Luckily, WobbleWorks was more than happy to show off its new sketching tool and let us try it out for ourselves at IFA's Showstoppers event during CES. In short, it's fun and easy to pick up, but don't expect to craft anything too elaborate on your first try.

 

The way the pen works is simple. First you fit a 3 mm piece of ABS or PLA plastic filament at the top, which heats up near the tip. Then you press one of the two buttons on the side to control how fast the partially-melted plastic flows out of the nozzle. It sounds easy enough, but as with any new tool, mastering it appears to take quite a bit of practice.

Sketching 2D images on paper with the 3Doodler can be tricky, as you can see by my failed attempts to write the word "Gizmag" below, which only got as far as the first two letters. The plastic dries in about a second, so if you move at the wrong pace or lift the pen for even a moment, it will trail out disproportionately, and you'll have to correct it. I imagine it's much easier once you're accustomed to how the 3Doodler works, but I felt like a pre-schooler trying to use watercolors for the first time.