In our UniFormation Maker Stories Challenge, we received countless incredible submissions from creators around the world. Among them, Eric’s story stood out — not for grand achievements, but for its genuine passion and persistence.
His journey began with casual conversations in a work truck, and grew into a full-blown love for 3D printing — one that transformed him from a curious beginner into a confident maker. Through trial and error, YouTube tutorials, and the support of his friends (and even some playful debates with his wife!), Eric discovered that creativity thrives when courage meets the right tools.
His experience reminds every maker that you don’t need to be an expert to start — you just need curiosity, patience, and the drive to keep learning. With the help of his UniFormation GK3 Ultra, Eric unlocked a new level of detail and confidence in his prints, proving that passion and technology can empower anyone to bring their imagination to life.
💡 Inspiration for fellow makers:
Eric’s story is a reminder that creativity often begins in the most unexpected places — a commute, a conversation, or a small spark of curiosity. Keep experimenting, keep printing, and keep sharing your story with the world.
Let’s take a closer look at how Eric’s journey unfolded. 👇
Eric’s Journey Story:
If you had told me three years ago that one day I’d be trying to bribe my wife with imaginary rubies just to get her to paint tiny fantasy characters, I would’ve laughed, handed you a roll of filament, and told you to get your extruder checked. But here we are.
It all started during our daily commute in the work truck. Two of my best friends and I shared the ride, and every day they’d talk about 3D printing, specifically how one of them was building a robot for our warehouse that used RFID technology to perform inventory counts. I didn’t paint the robot or anything like that, but I was fascinated by how it came together piece by piece. The more I saw what was possible, the more curious I got.
Eventually, I caved. With some help from those same friends, I dove into FDM printing. A few months later, I was designing parts in CAD and printing all kinds of cool stuff. Of course, there were the usual first-time disasters,stringy messes, spaghetti monsters, prints that looked more like modern art than anything useful, but I was hooked.
The more I learned, the more I got curious about resin printing. Then one day, I was given a free resin-printed figurine, and it was game over. The level of detail was insane. You could actually see facial features, cheekbones, even. That’s when a friend let me borrow a resin printer, and the moment that first figurine emerged from the vat of goo, I was officially obsessed.
There was just one problem: I had zero painting skills.
Now, my wife and I run a sign business, and she’s a phenomenal painter. She’s got the whole setup, airbrushes, paints, compressor, you name it. So, naturally, I tried to talk her into painting my figurines. I offered her everything, rubies, pearls, flowers, whatever it took. She didn’t even hesitate. Just hit me with a flat-out “no.”
Then she reminded me of all the years I spent preaching to our kids about how “you can do anything you put your mind to.” And there it was, I got called out. A hypocrite. A coward. All fair. So I did the only thing I could. I went to YouTube University and started learning how to paint.
That’s also when I started doing research on which resin printer would give me the best quality for painting. Pretty quickly, I started seeing a trend that people who were serious about printing and painting figurines were using Uniformation printers. The detail, the consistency, the ease of use, it was clear these machines were the real deal.
And wow, what a difference. With my Uniformation GK3 Ultra printer, my prints looked cleaner, sharper, and ready to paint right off the build plate. No more sanding weird zits off Superman’s face. No more praying a sword didn’t come out looking like a churro. Just crisp, detailed figurines that made my amateur paint jobs look way more legit than they had any right to.
Now I’m designing, printing, and even painting figurines for fun. I still over-prime things, still mess up washes, and yes, still get roasted by my wife when I forget to clean the airbrush. But I’ve come a long way from those messy first prints and awkward CAD designs.
What started as a side interest on a ride to work turned into a full-on passion, and I owe a big part of that to good friends, patient advice, and a seriously great resin printers from Uniformation.