Mac fan paid $900 to color-match iconic Apple beige-gray "Platinum" plastic for everyone:
On Tuesday [03 JUN 2025], classic computer collector Joe Strosnider announced the availability of a new 3D-printer filament that replicates the iconic "Platinum" color scheme used in classic Macintosh computers from the late 1980s through the 1990s. The PLA filament (PLA is short for polylactic acid) allows hobbyists to 3D-print nostalgic novelties, replacement parts, and accessories that match the original color of vintage Apple computers.
[...] The Platinum color, which Apple used in its desktop and portable computer lines starting with the Apple IIgs in 1986, has become synonymous with a distinctive era of classic Macintosh aesthetic. Over time, original Macintosh plastics have become brittle and discolored with age, so matching the "original" color can be a somewhat challenging and subjective experience.
Strosnider, who runs a website about his extensive vintage computer collection in Ohio, worked for years to color-match the distinctive beige-gray hue of the Macintosh Platinum scheme, resulting in a spool of hobby-ready plastic by Polar Filament and priced at $21.99 per kilogram.
According to a forum post, Strosnider paid approximately $900 to develop the color and purchase an initial 25-kilogram supply of the filament. Rather than keeping the formulation proprietary, he arranged for Polar Filament to make the color publicly available.
"I paid them a fee to color match the speaker box from inside my Mac Color Classic," Strosnider wrote in a Tinkerdifferent forum post on Tuesday. "In exchange, I asked them to release the color to the public so anyone can use it."
[...] The timing of the filament's release coincides with growing interest in 3D-printed cases and accessories for vintage computer hardware. One example is the SE Mini desktop case, a project by "GutBomb" that transforms Macintosh SE and SE/30 logic boards into compact desktop computers that can connect to modern displays. The case, designed to be 3D-printed in multiple pieces and assembled, represents the type of project that benefits from color-accurate filament.
The SE Mini case requires approximately half a spool of filament and takes a couple of days to print on consumer 3D printers. Users can outfit the case with modern components, such as Pico PSUs and BlueSCSI storage devices, while maintaining the classic Macintosh appearance.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by looorg on Sunday June 08, @02:34PM (12 children)
Most old cases were injection molded ABS. Not sure that home 3D printed PLA is going to deliver or stand up any better over time or in any kind of comparison. I suspect that this will be and do a lot worse. But then you could always just print a new case if it doesn't hold up. Working with ABS is nasty nasty stuff as far as I can recall it. Not something I would ever want to do at home. But I'm sure it's going to look somewhat nice, if you have a small enough nozzle.
But it probably won't be to nice. I'm having serious doubts about the structural integrity. Certainly if I need to put in the entire structure to support the CRT, motherboards, PSU, floppy, harddrive etc in one of the classic SE/30 type Macs. If I have to screw into it over and over. Anyone else recall how much you had to bank on the cover to lift the hood of a SE/30 case to get it to loosen to you could lift it up. I doubt home printed PLA is going to survive that process for long, or even once.
Also how many kg of PLA do you need to print a complete case? I have not printed something that large before.
Previously there was some store in Poland that sold Atari Grey and Amiga/C64 beige in spray can. Not sure they offer that anymore, there was issues with shipping spray cans internationally. But then you could just make the entire case out of whatever you liked and then just get the right colour that way.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday June 08, @02:37PM
While that is not a SE/30 case it's the desktop version if you want to get a SE/30 into a case without the monitor. So it's basically a fancy flat box.
https://www.printables.com/model/1034256-se-mini-desktop-case-for-macintosh-se-or-se30 [printables.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 08, @03:25PM (8 children)
Little trick with unscrewing and rescrewing in plastic. When you put them back, don't just start driving them in. Gently turn them counterclockwise (unscrewing) until you feel them "click". That is when they drop back into the same thread, instead of cutting a new one.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by looorg on Sunday June 08, @03:47PM (6 children)
That is a good idea in general when it comes to screwing things in. My issue isn't with that so much. It's that I'm unsure of the strength of the PLA. Will it hold it. The CRT is screwed straight into the front panel. Will the PLA hold the 9" CRT? I don't recall the exact weight but it's a fair chunk, probably about half the entire machine weight, so my best guesstimate is that the CRT alone is about 3-4 kg. Will the PLA hold?
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Monday June 09, @01:01PM (5 children)
If the model is designed properly and printed with suitable wall thickness, holding 3-4 Kg is no problem at all. I've used printed PLA dies in a hydraulic press to bend 12ga and 14ga steel. I don't have a gauge on it, but I assume it's hundreds of pounds of load.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Monday June 09, @05:57PM (4 children)
That is good to know. I imagine if I would just make the case walls thick enough, or have enough support and bracers it would eventually hold anything. Will it be thicker then the ABS original tho? If it becomes much larger things won't fit inside so you have to bulk outwards. But it's good to know that it apparently has the strength to not cave in. I only really printed small boxes, cases and miniatures for wargaming with PLA. It feels sturdier then resin printing. But not overly solid. Some PLA blends might or are also better and stronger then others.
But in this case it might be a reason they suggested that you build a box and turn the SE/30 classic box into a pizza box and removed the monitor from the case. They might not be certain that it would hold. Or they just figure you don't want a 9" CRT but to hook up the machine to a modern display.
Perhaps a slight exaggeration that I would be screwing things in and out all the time. Most of the time I don't even bother screwing things in more then once. Case screws are not a thing. Or at most it gets one or two thumb-screws. It's mostly things get fastened in once and then done. It was more on the principle of things, will it hold if you screw it in and out repeatedly.
The little boxes I printed doesn't hold to open and closing and such to many times. You could make them thicker and sturdier and perhaps a better design. But they eventually break, and sooner then expected. The non joke part was the banging on the side of the case tho to get the cover to come lose, that still happens often. Which I'm unsure of if a PLA cover will take. From my small scale boxes I have doubts. I don't want to bang a fist thru the side of the cover, even tho I would probably laugh and go HULK SMASH! and then laugh some more when it happened.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ElizabethGreene on Tuesday June 10, @11:55AM (3 children)
For 3D printed parts, strength is 20% about the material, and 80% about designing the parts for printing. As an example, in injection molding, it's common to have cylinders stick up out of the part to use for screw holes. That's not great for printed parts, because those cylinders concentrate stress on the weaker layer-to-layer bonds. Those cylinders are used because IM can't make hollow parts, and making something solid will make it use a lot of plastic and be expensive. For 3D printing, you can make that cylinder into a box with infill inside it and it can be stronger than the IM part.
Living hinges on printed boxes are a harder design problem. You can make them durable, but they have to stick out of the box like coffee-cup handles. I don't love those, so for something like card boxes, I probably would use a sliding door instead.
Compliant mechanisms from PLA can work, e.g. https://github.com/ElizabethGreene/3D-Printable-Die-Filer [github.com] is a drill-powered die filer that oscillates a metal-cutting file at 1-2 hz across a half-inch stroke. The trick to making that work is keeping the deflection within the constraint of the material and that the parts have different flex constraints depending on print orientation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 11, @12:36PM (2 children)
I haven't tried it, but could you put the big loop on the inside of the box? You'd need the interior space for it, but at least it wouldn't stick out.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ElizabethGreene on Wednesday June 11, @03:41PM (1 child)
That's an excellent approach. To be maximally durable, a plastic FDM printed flexure needs to be perpendicular to the print bed to minimize strain across the weaker layer-to-layer boundaries. For a design that's going to be assembled, that's no problem. To do that as a print-in-place design would be a bit more tricky though, because it means you'll have a large overhang for the box sides.
I feel a little dumb sitting here thinking about this. In all my flexure tests, it never occurred to me to print one at an angle other than 0° or 90° to the bed. I suspect other angles might be ok? Changes in cross section tend to concentrate stress and create weak points. That's the problem with crossing layer lines; They're weaker and concentrate stress. I'll go test printing them at an angle.
(Score: 3, Informative) by looorg on Thursday June 12, @08:24PM
It has somehow always been a thing when print little boxes or brackets and such to keep the flat on the bed, 0 or 90 degrees and such. You wanted to ensure stability and have a solid flat surface etc.
It was mostly when I started to printing models for wargames I noticed that then you usually want to print them at a tilted angle, even if the model have feet, wheels or are supposed to stand on the ground. The idea as far as I can recall is that you want to try and diminish visible layer-lines or hide them so that they visibility of said lines is only from below the miniature (where nobody is going to be looking or see them when they are one the table) or that you somehow minimize surface contact between the model and the support and that support should be easier to break off or be connected with the model in such places where once again things won't be seen. Cause layer lines become really really obvious when you start to paint the models. On gaming models the important bits are usually the "head" and sort of looking at it from above at a 45ish degree.
(Score: 4, Informative) by ElizabethGreene on Monday June 09, @12:52PM
If you're making printable parts that will be unscrewed and re-screwed repeatedly, there are better fastener options than just self-tapping screws into plastic. e.g. captive nuts and heat set inserts. The latter are surprisingly affordable; I got a ~300 piece set from Temu for $10. They install in seconds with a regular soldering iron.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday June 08, @03:37PM
I had a nagging suspicion so I had to check on one of my SE/30 machines. I don't think that this would or will do as a replacement. As you screw the CRT into the plastic front panel. I'm not sure how it is on the other classic macs but on the SE and SE/30 this probably won't do. I don't think home printed PLA is going to hold this, or hold it for very long. But I could be wrong. The issue if it fails is that the CRT will then fall onto the harddrive/floppy bay or fall straight onto the logic board (or motherboard if you will) if you don't have one of those. It's not a great distance. But it might be enough so snap or damage the CRT neck. If you are lucky it will just tilt a little and then rest on the drive bays.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Monday June 09, @12:59AM
PLA+ is significantly more durable than ABS. This is probably regular PLA however.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek