Full-color 3D printing just left the factory floor — HeyGears G1 Series is on Kickstarter
HeyGears G1 Series is on Kickstarter
Three workflows, one desktop machine: full-color 3D, textured UV, and direct printing. Zero hand-painting.
2026.08.05 · Open Source Factory
Full-color 3D printing has been the thing you see at trade shows and can't buy — the colored figurines with gradients and skin tones that come out of industrial machines costing tens of thousands of dollars. Then HeyGears — the company behind the UltraCraft resin printers that miniature painters love — put that whole workflow on a desktop and launched it on Kickstarter on July 23. The headline: the world's first desktop full-color 3D & UV printer, from $1,999.
Here's the thing that made me stop scrolling: the pitch isn't "a 3D printer that happens to do color." It's a 3-in-1 modular platform — full-color 3D printing, textured UV printing, and 2D UV printing — in one machine. Let me break down what that actually means, and where the catches are.
▲ The G1 Series platform — G1 (UV) on the left, G1X (full-color 3D) with its resin station on the right. (source: HeyGears via Make:)
1. What it actually looks like
Before the specs, the hardware. The G1 is the UV-printing base unit — a flatbed machine that prints ink directly onto objects with UV-cured depth. The G1X is the same chassis with the full-color 3D module — a Z-axis and a resin station — turning it into a layer-by-layer full-color printer. Same platform, different heads, and the G1 can be upgraded to G1X later rather than replaced.
▲ The G1X unit. It's an inkjet printhead plus UV curing plus a resin tank — closer to a small industrial machine than to an FDM printer. (source: HeyGears via All3DP)
▲ The configs, from the price-breakdown video: G1 Starter (UV only) through G1X Full-3D with the resin station. (source: HeyGears product video)
2. The three workflows
| Workflow | What it does | Example use |
|---|---|---|
| Full-color 3D (G1X) | Precision Piezo Inkjet + UV curing, layer by layer. Millions of colors, gradients, and transparent + colored materials in one print. Water-soluble supports. | Collectible figures, product prototypes, character models — no hand-painting |
| 3D-textured UV | Prints raised, tactile texture onto flat surfaces — up to 5 mm depth | Phone cases with grip texture, signage, embossed branding |
| 2D UV printing | Direct-to-object printing on compatible flat and cylindrical items | Custom merch, promotional products, personalized gifts |
HeyGears claims support for 400+ base materials across the platform. The "zero painting" part is the whole pitch — the model comes out of the machine finished.
If you've ever painted a resin miniature or airbrushed a prototype, you know the value of that last sentence. The G1X prints the color into the layers — skin gradients, weathered textures, translucent parts — and the water-soluble supports wash away in water. What used to be a two-day painting marathon becomes a print job.
3. What it actually prints
Enough talk about workflows — here's the output. Two official sample prints, one for each side of the machine:
▲ Full-color 3D print — a Viking figure straight off the G1X. Color, gradients, and detail printed into the layers, zero hand-painting. (source: HeyGears via Make:)
▲ 3D-textured UV print — tactile raised texture printed directly onto a leather book cover. That's the UV side of the machine doing what a flatbed printer can't. (source: HeyGears via Make:)
Both of these are vendor-provided samples, so treat them as "best case" — but they're specific enough that they tell you what the machine is actually for. The Viking is the collectible/figure market; the book cover is the customization-business market. One machine, two very different revenue streams.
4. The pricing — and the fine print
| Tier | Super Early Bird | MSRP | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| G1 Starter | $1,999 | $2,699 | UV printer, upgradeable to G1X later |
| G1X Starter | $3,299 | $4,999 | G1X + upgrade path to full-color 3D |
| G1X Full-3D Pack | $3,599 | $5,499 | Full-color 3D out of the box |
| G1X Deluxe Bundle | $4,999 | $7,999 | Full-3D + accessories bundle |
| G1X Full-3D Twin Pack | $6,999 | $10,998 | Two full systems |
Savings up to ~38% off MSRP. Est. delivery December 2026, ships worldwide. Early-backer extras: customs/VAT covered in major regions, 1-year main-unit warranty, 180-day printhead warranty, 1-year HeyVerse Plus subscription, plus a free white-ink set ($109 value) and resin/ink bottles for 48-hour backers.
▲ Super Early Bird vs MSRP across the five tiers. The -26% to -38% range is the Kickstarter discount window.
One honest note on the "$1,999" headline: that buys you the UV-only G1. Full-color 3D printing — the thing that makes this product interesting — starts at the G1X Full-3D Pack at $3,599. The upgrade path is real (G1 → G1X → full 3D), but if your goal is color figures, budget for the $3,599 tier, not the headline number.
5. What to think about before backing
💸 This is a resin-and-ink machine, not an FDM printer. The consumables are where the money goes: UV ink, resin, and printheads. The i3200 industrial printhead has a 180-day warranty — replacement cost after that is a real question nobody's answered publicly yet. Budget for consumables before you budget for the machine.
🧪 First-gen software. The slicing and color workflow runs through HeyGears' HeyVerse software, including the AI creation features (text/image → printable model). AI generation is easy to demo and hard to rely on. Expect the software to mature after delivery, not before.
🏭 "World's first" in context. The claim is "first desktop" full-color 3D & UV combo — the technology itself (inkjet + UV resin, like industrial systems) is proven; the desktop packaging is the new part. Also worth knowing: the UV-printing category just had a monster Kickstarter (eufyMake E1 became the most-funded KS campaign ever), so this is a hot category with real momentum — and real hype risk.
📦 Kickstarter is still Kickstarter. December 2026 delivery, first hardware revision, renders that "may differ from the final product" (their words). HeyGears is a real, established printer company — not a garage startup — which is the strongest argument in favor. But the usual crowdfunding rules apply.
My take
The genuinely interesting bet here is the modularity. Instead of one product at one price point, HeyGears built a platform: enter at $1,999 as a UV business (phone cases, custom merch — the eufyMake-adjacent market), then add full-color 3D when the work justifies it. That's a smarter funnel than most hardware Kickstarters, and it's why the tier list reads like a business plan more than a product page.
For the miniature/collectible crowd — HeyGears' home turf — the G1X Full-3D Pack at $3,599 is the one to watch. If the shipped unit prints color anywhere near the demos, it collapses a workflow that currently means either an industrial machine or days of hand-painting. That's a real "if," though: ink costs, printhead life, and color-calibration consistency are all unproven until units ship in December.
I'm not backing yet. But this is the first desktop full-color system from an established company at a non-industrial price — and that alone made it worth a long look.
📌 Sources & filters
Sources: HeyGears official (store.heygears.com, heygears.com) · Kickstarter campaign (live since 2026-07-23; funding total changes hourly) · Make: · 3D Printing Industry · Tom's Hardware · All3DP · config breakdown video. Specs are vendor-reported; no shipping units exist as of this writing, and demo quality ≠ production quality. This is an information summary, not a recommendation to back.
Related on this blog: the other Kickstarter launch that week · the 93-gram glasses vs Quest 3 comparison
Open Source Factory · opensourcefactory1.blogspot.com · Published 2026-08-05
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