Another company has jumped into the ring when it comes to high speed 3D printing as Gizmo-3D talk about their super fast machine that utilises a similar method to the one we saw from Carbon3D last week but with a lot more apparent reliability when it comes to the process...

As you can see in the image above this alternative method of printing works on the basis that you start creating the shape within the bath of resin using a new technique. From 3DPrints.com...

"instead of printing in broken layers, with quick flashes of a projected image from the DLP projector, his layers are printed like an animation, without any breaks between frames. The build plate, full of resin, continuously moves downward while this animation plays."

I won't pretend that I know half of what they're saying about this new technology but it sounds like this version of printing, removing the need for layering in the typical way, is a step in the right direction when it comes to 3D printing.

"...objects are printed within a vat of liquid, and remain there for the duration of the print. As seen in the amazing video at the top of this page, Toit’s 3D printer is capable of printing extraordinarily fast. In fact he says that it is capable of printing an object 150mm x 80mm x 26mm in size, at a 50 micron z-axis resolution, in just 6 minutes."

The quality of the video showing this technique isn't great but it shows the light working beneath the surface of the resin to build the structure (a skull in this case) before being drawn from the liquid as a complete sculpt.

In addition to the speed of the machine it's also got a few other functions that could make it interesting to wargaming. It can not only build multiple items at the same time but it could even do them in different colours using a multi-vat system. Once again this could be great for board gaming pieces and pre-coloured units for your bigger armies.

I could see this being a big step forward in the way terrain is produced if they can get the detail right. Infantry and such might be a way off but bigger sculpts like tanks, flyers and could also be in the running as they're simply built in one piece straight out of the resin.

The company behind this is looking to release it to Kickstarter later this year in September or at the latest November. The most basic machine will come in at around the $2,500 mark while the most expensive rocks in at $6,000. There's apparently another 'secret' addition to the machine that makes it so quick but they wont be unveiling that until the Kickstarter launches.

Don't forget to check out our new article series by herrigold on the subject of 3D printing which started on Monday!

Does this restore some faith in this method of 3D printing?