A team of engineers and designers, including 3D printing experts from Stratasys Ltd., Eden Prairie, Minn., put their heads together to concoct an eye-popping attraction for the 2014 Comic-Con International show in San Diego. What emerged from the lab was a 14-ft monster, complete with chest armor. It also carries video and sensor capabilities that let the giant character interact with the crowds.
The creature was designed by artists at the Stan Winston School. It was brought to life by a team from Legacy Effects, the studio that built characters for the movies Iron Man and RoboCop, working closely with Stratasys to build dozens of 3D-printed parts for the character.
Over a third of the monster was 3D printed, including its armor, shoulders, arms, and fingers. Several Stratasys 3D printers built parts for the project, including a Fortus 900 mc, which uses fused-deposition-modeling technology to print durable parts as large as 36 Ñ 24 Ñ 26 in. The printers made parts out of ABS-M30, a thermoplastic.
“The main advantage to 3D printing was in going directly from a concept design to the final physical part,” said Jason Lopes, lead systems engineer at Legacy Effects. “This lets us avoid any interpretation by hand or casting in a different material.”
Resources
Legacy Effects, legacyefx.com
Stan Winston School of Character Arts, www.stanwinstonschool.com
Stratasys, www.stratasys.com