Lil People Fctry creates little people using Mimaki 3D Printing technology

Lil People Fctry is the story of Noël van Pol, a Dutchman who turned his passion into a company that produces 3D printed figurines for people.

Based in Limburg, Noël van Pol’s studio integrates a 3D scanner and a sandstone printer, that enables him to create lifelike figurines of people.

“I like to create statues that deviate from the norm. That are a bit looser and more expressive than the standard 3D statuettes you have probably seen before. Recently, for example, I made a figurine of a chicken farmer with a chicken in his hand. Or a truck driver with parts from a gearbox. That’s different and fun. And it poses an extra challenge for me to perfect”, Noël said.

People create a figurine of themselves for several reasons: to immortalise a moment, for fun or for special occasions. So far, Noël has already created 3D figurines of many children, pets, couples and special professions.

However, what raises our attention here is the fabrication process leveraged by the entrepreneur. For him, advising, guiding and scanning the customer are key steps to create the best possible 3D image, an image that should finally meet the personal requirements of each customer.

“For example, I’ve made a statue of a man with a muscle disease in a wheelchair, but also statues of pets, children playing and people in their work or sports clothing. I like that the most. Not posed and all dressed up, but very personal and expressive images”, Noël explains.

What comes next is the fabrication technique, which is sandstone. With this process, the founder of Lil People Fctry was able to deliver a good rendering thanks to the finishing process he leveraged. The only thing is, figurines easily deteriorate over time, due to moisture or any other environmental impact.  

After reaching out to Maikel de Wit, founder of Marketiger, a company that provides a similar service than Lil People Fctry, and that had purchased a Mimaki 3DUJ-553 3D printer to improve the quality of its prints (pp10-12), Van Pol decided to give the Japanese brand a try.

“The first prints convinced me instantly,” says Van Pol. “I can add much more detail and natural shapes to the resin figurines that come out of the Mimaki 3D printer, without the risk of breakage during finishing. What’s more, the details are sharper and the colours brighter, and the material is much more durable. With sandstone, the product was never fully “finished”. I have that with Mimaki.”

Lil People Fctry therefore becomes another customer who is convinced by the technology that offers 10 000 possibilities in terms of colour. As a reminder, Mimaki’s 3D printing technology can offer 84% of FO GRA 39L colour gamut, which means lifelike colours (given the fact that a color gamut of 72% – 75% is typically considered normal).

The result of such printing result is backed by the company software, Mimaki 3D Lite that facilitates the import of 3D Files, and their rendering.

Van Pol has now outsourced most of his 3D printing work to Marketiger. Lil People Fctry now offers both sandstone and resin figurines. However, according to the founder, almost all customers opt for Mimaki’s resin version.

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