292 Color Mixes Tested on H2C

There are some great color mixing test models on Makerworld now, most are testing very distinct and vibrant colors. I wanted to do a deep dive on color mixes with subtle variations in color percentages. 

I generated 292 unique color mixes in groups of 11 or 13 on BambuStudio & printed on the H2C. 

Each color is labelled, so we can easily recreate it again. The mix percentages are listed in this spreadsheet, along with the color themes.  The color names are generated by Gemini and I think they are quite apt! Now when painting models, I would choose from this printed swatch and recreate the color. BambuStudio's representation of the mix is not (yet) accurate.

Color Mix names & percentages spreadsheet 

I used Bambulab’s CMYKW Lithophane Filament Bundle for the testing

Most of the variations are subtle, and there is substantial banding in many mixes. However, since I print mainly 1/6th scale figurines that are seen from a distance, these mixes are good enough. This threw up many surprises, I'm especially thrilled with the skin tones. For my testing, I have used 0.12mm layer height & each file takes approx 1h20 mins to print.

At the moment, Makerworld does not support print profiles with color mixes, so ignore the main file and get the 3MF files from the “Download STL/CAD Files” section. There are 13 files and each file tests for 22-26 unique mixes. 

Following are the mix groupings that result in 292 colors.

1. All pair combinations between CMYKW. We get 10 unique combinations : CM,CY,CK,CW,MY,MK,MW,YW,YK,KW. Each pair produced 11 shades, i.e. 110 unique shades.
2. Exploring light skin tones using MY&W where white is maximised upto 83%, resulting in 13 unique shades
3. Tan to Bronze skin tones where White is gradually replaced with rich combinations of Magenta and Yellow, resulting in 13 unique shades
4. Deep skin tones which anchor strong Magenta and Yellow with precise amounts of cyan and black, 13 unique shades.
5. Mixes leaning towards green hues, using any three colors at a time. 13 shades
6. Mixes leaning towards blue hues,using any three colors at a time. 13 shades
7. Mixes using using Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow
   1. Cyan dominant mixes - 13
   2. Magenta dominant mixes - 13
   3. Yellow dominant mixes - 13
8. Exploring three color mixes where one color is always white or black. This results in six unique combinations - CMK,CYK,MYK,CMW,CYW,MYW. I created 13 shades from each combination. Ie 78 unique color formulas.

Its important to acknowledge that my remixed test strip builds upon the work of the following creators & models:

@jusdisgi's "PeggyPalette Mini - 38-Color Full Spectrum Tester" for the Snapmaker U1. The OG test palette. 

I also learned a lot from the BambuStudio H2 series specific model “31 Color Mixing Palette - Only 4 Filaments” by @tmkvamme . Bambu allows max 32 colours/mixes per 3MF file. So I have to limit my swatch to under 32 colors per print. I borrowed the nub from this model.

Finally, @funhun7erz’s “Bambu Spectrum - 2 color mixing test piece for BBL”..allowed for testing a pair of colours across 11 mix combinations starting from 80% down to 25% in approximately 5% increments of one colour. I liked how the test strips fit together, but the print time was a bit much, and the nub had flat tops which I knew would have solid colours. I borrowed the clip-together base from this.