Visit Flintstop to purchase the brand new hi-tech Doodler 3D Printing Pen

A doodle of a girl and 3D design on diya. Pics/Nimesh Dave

We were hit by nostalgia when we saw molten and gooey, pale pink mix flow out of a pen nozzle onto our desk. As we drew scrawny lines, we remembered childhood afternoons spent applying mehendi on our palms. However, a far cry from the modest cone, the bright yellow contraption in our hands was actually a hi-tech Doodler 3D Printing Pen, which helps you take art to the next level - by drawing cool 3D doodles and designs that stand too. One of the latest arrivals in the quirky e-shop Flintstop's kitty, the pen costs '5,999. Is it worth it? We take the toy for a doodle spin and find out.

The 3D pen is accompanied by a USB cord, an adaptor, a manual, coloured filaments and a plastic screw driver (centre) that can be used to open the pen in case a filament spiral gets stuck

How it works
The 3D pen comes with a USB cord, an AC/DC adaptor (electric parametre: DC5V 2A 10W), plastic screw-driver and three-metre filaments of three colours. The filaments, which work as ink, are thermoplastics made of ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) and PLA (Polylactic Acid) materials. These become soft and mouldable when heated and return to solid form when cooled. We received ABS filaments in red, pink and grey. To doodle, you need to plug the pen into an electric socket; it needs to be plugged in through the process. You can also connect it to your powerbank when outdoors. The manual mentions low energy consumption since the maximum working current is 2A.

The pen works on many surfaces, including clay and wood

Load and doodle
Once plugged in, an LED screen on the pen flashed the target temperature set at 210°C (PLA is set at 180°C). Two buttons (with plus and minus signs) next to it helped us moderate the temperature.

You can create a doodle on paper and scrape it off too

We pressed a button featuring a down arrow symbol on the side of the pen to start heating it. While we didn't feel it on our fingers (caution: the nozzle gets hot and touching it can cause burns), the screen tabulated the rising temperature. Once it touched 210°C, we loaded a filament into a hole at the top of the pen by pressing the same button. A faint whirring sound indicated that the loading process had begun and excited, we waited for the 0.6 mm nozzle to spurt out the filament. The entire process took less than a minute.

Lines and curves
With thread-like strands squeezing out of the pen, we drew hearts and flowers on paper, keeping the loading button pressed continuously. Initially, we were at our wit's end, as the lines wiggled on the surface instead of sticking to it. We adjusted the flow speed via a slide button, and applied a little pressure. This resulted in thicker strokes, which stuck to each other, ensuring that we could scrape off our doodle and marvel at it in our hands.

We loved the fact that you can doodle on any surface, be it paper, metal, plastic or wood. Using different filaments (if you want to change colour, offload the previous filament pressing an upward arrow button and load another colour), we successfully drew designs over a clay diya, keeping in mind the festive season. And like a child whose eyes glint at the sight of sparklers, we fell in love with our new toy as we admired our scribbled works of art.

Log on to: www.flintstop.com
Cost: 5,999 (a box of 10-colour filaments costs 999)
Note: Suitable for children over eight years under parental supervision