Summer Blue

On the left: freshly printed summer blue
In the center: summer blue printed a few weeks (maybe a month?) ago. they've been sitting in a store near the front but not in direct sunlight. that's a huge amount of fading.
On the right: Blue jeans look printed many months ago. Still looks like blue jeans to me. Obviously I don't have a current print to compare it to.

I think the lesson to be learned is that the intense colors don't always wear as well. The less intense colors that we had before the summer all still look good even if they have faded a little (i still have examples of all the colors but nothing new to compare to). the summer colors are much more intense, and therefore more prone to fading. I haven't noticed any color change yet on the magenta or green, but the blue looks like a completely different color after a relatively short time.

In the future, maybe the colors need to be selected a month in advance so they can be tested for fading before they are launched or maybe stick with the muted tones. As much as I like the intensity of the summer colors, if they're not going to hold up, they're not worth it.

Or maybe this is just me? Should I be spraying some kind of fixative on the nylon to maintain the color? any suggestions?

Erica

I had a summer blue print as well, and it was sitting in a dark box for about two months. I pulled it out today, and it was almost unrecognizable, it had faded so much. It was almost a light, baby blue. The color really doesn't seem to stick...

wow, so it's not even the light that's causing it? bizarre. wish i hadn't just received more stuff in summer blue. maybe i'll keep it off the shelf, let it fade, and then sell it.

Dear Erica & Bryton,

could you please send the order/invoice no. from which you received these fading blue models to service@shapeways.com and we will have a look to see what we can do for you.

Many thanks,

Kevin

I noticed this the other day, having kept a summer blue model in a box for a few weeks it's gone a lighter, slightly denim-y shade of blue. Curious..

Kevin- I hate to say it, but I have a feeling it's all the summer blue models. I'll keep you posted, but I have two that i ordered at different times and they're both faded. I'll keep you posted as to whether the newest ones fade as well and i'll send you my invoice numbers.

Same thing here with my Blue Scoubidou. The color at the external surface of the model is now washed out

To add to the mystery, I got a summer blue ring that I half-dipped in some polyurethane varnish. The dipped bit is slightly glossed (from the varnish), but very very pale. The undipped bit has faded to baby blue. There is a bit in between though, where I'm guessing some solvent has leached out of the varnish and spread up into the undipped area, and that is very pale too.

So perhaps the fading is due to some kind of airborne solvent effect. Or something. This was kept in a bag, in a drawer.

The faded colour is also very speckled, so it looks like only some of the pigments in the dye are susceptible.