London, UK – Shop3D has completed one of the largest and most intense print‑on‑demand fulfilment projects over an eight‑month, around‑the‑clock manufacturing marathon. Shop3D produced more than 1.4 million individual parts for Factory Fortress Inc.’s grimdark skirmish game Trench Crusade and shipped over 12,000 backer orders across the globe.
The team maintained a production tempo that saw nearly 75 percent of pledges shipped within the first three months, while still ramping up output, proving that large-scale 3D-printed campaigns can be delivered quickly and with high detail and accuracy while staying true to the creator’s vision. Every part was 3D-printed in-house across Shop3D’s UK and US facilities, enabling fast turnaround, tariff-free shipping, and thousands of customized order combinations.
Characters printed for the Trench Crusade campaign.Factory Fortress INC
Alex Ziff, CEO of Shop3D, said, “We’ve done what most thought was impossible: manufacture a $3+ million toy campaign with 3D printing. This proves 3D printing is a production tool that can outpace injection molding for the right projects, and it’s no longer just for prototyping.”
Trench Crusade’s original Kickstarter and late‑pledge campaigns attracted tens of thousands of supporters and raised more than $3 million (over $5 million when late‑pledges are included). To deliver this unprecedented volume of physical miniatures, Shop3D built an integrated pipeline that includes prototyping, pledge management, manufacturing, packaging, and global logistics.
Jamie Parsons, COO at Factory Fortress, said, "From the start, we knew that one of the keys to the success of this Kickstarter was a reliable 3D printing partner with robust end-to-end capacities. After a lot of research, Shop3D emerged as the only company that could get the job done. When our project blew up and the quantities required to fulfil pledges increased dramatically, Shop3D took it in their stride and worked tirelessly to get the job done, overcoming any hurdle met along the way in record time. It is safe to say that without them, there would be no Trench Crusade."
“Large‑scale fulfilment doesn’t have to mean disorganization or delay,” added Ziff. “We designed this pipeline to prove that creators can scale ambitious projects without compromising quality or visibility. Trench Crusade shows what’s possible when manufacturing, logistics, crowdfunding management, and creative vision are all aligned”.
Over eight months, hundreds of high‑end 3D printers and a dedicated team worked in shifts to produce and pack a staggering volume of miniatures and accessories. Highlights of this effort include:
- 12,000+ backer orders processed and shipped (fulfilment ongoing).
- 1.4 million 3D‑printed parts manufactured and delivered.
- 3,754 different pledge variants handled, with thousands of miniature combinations, add‑ons, and accessories, resulted in a pick‑and‑pack process akin to fulfilling 20,000 unique orders.
- 653 different part designs were printed, ranging from iconic heroes and horrors to custom scenic elements..
- $5 million raised across Kickstarter and late‑pledge campaigns.
- Integrated fulfilment: Shop3D handled prototyping, packaging, tracking, and shipping for every pledge.
- Custom boxes, scenic elements, and pledge-specific inserts were produced in-house for each order.
- All‑in‑one crowdfunding tool: Shop3D’s platform managed pledges, add‑ons, and fulfilment in a single interface.
The scale of the project would typically require overseas production, tooling, and months of lead time. The Trench Crusade campaign demanded a radically more flexible and responsive solution. Shop3D handled the entire process in-house, delivering over 1.4 million printed parts in just eight to nine months, a volume and complexity most 3D printing providers would consider impractical.
“The fact that we printed every part at this scale proves that 3D printing is the present of toy manufacturing,” said Ziff. “This was full-scale production, with real volumes and deadlines, and real global logistics, all handled in-house.”
Trench Crusade proved that digital-first campaigns can transition from screens to tabletops at an unprecedented scale. Shop3D produced more than a million parts in the first three months of production and then sustained that momentum through an eight‑month sprint, rivalling (and in some cases exceeding) the timelines of traditional injection‑molded manufacturing.
The campaign’s momentum is still going strong. Pre‑orders remain open for latecomers, with remaining shipments expected to wrap up soon. The Trench Crusade team is now preparing future phases of the project, including retail releases through Only‑Games.co and continued digital content updates.
Set in a grim alternate 1914 where a portal to Hell has transformed trench warfare into a supernatural crusade, Trench Crusade captured a global fanbase with its dark lore and miniature-rich gameplay. But behind the game’s success lies a manufacturing breakthrough that shows how crowdfunded creators, indie toy brands, and even large publishers could move faster, cheaper, and more flexibly by switching to digital-first production.
