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Optimized Supports Badge - Product Quality Guarantee

The Optimized Supports badge indicates that the supports for this product have been completely reworked and optimized to guarantee the absolute best result.

It has been introduced to create transparency about what models have received extra effort to make sure the resulting products are the best they can be.

So, what does this actually mean?

1. Higher Print Quality

We can guarantee a higher print quality by matching the supports exactly to our printers capability and limits. Reducing scarring, marks and layer lines. All while speeding up the order processing.

2. Reduced Scarring and Marks

Scarring and marks that supports leave on the model surface can be reduced significantly by matching the support tip-thickness to the capabilities of our printers. Smart placement of the supports will be able to hide most of, if not all, the marks.

The result is a product with less imperfections on the model surface.

3. Less Visible Layers

By improving the orientation of the model in relation to the buildplate we can reduce the visibility of print layers.

This results in a smoother product with less visible layers.

4. Improved Print Consistency

Models that have been properly supported will be able to be printed faster and more consistently, with less print-issues and inconsistencies.

This speeds up the processing of orders as it means less re-printing. Less waste and frustration.

5. Quality Guarantee and Transparancy

This model has received extra effort to guarantee that the resulting product is of the absolute best quality.

Rest assured, this badge is ONLY applied to the products that have received this treatment. Transparency.

 

 

 

The quality of our products is really important to us. If we feel that we ourself wouldn't be happy receiving the product, then it will not be shipped and we'll start over.

We put a lot of effort into making sure that the quality of our products are up to our quality standards, consistently. Sadly, this effort is not visible when you're browsing the products in our webshop. So up until you have one of our products in your hands you will not notice the quality difference that this effort can make.

The Optimized Supports badge is our way to show that these products have received extra effort to guarantee the best quality possible.

 

What are supports, and why are they necessary?

Supports are strengthening constructions that are attached to the model and hold the model in place while it is being printed. They're necessary in the 3D printing process because you can't print in mid-air.

These supports will have to be removed from the model before the curing post-process, so you will hopefully never see any supports when you're buying 3D printed products.

However, because these supports are attached to the model they can leave marks on the model. Usually these marks are visible as potholes in the model surface. This is damage that you want to limit, or prevent entirely, which can be achieved by using the correct tip-size or by smart placement.

What about pre-supported models?

Nowadays, almost every sculptor provides pre-supported files. So why would we re-do the supports for these models? Good question!

Pre-supported files are great. It makes it possible to printing accessible for everyone, no need to learn how to support. Just drag the model into your slicer software and hit print.

That is its strength, but also its biggest weakness.

The goal of pre-supported files is to make a model printable for a wide range of people. Every person has a different printer, each with their own resin-profile. Some people over-expose, others under-expose. So many variables that you need to take into account.

Pre-supported files are therefore tailored to be printable by everyone. You don't want prints to ever fail, for anyone. So in most cases they are going to over-support the model, with more supports and thicker support-tips to guarantee that a print will never fail.

The result is a print that is of reduced quality due to the excessive scarring and marks left by supports.

Pre-supported files are fine, depending on who has done the supports, for most people. We use them as well, but most of the cases we tweak the pre-supported files to get a bit more out of them. When we use (tweaked) pre-supported files for a product it will not have the Optimized Supports badge.

Why would all this matter to me?

Optimized supports directly influence the quality of the resulting product. It leads to a cleaner and higher quality model that requires less preparational work. This is ideal for people that enjoy painting miniatures or busts.

Imagine that you've finally found the time to paint a miniature but before you can start painting you have to inspect, clean and sand or use putty to work away the imperfections on the model. By the time you're done you have no time left to actually paint.

Our goal is to give you a product that of the highest quality, which you can start painting the moment it arrives at your door.