Shapeways Material Comparison (plus hobby printer PLA)
Jun 8, 2019 13:30:00 GMT
weedsrock2 and nrnstraswa like this
Post by ghukek on Jun 8, 2019 13:30:00 GMT
Hi all, I'll start this off by making sure that it's clear that I am affiliated with the products shown in this comparison, so this is technically an advert. grgbobe asked about the PA12 from Shapeways and I took the opportunity to buy one of my favorite ships from them in three materials for the purposes of comparison. Typically I will just test my designs on my personal printer as I am a poor fellow and started this project specifically to avoid spending $10+ per mini.
Please be aware that I am currently working on updating all of my models with tweaks, boats, and anchor chains so keep that in mind if purchasing on Shapeways in the next few weeks.
For many of us, price is a consideration. The four materials I will be comparing in this post and their retail prices are;
Hobby Printer PLA: $8.59
White Natural Versatile Plastic: $7.99
Smooth Fine Detail Plastic: $13.99
Grey PA12: $16.49
For anyone satisfied with Hobby Printer quality and who purchases a large amount of minis, I strongly recommend investing in one and purchasing a digital copy. This will absolutely be the cheapest option for you at $6/$3/$2 for the digital file (digital files sold individually or in national sets for 50% discount or complete collection for 66% discount) plus ~5 grams of PLA per model.
From left to right, My print, PA12, SFDP, WNVP.
Looks:
SFDP is nothing short of perfect in this category. Every corner is sharp, every line is smooth, every detail appears. On the top surfaces, you can see some shadows where the soluble support material was used. This phenomena is slight and barely noticeable.
PA12 comes up next. There is some beveling in the corners but every detail shows up. weedsrock2 has reported warping so be aware of that risk however mine came through just fine. I don't know what could cause warping but I imagine poor storage conditions could cause it if it doesn't show up warped due to shipping conditions. It also could be a time difference, Shapeways may have improved their process and material enough to mitigate warping since weeds experienced this issue. PA12 has a textured surface similar to Versatile Plastic it is pretty clear in the picture above.
PLA has sharp corners with no beveling and most of the detail comes through with some parts coming out a tad thicker than they should. The Bofors 40mm quad mounts, which are designed as to separate lines of plastic will sometimes be slightly squished together closing the gab a bit. There are some slight vibration marks along straight lines occasionally and the surface sometimes has gaps in it. On overhangs, where support material is not properly used, there is a bit of sagging of plastic material.
WNVP demonstrates why its the budget option. It is far from bad looking and for my designs particularly, it works just fine. However, there is quite a bit of beveling and fuzziness. The detail is masked by these two things but it mostly still comes through. The same issue from PLA with the Bofors appears.
Feel. (Sorted by apparent weight, I will edit this with actual weights once I get them to a postal scale.)
SFDP, the heaviest of them has a thick sturdy solid feel. The surface is smooth (implied by the name). Long thin parts such as the masts are slightly flexible and move a bit before they start to resist and the snap doesn't come with much more pressure.
WNVP, my wife insists this is heavier than PA12 but I feel it's the other way, so the two are very close. They feel very similar regardless, with a similar rough textured surface. There is a tad more flexibility than SFDP and it can resist a bit more pressure.
PA12, see the description for WNVP. It is slightly less flexible but feels just as strong.
PLA, is the lightest, but print settings for interior fill could give it a bit more weight. It's stiffer than the other materials, but only slightly and it is quite strong. I have dropped my models multiple times and they often survive up to about five feet.
Imgur Gallery
Qualitative,
I am tempted to remove PA12 from availability because it is more expensive than even SFDP and doesn't seem to be too much nicer in appearance than WNVP. However there is no drawback to having it available for more options. I would not recommend it.
Best for price? Get a hobby printer for $300-$1000 (Personally I'm saving up for the $750 Joseph Prusa Mk 3s), buy my complete collection for 66% discount and print away.
WNVP is a solid choice, relatively cheap and most of the detail comes through just fine.
SFDP is worth the price. It is fine quality and solid feel. I can imagine that designs that use smaller details may be more fragile, but my design protocols are optimized for a hobby quality printer which means that there are certain minimum thicknesses I adhere to for things like masts and cranes.
PLA, while my retail prices are similar to Shapeways WNVP, I don't adhere to any minimum prices, so for example where a Elco 80 FT torpedo boat single would be $6.99 for 16 in Shapeways WNVP, I would do a single for $0.49, eight for $1.29, and 16 for $2.49. My prices are based on the totality of an order rather than individual models so prices fluctuate a bit trending down with larger orders.
I hope the pictures and my personal descriptions have been helpful. If you have any feedback for my post let me know and I can expand on some things.
It was quite fun to order these and receive them in the mail. It's a different experience from putting them into my printer and watching them print out, which is also incredibly satisfying. It's been an incredible year and I'm excited to continue growing my collection.
Please be aware that I am currently working on updating all of my models with tweaks, boats, and anchor chains so keep that in mind if purchasing on Shapeways in the next few weeks.
For many of us, price is a consideration. The four materials I will be comparing in this post and their retail prices are;
Hobby Printer PLA: $8.59
White Natural Versatile Plastic: $7.99
Smooth Fine Detail Plastic: $13.99
Grey PA12: $16.49
For anyone satisfied with Hobby Printer quality and who purchases a large amount of minis, I strongly recommend investing in one and purchasing a digital copy. This will absolutely be the cheapest option for you at $6/$3/$2 for the digital file (digital files sold individually or in national sets for 50% discount or complete collection for 66% discount) plus ~5 grams of PLA per model.
From left to right, My print, PA12, SFDP, WNVP.
Looks:
SFDP is nothing short of perfect in this category. Every corner is sharp, every line is smooth, every detail appears. On the top surfaces, you can see some shadows where the soluble support material was used. This phenomena is slight and barely noticeable.
PA12 comes up next. There is some beveling in the corners but every detail shows up. weedsrock2 has reported warping so be aware of that risk however mine came through just fine. I don't know what could cause warping but I imagine poor storage conditions could cause it if it doesn't show up warped due to shipping conditions. It also could be a time difference, Shapeways may have improved their process and material enough to mitigate warping since weeds experienced this issue. PA12 has a textured surface similar to Versatile Plastic it is pretty clear in the picture above.
PLA has sharp corners with no beveling and most of the detail comes through with some parts coming out a tad thicker than they should. The Bofors 40mm quad mounts, which are designed as to separate lines of plastic will sometimes be slightly squished together closing the gab a bit. There are some slight vibration marks along straight lines occasionally and the surface sometimes has gaps in it. On overhangs, where support material is not properly used, there is a bit of sagging of plastic material.
WNVP demonstrates why its the budget option. It is far from bad looking and for my designs particularly, it works just fine. However, there is quite a bit of beveling and fuzziness. The detail is masked by these two things but it mostly still comes through. The same issue from PLA with the Bofors appears.
Feel. (Sorted by apparent weight, I will edit this with actual weights once I get them to a postal scale.)
SFDP, the heaviest of them has a thick sturdy solid feel. The surface is smooth (implied by the name). Long thin parts such as the masts are slightly flexible and move a bit before they start to resist and the snap doesn't come with much more pressure.
WNVP, my wife insists this is heavier than PA12 but I feel it's the other way, so the two are very close. They feel very similar regardless, with a similar rough textured surface. There is a tad more flexibility than SFDP and it can resist a bit more pressure.
PA12, see the description for WNVP. It is slightly less flexible but feels just as strong.
PLA, is the lightest, but print settings for interior fill could give it a bit more weight. It's stiffer than the other materials, but only slightly and it is quite strong. I have dropped my models multiple times and they often survive up to about five feet.
Imgur Gallery
Qualitative,
I am tempted to remove PA12 from availability because it is more expensive than even SFDP and doesn't seem to be too much nicer in appearance than WNVP. However there is no drawback to having it available for more options. I would not recommend it.
Best for price? Get a hobby printer for $300-$1000 (Personally I'm saving up for the $750 Joseph Prusa Mk 3s), buy my complete collection for 66% discount and print away.
WNVP is a solid choice, relatively cheap and most of the detail comes through just fine.
SFDP is worth the price. It is fine quality and solid feel. I can imagine that designs that use smaller details may be more fragile, but my design protocols are optimized for a hobby quality printer which means that there are certain minimum thicknesses I adhere to for things like masts and cranes.
PLA, while my retail prices are similar to Shapeways WNVP, I don't adhere to any minimum prices, so for example where a Elco 80 FT torpedo boat single would be $6.99 for 16 in Shapeways WNVP, I would do a single for $0.49, eight for $1.29, and 16 for $2.49. My prices are based on the totality of an order rather than individual models so prices fluctuate a bit trending down with larger orders.
I hope the pictures and my personal descriptions have been helpful. If you have any feedback for my post let me know and I can expand on some things.
It was quite fun to order these and receive them in the mail. It's a different experience from putting them into my printer and watching them print out, which is also incredibly satisfying. It's been an incredible year and I'm excited to continue growing my collection.
