The new manufacturer has just sent me photos of their first attempt at printing the UV layer ... and it came out gorgeous!!!
Once they got all the molds from the manufacturer, we decided to start by just tackling one design and see how it prints, so we chose the red dragon, since that was the one I had last been working on with the previous manufacturer. I went back to the original version I had first made, since it had changed so many times trying to get it to print right at the previous manufacturer, and I wanted to start clean before I started trying to correct for how their samples looked.
And the new manufacturer knocked it out of the park - it turned out exactly as I hoped it would when I first designed it!
The highlights are actually showing up, the darker colors aren't turning into giant black blobs, and it actually does give the dragon a sense of volume and form, as well as some pretty color transitions. I cannot tell you guys how relieved I was to see this sample in my inbox today - and I am so happy to have good news to share with you guys at long last.
I think the light on the horizon is actually real :) and these will finally get made at the quality I had hoped they would.
We are taking it slow at first, just to make sure we don't get lost in the weeds - so next, we are going to do the poppy and scarlet ibis, since the colors should all print very similar to this one. And then we will pick another set of three to work on. And hopefully, as we see more and more good results, we can pick up speed. But for now, I am just so happy to see these can actually be made and that I can send you guys the beautiful treasures I promised you.
Thank you so much for your patience as I was lost in the wasteland of manufacturing - but it seems we have found our way back to the path and things are looking good!
