July 23, 2014
3D printer manufaucturer Stratasys has collaborated with the Stan Winston School of Character Arts, Legacy Effects, Condé Nast Entertainment and WIRED to create a 14-foot tall giant creature which will be showcased at the Comic-Con International 2014 conference. The conference takes place July 24-27 in San Diego, California.
The giant creature known as Bodock was designed by artists at the Stan Winston School. The creature was built over six weeks in 7,500 hours at the Legacy Effects facility - the studio that brought to life Iron Man, Avatar, Pacific Rim and RoboCop characters - worked closely with Stratasys to build dozens of 3D-printed parts to create the character.
"Everything about the giant creature project was ambitious, including size, weight, delivery schedule and performance requirements," said Matt Winston, co-founder of the Stan Winston School. "Without the close involvement of our partners at Stratasys, whose 3D printing technologies are, in our view, revolutionizing not only the manufacturing industry but the entertainment industry as well, none of it would have been possible."
He is fully functional, stands at 13'6" tall, 9'9" wide, 13'6" deep, weighs 2K pounds. More than one third of the giant creature was 3D printed, including the chest armor, shoulders, arms and fingers. A variety of Stratasys 3D Printers were employed in the build process, including the Fortus 900mc which uses FDM 3D printing technology to build durable parts as large as 36 x 24 x 36 inches.
The parts were created using ABS-M30 thermoplastic material, which has excellent mechanical properties suitable for functional prototypes, jigs and fixtures and production parts.
In addition to 3D printed parts, the creature integrates a variety of video and sensor technologies to offer attendees at the event, as well as fans online, a unique interactive experience with the character.
"The main advantage to 3D printing was going directly from a concept design to an end-use, physical part, helping avoid any interpretation by hand or casting in a different material," said Jason Lopes, lead systems engineer at Legacy Effects. "There is a reason why Legacy Effects has always been a Stratasys house, and this giant creature build shows why."
In addition, WIRED and Conde Nast Entertainment premiered the new digital season of How to Build a Giant Creature on thescene.com/WIRED. Over the next week, the series will give an insider's look into the making of the nearly 14 foot tall creature,leading into Comic-Con where it will be unveiled to the public.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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