Tan Fine Detail Is Smooth ? Utter Rubbish

I've been buying a lot of models this year from various designers on this platform. I'm glad that there are folks who have taken the time and effort to make their designs available to consumers like myself who can't justify taking the time to do the work and/or invest in 3D software/hardware.

But, I've come to the point where I won't buy another product from Shapeways. I hope that more designers will make their files purchasable, else open themselves to other platforms where they get paid BUT the buyer gets to choose where the print will come from and what material to be used based on a quality/cost matrix. I have been able to purchase from other sources (Craftcloud as an example, else direct from designers) where I receive a product with a truly smooth surface. So I fail to see why Shapeways have decided to remain in the dark ages, its truly pre-historic.

My railroad model requirements that would be well satisfied by the offerings here are undermined by the utterly crap surface finishes provided by either Tan or Ultra Clear "smoothest" materials. Railroad equipment tend to have smooth panels not looking like a million years of geological stratification on it.

I've attached a couple photos of a recent Shapeways purchase; if they consider this a worthy, high quality smooth surface with an exorbitant price point, then I'm a f&*king idiot paying for it. Raised details will be rounded off else destroyed during any cleanup.

I won't delve into the problems I'm having with breakages (Tan is too brittle considering all the manhandling to deal with the clean up required), the porosity is not consistent; solvents, lacquers, water based acrylics, are being absorbed in different measures producing areas that are both shiny and rough so a good all over finish is extremely difficult to attain. I've found nothing that will effectively seal this stuff as a primer for painting over.

Wow - is that really the surface of Tan? I haven't ordered anything since the change-over, and if that's what it looks like I won't be in any hurry to do so in future. Looks like the cruddy underside of the old FUD where the wax ruined the surface details. And yet everybody has these home printers that make smooth detailed prints in grey, with a forest of supports to break off - I don't understand why SW hasn't gone that route too.

Yeah, it's awful. This was the same with the Ultra Clear too.

I don't read about any producers bitching to SW. I mean how could you possibly promote your business if this is what they will do on your behalf.

Agreed, this material is worse then the old FUD. I have only used the clear material for lightbars for my fire truck models, I have had no issue with that.

Several of have complained on behalf of our customers. The layer lines are horrible. The response we have gotten from Shapeways customer service is the company committed to this technology. We have mentioned and asked can they use resin it comes down to cleanup. and the labor cost to have someone wash cleanup and cure the resin. From what I understand the tan and clear use a wax support process similar to the fine detail plastic they use to offer. The issue was the old printers were discontinued and they had no way to maintain.


As for the complaints I have been given

1. The above issue with layer lines
2. Tan is brittle and will shatter if you need to press on it
3. The price... yet others are buying so unless people stop buying Shapeways wont invest
4. there is warping. Note there was a gray option but last summary many orders were melting in the delivery trucks due to summer heat so they changed to tan.
5. If the print is received and bad the customer needs to contact shapeways and get a new print and wait for it.

The way shapeways does business has changed. many years back they catered to the hobby community but medical and industrial have been given more priority

Due to this I have been selling the stls from my site and people can either print at home or they can use a service like 3d craft cloud or xometry. The downside is with these services you dont have consistency. because each order is fielded to available shops around the world so from customer to customer order to order it changes.

I was able to download some files that I have previously had Shapeways print. I went to Craftcloud.com and uploaded the files, requested different materials and made orders with 4 different manufacturers (at least I get to choose who, so that I can go back to them in the future). I await the products and am very interested to see the results. It's annoying that I have to keep spending my $$ with no guarantee of product quality.... I would not consider doing this for anything else I would buy; food, cars, house, etc.

I don't know what % the designers get paid on Shapeways, but price wise.... well a kit here for $85 cost me $36 via Craftcloud. So even if I paid $19.99 (Shapeways download file price), then Shapeways are charging a hell of a lot of money for poor quality.

Shapeways is similar to other print on demand services. The designer uploads a file. The designer determines what materials they want to offer it in. Shapeways provides a base cost for each material. The designer can then provide a markup on the item per material.

Say a part is 20 base price. I as a designer will add 5 dollars (this is up to each designer but if there is a large community of designers making items we all keep in the same ball park).
The product is put in the cart shapeways will add a processing fee depending on what turn around you choose
Shapeways will add shipping and taxes/vat depending on what the customer chooses
Once the product is printed and shipped shapeways pays the markup to the designer and takes a markup fee of around 3-4%

FOr the digital download 19.99. I was in the pilot group and I dropped. 19.99 was a blanket price and lookingat sites like cults, thangs, my mini factory you might get items for 2.50. Another issue is the digital file is what the designer gave shapeways to print. home users will have a different technology with FDM or Resin. I got too many people contacting that they couldnt print. Well its a sprue with multiple items. This was another reason I took my top sellers and made unsupported stls so the customer could print it according to your needs.

For customers, Shapeways pricing has always been high. I always said it was a issue on customer versus speed. In the gaming world. people still do resing casts. but they have long turn arounds. Versuss d printing can be shipped out in a week. If you have an issue with a print shapeways will reprint it.

I have been doing this since 2019 there are others who have been around double that. In the beginning Shapeways was the main game in town.

The big difference is as I mentioned above is consistency the same people are making your product same material same machines. Another pro is there marketplace the other solutions out there either dont have a marketplace or they have a marketplace but its made up of yoda headed buddhas (yes I know thats an exaggeration) and are not as prolific as shapeways across many product categories.

Thanks Jeff, that helps me understand a few things. For me the most notable point is "The designer determines what materials they want to offer it in." I assumed that Shapeways dictated that; these are our machines and this is what we will print with, like it or walk away. I'm bombarded with adverts and make videos showing the stunning possibilities with liquid resins yet this is the only online platform I've seen that will not offer that - so Shapeways aren't interested in this side of the market or technology?

I sent photos to customer complaints, they are having a look at them. If they reprint, but use the same material and production machines, I don't now see how I'm going to be delivered any improvements.

The models has to be designed for the material. Sometimes models made for Tan will also print in PA12 or Versatile Plastic, but not vise versa because of material requirements.

For resin though I think the situation more likely the supports needed for most models. It's going to be time consuming for their techs to add supports. The cleaning and support removal is pretty quick by comparison. For complex models the forrest of supports needed can easily cause damage during removal if not careful and its dificult to check for print deefects until it gets to the customer. Quality wise, its great when done right, but its not a cost effective material for the kind of business they're running.