Finishing

We only give you the canvas. Ok, maybe a brush or two and a basic palette to work with, but the point is that the art is finally up to you, the player and maker. The kits here are just that: kits. Like a model car, soapbox racer or wooden airplane, you get to truly make every piece your own. This is no place for the bolt on bravados. Here, you're going to get your hands dirty. You're going to sweat and bleed a little. Maybe even cry. That's ok!

You may have noticed that the kits offered here have these strange lines running across the surface when you receive them, but others have shown smooth, seamless specimens. That's because we work to deliver your kit as soon as possible, and leave the final "finishing" up to you, the player! While most kits are fully functional with some minor assembly, all kits will have that unique surface texture unless you put some elbow grease into sanding and polishing for a show room-, gun wall- or bathroom floor-ready finish. Sometimes, a print will have other artifacts, like pock marks or blobs. These are common symptoms of the fabrication process, and simply require a little extra detailing work. Get your hobby knives ready!

3D printing, by nature, is not a perfect manufacturing technique. While it empowers individuals to realize their dreams and enhances creative capability, it has it's limitations of scope and scale. The beauty of additive manufacturing is that any volume of product can be profitable enough to offer for sale, thus allowing for numerous options when it comes to what you want to make. On the same side of that coin, because each item is made individually, there is no "economy of scale" or method to offer bulk items of the same kind without raising price.

The process is significantly less wasteful than other traditional methods of fabrication, and a new product can be pushed out substantially quicker than say, an injection molded version. The disadvantage to this is the method that most 3D printers operate is by depositing material layer by layer. This results in "print lines" across at least one axis of all printed parts. Some print lines are smaller, like on parts made with laser-processed printers or liquid resin printers. The tradeoff for a fine finish is a generally much slower print speed. We've found a good compromise between fabrication speed and surface texture to be .3mm thick layers. This increases the layer bonding, making for stronger parts, but still allows the surface to be easily finished.

Kits ordered through Magfed Maker will include some basic tools to assist your journey to magfed perfection. The print lines don't bother everybody, and don't detract from the usability or durability of the part at all, therefore it is not mandatory to spend all that time with sandpaper, files and a Dremel. However, given that our kits are designed to give players the power to make their magfed paintball dreams a reality, I think you're already drooling to spend as much time as you can making each and every kit your own, and to do that you're willing to sacrifice a little time.