ART GRADE FULL COLOR 3D PRINTING

Published by: Eric van Straaten | 20-Oct-2016
For the most part of 2015 and 2016 I have been trying to find a solution to so called delamination problems on the full color 3D printer I use for my larger sculptures. After extensive technical research, experiments and help from the people at 3D Makers Zone (Haarlem, The Netherlands), In3DPrint and other industry insiders, in the beginning of October 2016 I was finally able to overcome these problems. Right now I am back in business as, to my knowledge, the only artist working in full color 3D printing at this level of high quality. 3d #printing #sculpture #popsurrealism #lowbrow #contemporary #art #figurine #cute #kawaii #collectables @ericvanstraatendotcom
For the most part of 2015 and 2016 I have been trying to find a solution to so called delamination problems on the full color 3D printer I use for my larger sculptures. After extensive technical research, experiments and help from the people at 3D Makers Zone (Haarlem, The Netherlands), In3DPrint and other industry insiders, in the beginning of October 2016 I was finally able to overcome these problems. Right now I am back in business as, to my knowledge, the only artist working in full color 3D printing at this level of high quality.

Art grade quality in full color 3D printing

Below you see the first result of my new way of 3D printing in full color. I can say that I have never seen a better quality than this. You still see the layers as always with 3D printing, but they are very constant throughout the model (which is printed in several parts creating a 60 cm high piece). Also the color quality is better now than it ever was.

The real reason for my Indiegogo Campaign (now ended)

As you may have noticed, some time ago I launched an Indiegogo Campaign titled: "Help! Artist in need of a full color 3D printer". This campaign is now ended and I raised not all, but enough money to continue my search of the best surface quality possible. In my campaign I was very positive: The need for my own full color 3D printer was to gain a higher degree of esthetical quality and full control over the tangible outcome of my digital sculptures.

The bleak truth however, was that I wasn't able to print my larger sculptures in a good enough quality for the galleries that sell my work. The reason for this predicament was that the printer needed for the larger sculptures (the Projet 650) is very sensitive and misprinted two out of three sculptures, resulting in high production costs, especially if done by external facilities.

Because the printer now works flawlessly, production has begon of the figurines ordered during the Indiegogo Campaign!

Technical problems on the ProJet full color 3D printer

From 2010 my career was very successful with high quality art prints coming out of the 3D printer. These pieces have to be flawless (because they are sold at high costs in art galleries all over the world) and the second largest external facility was until 2015 able to provide me with that quality.

About a year ago they started to send me models which experienced the mentioned delamination and they weren't able to fix that problem. I decided to take matters in my own hands and print directly on machines here in Holland. To my disappointment I found out that also here, bigger models were suffering from delamination. This in such a way that the pieces could not be sold as an art piece.

What specifically happens is that at one point (and this seems random, so sometimes at the beginning of the printing process, sometimes half way and sometimes at the end), the printer seems to not correctly glue together the edges of the layers that are closest to the front of the machine. The other side is almost always flawless.

On the bad side of the model, sometimes there are slight imperfections between the layers, but most of the times, the spaces between the layers are so large (or the layers are so thin) that, especially with slightly elevated slopes, the edges of the layers break of during post production and create craters and holes.

Luckily these problems are now solved by some adjustments to the machine and nonstop hard work (that is all I am going to say about it;).

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