Other printing service than Shapeways ?
polycounter lvl 8
Hi guys,
some time ago I did this figurine of Syx for Manaworld, and Scratch ( the creator ) printed it with a 100% succes rate at Shapeways in full color sandstone.
I wasn't expecting that they could print those little rings, especially the earrings, because they are really thin, but they somehow managed to do it. So, Scratch decided to put the figurine for sale, and I did a 15cm and a 18cm version too, for sandstone. I also did a 32mm DnD style for plastic print.
Well of course some parts of the 32mm were too small even for plastic so I had to change that, no big deal as there is no UVs and color/texture.
Then the real problems started when someone ordered the 18cm version. We got a mail from Shapeways saying that it couldn't be printed due to thin parts ( the rings and end of hair spikes ). Of course the 15cm and 12cm were suddenly not printable too, so I made the rings thicker and thicker and thicker, we updated the 3 new models 3 times to no avail.
So Scratch contacted Shapeways to ask them why they could print the first 12cm without any problem and now suddenly they couldn't print even the 18cm version ( with rings well above the 2mm thick limit, and they just replied some PR bullshit and told us to check the material sheet.
So now I'm reworking the model, making bigger rings and sticking them to the body so it can be printed. But in the meantime the model is of course not available on Shapeways in sandstone, and people who orderer them are waiting.
Seems like we can't thrust Shapeways to do viable test prints because then they can suddenly refuse to print the exact same, and even bigger, model.
Do you guys know some other good printing companies with full color sandstone that is a bit better than Shapeways ? With a store system so we can sell our stuff ? Color printing is absolutely necessary so no Ownage or über expensive high quality prints, we just can't handle handpainting the models and shipping them ourselves.
Already tested Sculpteo but it costs even more than Shapeways ( of course it's in France, taxes taxes taxes ) and they also refuse to print models whenever they want.
some time ago I did this figurine of Syx for Manaworld, and Scratch ( the creator ) printed it with a 100% succes rate at Shapeways in full color sandstone.
I wasn't expecting that they could print those little rings, especially the earrings, because they are really thin, but they somehow managed to do it. So, Scratch decided to put the figurine for sale, and I did a 15cm and a 18cm version too, for sandstone. I also did a 32mm DnD style for plastic print.
Well of course some parts of the 32mm were too small even for plastic so I had to change that, no big deal as there is no UVs and color/texture.
Then the real problems started when someone ordered the 18cm version. We got a mail from Shapeways saying that it couldn't be printed due to thin parts ( the rings and end of hair spikes ). Of course the 15cm and 12cm were suddenly not printable too, so I made the rings thicker and thicker and thicker, we updated the 3 new models 3 times to no avail.
So Scratch contacted Shapeways to ask them why they could print the first 12cm without any problem and now suddenly they couldn't print even the 18cm version ( with rings well above the 2mm thick limit, and they just replied some PR bullshit and told us to check the material sheet.
So now I'm reworking the model, making bigger rings and sticking them to the body so it can be printed. But in the meantime the model is of course not available on Shapeways in sandstone, and people who orderer them are waiting.
Seems like we can't thrust Shapeways to do viable test prints because then they can suddenly refuse to print the exact same, and even bigger, model.
Do you guys know some other good printing companies with full color sandstone that is a bit better than Shapeways ? With a store system so we can sell our stuff ? Color printing is absolutely necessary so no Ownage or über expensive high quality prints, we just can't handle handpainting the models and shipping them ourselves.
Already tested Sculpteo but it costs even more than Shapeways ( of course it's in France, taxes taxes taxes ) and they also refuse to print models whenever they want.
Replies
Unfortunately, i can't remember the name of the website.
I our case we had yellow parts but they printed it nonetheless without problem, and it's only when we started selling them that they canceled all orders because the models suddenly couldn't be printed.