3D printing is a fast, easy, and versatile manufacturing process used in a variety of industries to create prototypes in-house and manufacture various end-use products and tools. This relatively new technology, also known as additive manufacturing, offers a host of advantages and is changing the way many companies do business.
3D Printing Benefits in Entertainment and Business
Using Twindom body scanning technology, Custom Color 3D Printing can take a scan of a person or object and turn it into a highly detailed 3D replica. To ensure it meets your expectations, a professional artist will examine and touch up the design before it’s printed. The result is an intricate figurine or batch of identical figurines, each of which goes through an extensive quality control process before you receive it.
3D printing is affordable and faster than traditional fabrication methods because there are no molds required. If there’s something about the design you’d like to tweak before you print another one, you can simply adjust the design file instead of having to rebuild a mold. By using nylon, we avoid the unpleasant fumes created by some plastics and resins during production.
Hobbyists and small manufacturers turn to full color 3D printing for figurines ranging in size from 3’’ to 9’’. Businesses and individuals use them to celebrate special occasions with 3D replicas of honored guests or treasured objects.
3D Printing Benefits in Manufacturing
3D printing allows for last-minute in-house production of required tools, jigs, and fixtures made of durable materials like ABS and CPE. It offers a streamlined production process where a needed accessory can be replicated precisely. Compared to traditional fabrication methods, 3D printing can be set up quickly, and its accuracy means there is less variation during the assembly process. This helps companies save money and reduce downtime.
3D Printing Benefits in the Medical Field
The implications of 3D printing in healthcare are vast. Dentists can use it to create precise models of patients’ dental arches. Surgeons can print models to help explain surgical procedures to the patient, or for their own improved understanding of the position of a tumor or foreign object in the body. 3D printing is also used for customized prosthetic devices. Potential applications for 3D printing within the medical field will continue to grow as technology advances.
3D Printing Benefits in Education
Teachers and students can use 3D printing to improve their understanding of a number of concepts. It allows for cost-effective experimentation as students refine their theories. While PLA is a commonly used material, nylon offers an odor-free alternative. It’s every bit as affordable and easy to use, but it offers enhanced chemical resistance and durability, which may be preferred for certain experiments and applications.
Nylon Figurine 3D Printing from Custom Color 3D Printing
The applications for 3D printing will continue to expand as the technology becomes more refined. At Custom Color 3D Printing, we use body scanning technology to create exquisite and intricate nylon figurines that meet and exceed your expectations. Our full-color 3D printing capabilities, attention to detail, and passion for serving our clients allow us to deliver quality 3D printed objects for a variety of industries. Contact us to learn more about the benefits of 3D printing and our nylon figurine 3D printing services.
Traditional manufacturing is subtractive—you remove bits of material from a large piece until you achieve the shape and size you’re looking for. Conversely, 3D printing is an additive manufacturing process. The printer adds material, layer-by-layer, to match the design on the computer file.
While the 3D printing process is often too time-consuming for large production runs, it offers your business some incredible advantages when it comes to prototyping when compared to CNC machining and injection molding. By reducing the time required to work through design, testing, and production, a 3D printing service can save you a lot of money. This blog post will take a closer look at the benefits of using a 3D printing service for rapid prototyping.
A 3D printer gathers design data from a computer-aided design (CAD) model and uses it as printing instructions. A 3D printer requires little in terms of set up and doesn’t need custom tooling for your prototype or sample, which would be required with traditional subtractive processes. Depending on the size and complexity of the workpiece, printing will likely finish within a few hours. The range of available materials for 3D printers has expanded considerably in recent years, allowing designers to closely match prototype materials to the final product material in many cases.
If you test the prototype and realize you need to make some adjustments, changes can be incorporated into the design and reprinted easily. This shortened process allows you to move from idea to prototype through testing to improve your speed to market.
Cost-Effective
Prototyping costs add up for a variety of reasons, but labor is a big one. 3D printing often requires only one technician to turn on the machine and load the design. This offers significant savings over machining or injection molding, which require significant set up and expensive tooling.
Complex geometries and interlocking features are often expensive and difficult—if not impossible—with traditional manufacturing processes. A 3D printing service makes those designs simple to achieve, encouraging greater design innovation and possibility.
Range of Offerings
With 3D printing, you can work with a wide range of materials and finish your printed prototype with paint or clearcoat (or both). This gives you the opportunity to choose materials and finishes that most closely mimic your ideal end product, which is precisely what you need from an effective prototype. Some of the most common material options include:
PA 12
PLA
Tough PLA
RIZIUM
RIZIUM Carbon
Subtle changes in design make it easy to test form vs. function and understand the sacrifices you may be making in appearance or functionality between design adjustments.
Increased Risk Mitigation
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With the opportunity for low-cost testing and prototyping, much of the financial risk associated with launching a new product gets mitigated. You can easily change directions, make alterations to a design, create a variety of slightly different prototypes, and move confidently toward a large production run when you’re sure you’ve made the right choices. 3D printing is trial-and-error made easy.
A 3D printing service can also offer inexpensive proof-of-concept printed samples for you to offer your stakeholders. They may be more likely to move forward with a decision if they can see and touch your idea instead of just hearing about it.
About Custom Color 3D Printing
At Custom Color 3D Printing, we partner with companies in numerous industries for rapid prototyping using a wide range of materials. Our highly skilled design and engineering team work closely with you to bring your ideas to life, and we’re always ready to answer your questions. We’re committed to the highest quality of work and efficient customer care, ensuring your complete satisfaction with your 3D printing service.
Contact us to see how 3D printing can help your business save time and money with rapid prototyping, or to get started on your 3D printed project.
The architectural industry is extremely aggressive. Staying ahead of the competition necessitates continually looking for ways to innovate. That’s why many architectural firms have invested in 3D printing technology, which combines the precision of virtual 3D modeling with the tangibility of a physical object. These qualities allow the firms to create quality conceptual models that can be used for both R&D operations and shareholder meetings.
Below, we highlight some of the advantages of using 3D printing within the architectural industry.
3D printing technology can be used to create physical models of virtual architectural designs. These models make it much easier to communicate design concepts and ideas to team members and shareholders. They can see what the design will look like rather than having to visualize it based on sketches and technical drawings.
Shorter Modeling Timelines
Manually built models of an architectural design can take months to create, depending on the size and complexity of the design. As a result, the manual modeling process can take up a significant amount of the architect’s time. In contrast, 3D printed models can be produced with little input from the architect besides creating and inputting the design into the printing software. As a result, the architect is free to perform other important tasks while the technology makes the model. Additionally, since 3D printers can operate continuously without sacrificing model quality, they are ideal for generating large and complex models in shorter timelines.
Broader Material Options
In recent years, 3D printing technology has undergone significant advancements that have led to better print quality and versatility. Architects can choose from a wide selection of materials for their models, each of which is suitable for particular modeling needs. Polyamide is one of the most popular materials. Grey resin is commonly used for scale models. Colorful and transparent materials are used to add further detail to models to better communicate different design elements.
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Easier Iteration
3D printing technology is highly beneficial to the early stages of an architectural project. It enables architects to quickly create physical models of different concepts and iterations for testing, which can allow them to identify potential design issues that may not be noticeable in virtual models. Additionally, since the models are created based on designs made in software, architects can easily make edits to previous designs and reprint new models. In this way, they are able to continually adapt and improve architectural designs based on the knowledge they have gained from working with previous iterations. Throughout the project, this can help them save time and money.
Partner With Custom Color 3D Printing for Your Architectural Modeling Needs
Looking for a 3D printing partner for your architectural project? Choose the 3D printing experts at Custom Color 3D printing! Since our founding, we’ve developed a reputation for superior services, efficiency, and professionalism. Our customers know they can rely on us for 3D printing solutions that meet and/or exceed their expectations.
To learn more about our 3D printing capabilities and how they can benefit your architectural project, contact us today.
Better Design Visualization