pm
Is this made on an Objet500 Connex3?

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 10:44 pm
Hi Ariel, It’s actually the 3D Systems ProJet 4500.

Alex

August 13, 2014 at 3:11 pm
WOW! How is this even possible? 😀 Fantastic! One question: What is meant by “moving parts”? 🙂

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 10:47 pm
in the same you can create working/moving/assembled/articulated parts in SLS, the powder acts as the support material during the printing process, just leave .5mm clearance 🙂 (Think of the Strandbeest if you need a mental image 🙂

Michael W.

August 13, 2014 at 4:23 pm
Wow, seriously guys!? This looks super exciting! More details please! 😀 Very much looking forward to play with this.

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 4:45 pm
Hi Michael, Yeah, seriously! It is very exciting indeed. You can get the details on the material specs in our forum post: http://shpws.me/vwQZ and on the materials page after the release goes live (this evening or early tomorrow depending on your time zone).

HN

August 13, 2014 at 5:10 pm
This is great news! When will this material be available? I just put in an order for a plastic print, but would love it in color!

HN

August 13, 2014 at 5:32 pm
Available in less than a day? Perfect, I’ll cancel my current order and wait eagerly to try this out 🙂

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 10:48 pm
HN, make sure you’ve signed up to be a pilot designer, we’ll be letting in a new batch over the weekend 🙂 (google form link in the blog post)

Wesley Günter

August 13, 2014 at 5:13 pm
Ok this is the moment for me to learn how to apply colors to my designs !D

Wesley Günter

August 13, 2014 at 5:21 pm
Any chance on a bigger bounding box in the near future ? My Fab Cap design would look super awesome in color 😀

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 5:28 pm
Wesley, this is going to be awesome for you and FabMe- I cannot WAIT to see how you put this all together 😀 I can’t say the bounding box is going to expand anytime soon, but it could some day in the future! Make a kids cap, I bet that will fit 😉

Ryan

August 13, 2014 at 8:36 pm
This is great! Which type of 3D printer are you using to make these full-color plastic parts?

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 10:43 pm
Hi Ryan, We’re using the 3D Systems Projet 4500 🙂

Stephen Best

August 13, 2014 at 8:41 pm
Hi Savannah, This is brilliant! What file formats will be supported and is it available here in Europe?

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 10:52 pm
Yes! Definitely available in the EU. It will have read the same files as FCS does. This tutorial may be super helpful: https://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/exporting_to_vrml_and_x3d_for_color_printing

April

August 13, 2014 at 8:56 pm
Drools If this beats the price of Diecast sprint car models, My life would be complete!!

Savannah

August 13, 2014 at 10:42 pm
Fingers crossed, April!

Mel

August 19, 2014 at 11:04 pm
Aaaand… im starting to add colors to my miniatures right now…

Mark

August 21, 2014 at 3:07 pm
Is the ink water resistant or will it wash out like the FC Sandstone?

Mark

August 21, 2014 at 4:53 pm
Also, what’s the effective DPI of the printer?

Cesare

August 21, 2014 at 9:31 pm
Mark, here http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=msg&th=20413&start=0 you can find that someone confirm the water resistant.

Savannah

August 22, 2014 at 6:37 pm
Hi Mark, The DPI is 600X600 – you can learn more on the spec sheet if it’s helpful: http://www.3dsystems.com/sites/www.3dsystems.com/files/projet4500-0514-usen-8x10x8volume-web.pdf

Jeremy Mallin

September 3, 2014 at 8:09 pm
I love that Shapeways is continuing to advance the use and development of new materials and technologies. Keep it up. I am a bit leary of the product safety due to the description of full-color plastics shipping with an odor though. Still, if this material leads to the development of even better future materials, I’m all for it, from a learning perspective.