AnkerMake has increased the speed of its V6 multi-material and multicolor printing add on to the M5 printer.

In a blog post, its developers detailed some of the issues with older prototypes:

“If your print has 6 colors in one layer, it can take 3 to 6 minutes to switch between colors. Multiply that by 1,000 layers (200 mm high), and that’s 50 to 100 hours! Luckily, our re-targeting turned V6 into a time-saving machine.”

Initially announced back in May 2022, the V6 unit has been redeveloped and can now print at 150 mm/s. At these speeds, it will save you time and materials when printing with various colors. The latest prototype takes just 2 hours 45 minutes to print four colors, 1 hour 51 minutes faster than the previous print speed.

The price of the V6 Color Engine will be adjusted to reflect the latest developments and hardware changes. Shipping has also been delayed by four months with the estimated January 2023 release pushed back to May 2023.