impcat vs 3D Model Viewer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
impcat
This app simulates photorealistic painting results for gaming and tabletop miniatures. It allows users to customize miniature sections with colors they own or plan to buy, using manufacturer-promoted palettes. The simulation includes base coloring, layering, shading, and highlighting.
- Photorealistic painting simulation
- Customizable miniature sections
- Manufacturer-promoted color palettes
- Automated color complement recommendations
- Shopping list generator
- Custom color creation and mixing
- Color scheme inspiration randomizer
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impcat (short for Interactive Miniature Painting Catalogue) is a simulator for photorealistic painting results on gaming and tabletop miniatures. This tool gives you a variety of miniature images with individually customizable body sections, that you can paint with colours you own or perhaps wish to purchase. It works with predefined colour palettes, using names and values as promoted by their manufacturers. To achieve a high quality result the system simulates a four step painting process: Base colouring, layering, shading and highlighting. Features: - A set of 6 built-in miniatures, by Artel "W", with up to nearly 30 individually paintable sections - A set of built-in colour palettes, as well as additional palettes from our DLC server (around 1000 paints to choose from, and growing) - A file handling system for importing custom image and paint templates (visit impcat.de/faq for instructions) - Access to a growing online library of free DLCs (visit impcat.de/about for full list of contents) - An automated complement recommendation mode that lets you select a base colour and then automatically applies harmonizing layer, shade and highlight paints, which you can then customize at will. - A photorealistic simulation of the applied paints. - A shopping list generator that collects the data of all applied colours and gives you the links to the corresponding shop pages - Saving and loading options for your colour configurations - A colour creating tool, for creating opaque and metallic paints of any colour you like - A colour mixing tool, for testing mix results of your paints - A randomizer, for getting colour scheme inspiration by letting impcat ramdomly distribute a set of colours across the model
3D Model Viewer
Explore and interact with 3D models on your mobile device. Simulate the 3D printing process to identify potential issues before committing to a print. Visualize your models in augmented reality, adjusting scale and rotation within your real-world environment.
- View 3D models in real-time
- Rotate, zoom, and paint models
- Simulate 3D printing process
- View models in AR mode
- Adjust scale and rotation in AR
- Supports multiple 3D file formats
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Have you ever wanted to view and interact with 3D Models? 3D Model Viewer allows you to view compatible 3D Models using your mobile device. You can even simulate 3D Printing and view your model in AR mode! -- View 3D Models Import and view your 3D models in real time, rotating, zooming and painting! -- Simulate 3D Printing Watch a simulation of your model being 3D printed from bottom to top and identify any potential problems with the model without wasting any printing material! -- AR Mode View your 3D models inserted into the real world, being able to adjust scale and rotation! -- Compatible with many formats 3D Model Viewer supports the following formats: .stl, .obj*, .abc, .ply, .usdz, .usd, .usda, .dae *.obj files can be imported with textures in the format of a .zip file 3D Model Viewer is now available for all iOS devices!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: 3D Model Viewer at Free against impcat's $2.99. 3D Model Viewer also leads on rating (4.4 vs 2.6) and update cadence (weekly vs every 18 months). impcat's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#50 vs unranked). On ads and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
3D Model Viewer is free to download; impcat costs $2.99 up front. 3D Model Viewer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. impcat asks for nothing beyond the download.
3D Model Viewer holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: 3D Model Viewer has 364 ratings behind it against 51, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 32% of impcat's written reviews are positive against 20% of 3D Model Viewer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
impcat ships an update every 18 months, 3D Model Viewer weekly. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.
| Parameter | impcat | 3D Model Viewer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 2.6 (51 ratings) | 4.4 (364 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 32.1% of reviews — better | 20.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 51 | 364 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 18 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #50 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Design Bench - Immersive Agency | Arthur Eduardo Skaetta Alvarez Desenvolvimento de Software LTDA. |
Customer experience
impcat
3D Model Viewer
User reviews
impcat
From 51 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for planning paint schemes
- 💡 Useful for visualizing colors
- ✨ Realistic rendering
- 🚀 Helpful community support (subreddit)
- ✅ Good for beginners
Room to improve
- 👎 Very limited built-in models
- 💸 High cost for limited content
- 🧩 Complicated import process
- 🤷♂️ Lack of clear instructions
- ⏳ App feels abandoned/no updates
3D Model Viewer
From 364 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Nice app design
- 👍 Simple and well-designed
- 👍 Quick viewing of models
- 👍 Low app size
Room to improve
- 👎 Only one free model import
- 👎 Paywall for more models
- 👎 Models shown at incorrect scale
- 👎 App crashes frequently
- 👎 Limited free version
Bugs and requests
impcat
Reported bugs
6 issues- In-app store not working
- App restarts when using mixed colors
- Update broke Apple Pencil functionality on iPad
- File browser is annoying
- Importing models on iOS not functional
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Touch locations for buttons are off
Requested features
12 requests- Add more Warhammer 40K .SVG models
- Include Citadel paint color references
- Permanent toggle-off for auto mode
- Landscape mode
- Easier way to import minis
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Add GW paint sets or equivalents
- Improve UI/UX design
- Add option to save work as an image
- Add more paint manufacturers
- Improve stability and performance
- Add Apple Pencil support for iPad version
- Make import process more intuitive
3D Model Viewer
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes immediately after upload
- App crashes when importing PLY files
- App crashes after payment
- App crashes when importing large files
- App crashes on iPad Pro
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- VR crashes
- Model centering limits viewing
- Paint function assigns random color
- Incorrect AR sizing
- Y axis is up in AR
Requested features
11 requests- Allow changing background color
- Allow changing lighting positions
- Add axis lock object rotation
- Add way to rotate side to side (turntable)
- Option to slow down rotation/movements
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Add arrange by recent for downloaded STLs
- Add ability to list most recent STL at top
- Allow models to scale larger in AR mode
- Add free rotation
- Improve AR sizing accuracy
- Use Z axis as up for AR and print sim
In-app purchases
impcat
No in-app purchases
3D Model Viewer
- Model Viewer Premium$1.99









