diff --git a/src/components/UI/PartsBar/index.jsx b/src/components/UI/PartsBar/index.jsx
index 4680ec1..c09ca9e 100644
--- a/src/components/UI/PartsBar/index.jsx
+++ b/src/components/UI/PartsBar/index.jsx
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
-import { useState } from "react";
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
 import "./styles.css";
 import { useStore } from "../../../store";
 import {
   LDRAW_PARTS,
   PART_CATEGORIES,
   LDRAW_COLORS,
+  renderPartThumbnail,
+  disposeThumbnailRenderer,
 } from "../../../utils";
 
 // LeoCAD-style parts bin: a colour row + category tabs + the curated LDraw
@@ -19,6 +21,27 @@ export const PartsBar = () => {
   const category =
     PART_CATEGORIES.find((c) => c.id === activeCat) || PART_CATEGORIES[0];
 
+  // Real 3D previews: render each curated part once into a small offscreen
+  // canvas and cache the PNG data URL by part key. Falls back to the flat glyph
+  // when WebGL is unavailable or a render fails.
+  const [thumbs, setThumbs] = useState({});
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    let cancelled = false;
+    for (const key of Object.keys(LDRAW_PARTS)) {
+      renderPartThumbnail(key).then((url) => {
+        if (cancelled || !url) return;
+        setThumbs((prev) => (prev[key] ? prev : { ...prev, [key]: url }));
+      });
+    }
+    return () => {
+      cancelled = true;
+    };
+  }, []);
+
+  // Dispose the shared offscreen renderer + canvases when the bar unmounts.
+  useEffect(() => () => disposeThumbnailRenderer(), []);
+
   return (
     <div className="PartsBar">
       <div className="ColorRow">
@@ -55,6 +78,7 @@ export const PartsBar = () => {
         {category.keys.map((key) => {
           const def = LDRAW_PARTS[key];
           if (!def) return null;
+          const thumb = thumbs[key];
           return (
             <button
               key={key}
@@ -62,7 +86,11 @@ export const PartsBar = () => {
               onClick={() => setPartType(key)}
               title={def.label}
             >
-              <span className="PartGlyph">{def.glyph}</span>
+              {thumb ? (
+                <img className="PartThumb" src={thumb} alt={def.label} />
+              ) : (
+                <span className="PartGlyph">{def.glyph}</span>
+              )}
               <span className="PartLabel">{def.label}</span>
             </button>
           );
diff --git a/src/components/UI/PartsBar/styles.css b/src/components/UI/PartsBar/styles.css
index 62b08b8..66fd87c 100644
--- a/src/components/UI/PartsBar/styles.css
+++ b/src/components/UI/PartsBar/styles.css
@@ -123,6 +123,14 @@
   line-height: 1;
 }
 
+.PartThumb {
+  width: 44px;
+  height: 44px;
+  object-fit: contain;
+  image-rendering: auto;
+  pointer-events: none;
+}
+
 .PartLabel {
   font-size: 0.6rem;
   font-weight: 700;
diff --git a/src/utils/ldraw.js b/src/utils/ldraw.js
index faf78db..075b462 100644
--- a/src/utils/ldraw.js
+++ b/src/utils/ldraw.js
@@ -8,7 +8,18 @@
  * function returns null on failure so the builder never throws.
  */
 import { LDrawLoader } from "three/examples/jsm/loaders/LDrawLoader.js";
-import { Group, Box3, Vector3, Color } from "three";
+import {
+  Group,
+  Box3,
+  Vector3,
+  Color,
+  Scene,
+  PerspectiveCamera,
+  WebGLRenderer,
+  HemisphereLight,
+  DirectionalLight,
+  AmbientLight,
+} from "three";
 import { base } from "./constants";
 
 // ── LDraw scale constants ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -210,3 +221,124 @@ export function clearPartCache() {
   _loaderPromise = null;
   _manifest = null;
 }
+
+// ── Offscreen 3/4-view thumbnails for the parts bin ──────────────────────────
+// A single shared offscreen WebGL renderer renders each curated part once into
+// a small canvas, exported as a PNG data URL and cached by part key. The render
+// is one-shot (no live loop). Everything degrades to null on failure so the
+// palette can fall back to its flat glyph.
+
+const THUMB_SIZE = 96;
+let _thumbCtx = null; // { renderer, scene, camera } | null | "failed"
+const _thumbCache = new Map(); // partKey -> Promise<string|null> (data URL)
+
+function _thumbContext() {
+  if (_thumbCtx !== null) return _thumbCtx === "failed" ? null : _thumbCtx;
+  try {
+    const canvas = document.createElement("canvas");
+    canvas.width = THUMB_SIZE;
+    canvas.height = THUMB_SIZE;
+    const renderer = new WebGLRenderer({
+      canvas,
+      antialias: true,
+      alpha: true,
+      preserveDrawingBuffer: true,
+    });
+    renderer.setSize(THUMB_SIZE, THUMB_SIZE, false);
+
+    const scene = new Scene();
+    scene.add(new HemisphereLight(0xffffff, 0xffffff, 0.55));
+    scene.add(new AmbientLight(0xffffff, 0.35));
+    const key = new DirectionalLight(0xffffff, 0.9);
+    key.position.set(40, 60, 30);
+    scene.add(key);
+
+    const camera = new PerspectiveCamera(35, 1, 0.1, 5000);
+
+    _thumbCtx = { renderer, scene, camera };
+    return _thumbCtx;
+  } catch {
+    _thumbCtx = "failed";
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Render (and cache) a 3/4-view PNG thumbnail for a part type. Reuses the
+ * cached LDraw template via {@link buildPartObject} (no extra .dat fetch) and a
+ * single shared offscreen renderer. Returns null on any failure.
+ * @returns {Promise<string|null>} a `data:image/png` URL, or null
+ */
+export function renderPartThumbnail(partKey, colorHex = "#C91A09") {
+  const cacheKey = `${partKey}|${colorHex}`;
+  if (_thumbCache.has(cacheKey)) return _thumbCache.get(cacheKey);
+
+  const promise = (async () => {
+    const ctx = _thumbContext();
+    if (!ctx) return null;
+    let obj = null;
+    try {
+      obj = await buildPartObject(partKey, colorHex);
+      if (!obj) return null;
+
+      const { renderer, scene, camera } = ctx;
+
+      // Centre the part at the origin so the camera framing is stable.
+      const box = new Box3().setFromObject(obj);
+      const center = box.getCenter(new Vector3());
+      const size = box.getSize(new Vector3());
+      obj.position.sub(center);
+
+      // Frame the part: place the camera on a 3/4 view and pull back to fit.
+      const radius = Math.max(size.x, size.y, size.z) || 1;
+      const dist = radius * 2.4;
+      camera.position.set(dist, dist * 0.82, dist);
+      camera.lookAt(0, 0, 0);
+      camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
+
+      scene.add(obj);
+      renderer.render(scene, camera);
+      const url = renderer.domElement.toDataURL("image/png");
+      return url || null;
+    } catch {
+      return null;
+    } finally {
+      if (obj) {
+        ctx.scene.remove(obj);
+        _disposeObject(obj);
+      }
+    }
+  })();
+
+  _thumbCache.set(cacheKey, promise);
+  return promise;
+}
+
+/** Recursively dispose geometries + materials of a throwaway render object. */
+function _disposeObject(root) {
+  root.traverse((obj) => {
+    if (obj.geometry && typeof obj.geometry.dispose === "function") {
+      obj.geometry.dispose();
+    }
+    if (obj.material) {
+      const mats = Array.isArray(obj.material) ? obj.material : [obj.material];
+      for (const m of mats) {
+        if (m && typeof m.dispose === "function") m.dispose();
+      }
+    }
+  });
+}
+
+/** Tear down the shared offscreen thumbnail renderer and drop the cache. */
+export function disposeThumbnailRenderer() {
+  if (_thumbCtx && _thumbCtx !== "failed") {
+    try {
+      _thumbCtx.renderer.dispose();
+      _thumbCtx.renderer.forceContextLoss();
+    } catch {
+      /* ignore */
+    }
+  }
+  _thumbCtx = null;
+  _thumbCache.clear();
+}