Shapeways will be offering Frosted Detail materials on a trial basis for 8 weeks. If the community response is positive, we will keep this material permanent, so be sure to give us plenty of feedback on your experiences (both good and bad) with this and our other detail materials.
Detailed information on the material properties, design rules, and printing process can be found on the Frosted Detail Material Page. Some basic design rules (get ready for a bunch of tiny numbers):

Frosted DetailFrosted Ultra Detail Minimum wall thickness 0.5 mm 0.3 mm Minimum detail thickness 0.2 mm 0.1 mm Interlocking parts accepted, gap between parts must be at least 0.1 mm accepted, gap between parts must be at least 0.05 mm Price $2.89/cm3 $4.39/cm3

The design rules for this material will evolve as we learn from your items but as a starting point above are our initial rules, keep an eye on materials page for Frosted Detail for the most current rules as this blog post will not be updated.

Large-format 3D printing

voxeljet unveils its 3D printing system VX4000 – a machine that is set to cause a stir among international experts. It enables objects to be produced from particulate material with dimensions of 4 x 2 x 1 metres.

Dr. Ingo Ederer, CEO of voxeljet technology, is delighted with the capabilities of the new machine. “With our new VX4000 we can generate moulds the size of a sports car, the limit being a volume of eight cubic metres. This presents users with undreamt-of possibilities. The enormous build space enables the rapid production of large individual moulds, but is also flexible enough to allow the cost-effective production of small batches.”