Watford’s Stylographics will be the first large format printer in the UK to install the Massivit 1800 3D printer that has been drawing crowds to the stand in a corner of Hall 7a at Drupa.
The company is taking the same unit directly from the show and already has work lined up for it. The Massivit is capable of printing from an extruded gel an object that its up to 1.8 metres tall. It is made from a lightweight polymer and thanks to hollow construction, any object is easily portable.
Once printed, the object needs to be finished to smooth the tell-tale ridges that are a feature of 3D printing and then either painted or covered in shrink wrap film.
The UK installation comes only months after the first in New York at Carisma, a display company that has also sought out new ideas, often decorating open topped tourist buses for film and theatre launches. The first test for the Massivit in its location was for Sony Pictures’ Angry Birds movie. A second promotion for the same customer has been signed for a film launching next month.
While hanging 3D objects from a bus in the UK would be ruled out, Stylo is hoping to appeal to similar customers, creating characters for film premiers for example.
“We are a graphics production company and 2D printing has become a race to the bottom,” says Simon Olley. “Two years ago I wanted to get into 3D, and then the opportunity came up to visit New York with Doug Gilbertson at Papergraphics. ”The Crawley dealer had become UK distributor for the device and plans to install its own in a reconfigured showroom, when demand from customers at Drupa allows this.
“We are looking at creating displays for flagship sites, windows displays and the experiential market for product launches, a new phone for example. There are also opportunities with theme parks.
“We have been working with 3D now for two or three years so understand the file formats and said we would get into 3D when the machines were big enough.”
Stylographics has always been strong in model making, using vacuum forming techniques and has invested in a spray booth to finish the polymer models it will now be producing. As well as its light weight, a further advantage of the material is its ease of recycling, something not possible with alternatives that are already outlawed by environmentally conscious retailers.
Gilbertson adds: “We have kept a low key because we wanted to get it right, having the engineers trained and the support in place. Now we will redesign the showroom in Crawley and will be working on how we enable our customers to earn a sensible return on investment.
“We would like to think we can have our machine in the next few weeks, but having sold five prior to coming to Drupa, Massivit has now sold eight in the first three days.” First comes the installation in Watford. The huge machine has been calculated to fit beneath a door at the site with only inches to spare. Gilbertson is sure the calculations are correct, but is nervous. “No problem,” says his customer.
Moshe Gil is CEO of Carisma in Brooklyn, the first US company to install the Massivit 1800, taking delivery only a few months ago. It is opening up huge possibilities he explains, particularly in the promotions world where customers have included Sony Pictures. The Massivit stand has been swamped by interest from printers and from potential distributors of the giant 3D printer.
