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Two New Branded 3D Printing Sites Aim to Fill Small Scale Manufacturing Niches

We’ve seen small-scale 3D Design and 3D Printing businesses flourish with sites like Shapeways who use an eBay- or Etsy-like model that allows users to upload their 3D models and sell them, with the manufacturing element fulfilled by the 3D printing service provider. However, for me, it remains to be seen if 3D printing can support and sustain a small manufacturing business on its own without relying on the accessibility that being under the Shapeways-esque umbrella provides.

At Adamation.com you will soon be able to follow the exploits of the super hero characters of The Defenders, the World of Warcraft looking Mythical Mortals, the military themed Big Shots and the post-apocalyptic robots from Metalheads with soon to be released games and comics. The website sells collectibles branded with their characters ranging from stickers and cards to 3D printed mini figures and maquettes. I kind of want this funky robot.

adamotion 3d printing warbot

Over on Artiful.net the more refined art pieces are collaborations between 2D artists or a ceramist’ and a 3D modeller who brings their concepts to life. All of their printed art pieces are made from a limestone material so they will have a sandstone texture. They are printed to order with the colour being added in during the printing process. The art itself ranges from 3 dimensional tiles and reliefs to simple vases, bowls and figurines.

 3D Printing Artiful.net

With both websites the developers are looking to service small niche markets, and as 3D printing becomes more affordable, more reliable, quicker and with more varied available printing mediums it seems like a business model that really could start to take off. Going after a collectors market or a very specific home decor market with very specific tastes can be risky — with unproven intellectual properties and new artists — due to often requiring a large upfront investment. But by removing a lot of the cost risk by manufacturing to order combined with the limitless reach of the Internet, a small niche can often be a very profitable one. Heck, in many ways 3D printing is still a niche market itself, albeit a quickly expanding niche, and it has been very profitable for a lot of people.

Only time will tell if small-scale niche manufacturing will take off as much as rapid prototyping has. But one of the things that is exciting about the 3D printing industry is the fact that it is so new and emergent that even the people running the biggest 3D printing companies aren’t really sure what’s going to happen next.