Multicolour 3D-Printed Letters

Two ornate initials, an M and an S, printed in full colour without a drop of paint. Each letter is an illuminated design in the old manuscript tradition, wrapped in flowers, leaves and little birds, and every colour you see was laid down by the printer itself. They are a showcase of what a multicolour FDM machine can do straight off the bed.

One print, many colours

Normally a colourful 3D print is a single colour that gets painted afterwards. These were printed in full colour in one go. Each hue in the artwork, the cobalt scrollwork, the green foliage, the pink blooms and the lime highlights, is a separate PLA filament, and the printer swaps between them as it builds, dropping each colour exactly where the design calls for it. The black background is filament too. What comes off the machine is already finished.

Colour built in, not painted on

Because the colour goes all the way in as solid plastic, it does not scratch, fade or rub off the way paint can, and the crisp black outlines stay razor sharp against the brights. The design is built up in fine layers so the pattern sits in real relief, catching light across the flowers and the letters. It is a neat demonstration of colour printing: intricate, hard-wearing and done in a single job.