Having experimented with 3D printing for over a year, McDonald filed for a business license in March and has been working a stall at vendor fairs with his son and two daughters ever since.
Melted Layers, the McDonald family business, offers collectible figures and helmets all printed and refined by the three folks managing the booth.
The McDonald family got its start with 3D printing in 2019 when McDonald bought a 3D printer and some filament for his son. Initially, McDonald and his son used their new printer to print parts to modify NERF guns, steadily learning how to find files and use the right filament.
Though the new tech brought its fair share of challenges, years dedicated to figuring out printing techniques and experimenting with different types of filament paid off, and before long, the pair was making adjustments to the ’87 Bronco they adopted as a fixer-upper.
As their familiarity with the printer grew, so did involvement from the rest of the family, and while McDonald’s eldest has recently dedicated his efforts to restoring old computers with their newest 3D printer, even his daughters got involved with printing and assembling little collectibles.
“The sky is the limit, really,” says McDonald, reflecting on how quickly the family took to 3D printing. “You just have to know how to use the filament and get creative.”
The pursuit of creativity eventually led McDonald to discover the wide world of 3D-printed cosplay parts. For the past year, he has been honing his skills as much as possible to keep upping the ante on his projects.
The market for printable and wearable gear can be competitive. Rather than printing a customized component measured specifically for a particular place in a vehicle, costume helmets need to be printed correctly, smoothed (to rid the surface of the bumps and seams that come with 3D printed objects), hand-painted for accuracy and realism, and sized to fit at least most human heads.
Ever the handyman, McDonald tackled the new frontier of wearable prints armed with little more than high school welding experience and some know-how with basic painting techniques.
After the first few trial runs, McDonald even sought out advice and tips from friends and local businesses he would sell to, eventually learning how to airbrush to speed up the painting process while learning new techniques that add realistic battle scars to armor and lifelike fading on well-worn equipment.
Though McDonald has only been producing masks and helmets for about a year, the number of requests he’s gotten has only pushed him further and further into the world of cosplay gear.
Cutting his teeth on wearables with the iconic Chaplain’s Helmet from Warhammer 40,000, McDonald took his time getting the sanding and shading just right to give lucky buyers the chance to fight against heretics in their own hometown, with no micro-tears in the immaterium necessary.
This helmet was such a success that McDonald went on to try his hand at other Tabletop RPG properties, managing to land 31st place (out of 100 entries) with the weathering and distress he added to a Trench Crusade heretic trooper helmet in an online competition just a few projects later.
One lucky kindergartener was the recipient of a custom Power Rangers helmet, and both McDonald and his son came together to produce an Iron Man helmet with real lights and J.A.R.V.I.S. voice clips that play when the helmet opens. Suffice it to say, Melted Layers has seen its fair share of fantasy face masks.
Though producing all kinds of 3D objects is the most fun part of the business, the heart of McDonald’s family business is in the family dynamic.
“[3D printing] really started as a hobby, but now it’s turned into a full-on business,” says McDonald. “It’s also a really good way to teach the kids how to manage money and reinvest.”
