Case Study: Gatewing achieves low-weight, high-quality, cost-effective X100 parts with Materialise

The Gatewing X100 prototypes take flight with manufactured end-use parts

Gatewing, maker of the X100 unmanned aerial vehicle, faced the challenge of producing short-series, end-use parts that could be quickly redesigned to accommodate evolving technology (for example the camera ring) without the high upfront costs of injection molding. For these needs Gatewing turned to Materialise, using 3D printing and vacuum casting services—including fused deposition modeling, laser sintering and stereolithography—to develop and validate parts.

Materialise produced 3D‑printed prototypes and stereolithography masters that were vacuum cast for the camera ring, e‑box, body cap and frame (with laser‑sintered PA caps and electromagnetic‑resistant coatings where required), delivering a low‑weight, high‑strength frame and the agility to update designs rapidly. By replacing injection molding with Materialise’s additive manufacturing and vacuum casting, Gatewing avoided large tooling investments, shortened time to market for design changes, and achieved cost‑effective production runs from single parts up to thousands while keeping the X100 competitively priced.

Gatewing