Shapeways continues to roll out exciting updates on our inventory of 90+ materials and finishes already available, but with special attention to one of our most versatile 3D printing products: Fine Detail Plastic. This versatile acrylate is highly popular for purchases at Shapeways, including everything from miniatures to 3D printed plastic master molds.

New options like Fine Detail Plastic in Clear Ultra and Gray serve as excellent choices whether you are designing for the Shapeways Marketplace, shopping the thousands of products available there, or uploading a personalized design for us to 3D print.

3D Printing with Clear Ultra Fine Detail Plastic

Clear Ultra Fine Detail Plastic is a great solution if you need a material less prone to yellowing over time, as well as one offering more flexibility to help prevent breakage in more fragile 3D printing projects like jewelry or decorative pieces. This material is also recommended for applications requiring thinner structures with flexibility, as well as thicker parts where rigid functionality is necessary.

Other applications include:

• Translucent prototypes for plastic injection molding
• Functional snap-fit assemblies requiring drilling, tapping, and machining
• Injection molding plastic screw bosses and threads
• Translucent flow visualization and dye-tinted applications
• Optically clear sight windows for digital fixtures
• Microfluidics, capillary fluidics, and lab-on-a-chip products

Fine Detail Plastic parts can also be painted easily due to the exceptionally smooth, consistent surfaces–perfect for smaller 3D printed products requiring high accuracy, fine features, and sharp edges.

3D Printing with Gray Fine Detail Plastic

Offering similar material properties to Clear Ultra Fine Detail Plastic, this opaque Gray serves as the perfect base for painting and enhancing intricate 3D model details.

The strong visual contrast of Gray Fine Detail Plastic also makes it ideal for functional applications with high detail, as well as parts that require drilling, tapping, and machining. While this rigid material serves the same applications as its Clear counterpart, we also recommend Gray Fine Detail Plastic for the following:

• Parts with surface details requiring contrast for easy visualization of surface detail
• Opaque prototypes and some end-use components
• Painted business and marketing collateral, models, and mockups

Finishes

New finishes for Fine Detail Plastic materials include:

• Gray Fine Detail Plastic: 3D Systems Visijet M2R-GRY material at HD resolution settings (800 x 900 DPI) to provide fine details at 32 micron layer height.
• Clear Ultra Fine Detail Plastic: 3D Systems Visijet M2R-CL material at UHD resolution settings (1600 x 900 DPI) to provide finest details at 32 micron layer height.

Technology

We 3D print all Fine Detail Plastic materials with Material Jetting (MJ), one of our fastest 3D printing technologies, providing high detail and dimensional accuracy, excellent surface finishes, and aesthetics. MF technology relies on several nozzles to deposit material droplets onto the print bed. Each layer is cured by UV heat until the part is complete, with supports removed in post-processing.

Because detail tends to be a high priority with Fine Detail Plastic products, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the design guidelines here.