Frosted Ultra Detail gets freaky on Shapeways thanks to Turkka Kylliäinen

Read on for more gruesomeness or skip if you would like to pass on disturbing images.

One of the coolest things about my role at Shapeways is that I get the opportunity to see the amazing diversity of amazing stuff that is being 3D printed by the Shapeways community.  I get to take a peak into where you all hang out online when you are not hanging out in the Shapeways forums, and I get to see the excitement that spreads into other members of your communities when they see the Shapeways awesomeness.

I recently stumbled across a few sites dedicated to Transformers that have a fertile community including TFW2005 that had a few interesting threads singing the praises of Shapeways and showing some fantastic models that have not cropped up in the It Arrived forum, yet.

James from TFW was kind enough to direct me to a few threads including Share Your Shapeways Finds which at five pages long only starts to cover some of the 3D printed robot action that is happening through Shapeways.

I recently posted an image on Tumblr of a quirky concept by Cunicode for the Octo Handle Cup, which is part of a One Cup A Day project.  A great idea to do a design a day to stimulate your creative juices and generate some interesting items.

The Octo Handle Cup has struck a chord with the caffeine junkies on Tumblr and it has now spreading across Tumblr with 85 90 notes and counting.

Simple, 3D printed coolness.... The Mega Toot by cheewee2000

So your iPad is not quite loud enough, you want to stay wireless, don't want to plug into external speakers and don't want to wear your great grandfather's old ear trumpet?  Then we have the solution for you, the Mega Toot turns you iPad into a digital gramophone with no additional batteries, no hand crank and 120% style....

Rock on.

A recent post in the Shapeways '3D Modeler Needed' forum by Sean Gallagher of The Toy Street requested help to perfectly 3D model a Repro Part for Vintage Toy.

There are a few of really unique aspects to this happening on Shapeways.

Firstly the Shapeways 3D print service, with no file reading fee and a $25 minimum order that includes shipping means anyone can afford to replace a rare part without necessarily having to go to an engineer, prop maker, industrial designer or other specialist and pay large amounts of money to replace a small component needed to maintain the function or value of an item. All you need is a way to accurately measure the item then a way to 3D model it and the replacement part is only an upload away in a range of materials, one of which is bound to have suitable material properties for your particular needs. Eventually we are bound to see an extensive inventory of replacement parts on Shapeways 3D Parts, Thingiverse, Google 3D Warehouse or some other 3D model repository to make it easier for anyone to repair, replace, configure or just hack existing products.

An awesome industrial design project that uses 3D printing to construct a custom PC case from scratch.  Very ambitious and very impressive project by Pazu....

We see many projects on Shapeways where a 3D printed component is combined with a single other component to improve or extend the capability of a product.  We see a lot of protectors and stands for mobile gadgets, especially the iPhone and iPad.  We see occasional projects that combine multiple 3D printed materials together to make the most of there different material properties, but we rarely see them combined in one big project. Pazu aka ArkAngel has spent a couple of months designing, detailing and constructing a stunning custom PC case that utilizes 3D printing in an intelligent, efficient and aesthetic manner that is a great example of how to realize a relatively complex item.

The Shapeways team are on their way, getting the 3D printed goodness ready for Bay Area Maker Faire!

We will have loads of awesome 3D printed products from the Shapeways community on show in all of our materials from the classic WSF to the brand new ceramics.  Come and MeetUp with the Shapeways crew, chat about the materials, processes, your items and your shop.  We love these events as we get to share the enthusiasm and excitement in the flesh... 

see you soon......

Wanna meet some fellow 3D printing and design enthusiasts? We do! Meet us in the bar of the Courtyard San Mateo Foster City Hotel in Foster City on Friday the 20th at 8.30pm, and bring your work! Drinks are on us.

We are in town for the Bay Area Maker Faire and would love to meet as many of you as possible, show off some of your stuff and have a beer with the Shapeways crew.

We would like to encourage students, schools and teachers to get into contact with us and let us know how we can help bring 3D printing into your curriculum.  If you are a teacher, professor, lecturer or head of school, please get in contact with duann (at) shapeways.com and we can discuss how we can help your students.  If you are a student please pass on this message to whoever is in power to make things happen at your school.

Baltimore must be on intimate terms with his local UPS driver.

What is most amazing is how incredibly small some of the prints are and just how fine the details are, models that make a pin look huge like CGD's military models....

Read on to see more amazingly detailed 3D prints in the almighty FUD.....

Today it starts, ICFF in New York City is the biggest design event in the USA and Shapeways will be there at Booth 1451 so come and meet the Shapeways team and take a look at some of the 3D printed awesomeness we have on show.

During the course of the show we will be posting updates, photos and maybe even some video of the event on our Tumblr so keep an eye out for what will surely be an exciting event. Next weekend Shapeways will be at Maker Faire in San Mateo so if you are on the west coast we will see you there.