Printability, creativity and artistic merit are the 3 standards additional reading  entries will be judged by.The prize pool involves a Wacom graphics tablet, 3D printing vouchers (safe to presume redeemable only on Shapeways) plus a Polycount decoration.If it sounds right up your alley, you are in luck. The contest is open now, running until 23:59 PST April 29th, 2018.

It was only in September last year that Shapeways and video game manufacturer Valve paved the way to a more joyful 3D printing horizon for those designers. Under a unique agreement, Shapeways users could turn to Valve's vast catalog of matches and the assets therein for inspiration with the guarantee that the heavy hammer of copyright infringement would stay sheathed.

With fans free to draw upon Valve's vast pool of characters and items, a small assortment of those officially licensed models has emerged. Under the license it is even possible for Shapeways users to sell these Valve-inspired versions as prints via the platform's user-made shops.It is an admirable version, and one that we are keen to see replicated in the future.

However it's not always such a good thing when a corporate thing using a bucket of IPs crosses paths with community-driven 3D printing.So, while your low-poly Darth Vader is more hints off limits, even for personal use, lovers of Dota 2 over at Shapeways are living it up with formally endorsed figurines, figurines and other homages.Valve Launches 'Dota 2' Subscription Service