Dec 14, 2016 | By Benedict
3D printed model company Gambody has unveiled its latest impressive creation: a 3D printed Star Wars AT-AT walker. The 40-cm 3D printed model was made to celebrate the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in theaters Friday, and can be downloaded for $35.
Until the release of The Force Awakens last year, we hadn’t been treated to a Star Wars movie since the disappointing Revenge of the Sith in 2005. It seems an age ago now, long before the formation of this particular website and a few years before 3D printing really took off at the consumer level. As such, 2005 featured little in the way of 3D printed Star Wars junk: no 3D printed General Grievous, no Thingiverse clone troopers, and no additive manufactured Coruscant, the galaxy’s most boring planet. Today, however, people will 3D print just about everything, and a new cycle of Star Wars movies (thanks, Disney!) is giving makers the perfect excuse to show off their design skills.
The mega-hype surrounding The Force Awakens last year inspired all sorts of 3D printed Star Wars stuff, such as a 3D printed BB-8, a 3D printed Star Destroyer, and of course, a 3D printed Millennium Falcon. Fast forward to the release of the new spinoff story Rogue One, and makers are at it again. Disney themselves have sanctioned a giant 3D printed Death Star that is currently being printed in downtown Madrid, and the creators of last year’s incredible Millennium Falcon have returned—this time to give some additive action to the Empire’s side.
Gambody, the 3D printable model website behind the 3D printed Millennium Falcon and numerous other movie and game-inspired prints, has just unveiled an awesome 40-cm-tall 3D printed AT-AT walker, a vehicle used for both ground assault and transportation, that makers can download for $35. As well as coinciding with the release of Rogue One, the 3D printed, four-legged attack vehicle is also a perfect print for the season: if you’re having snow right now, you could actually take your 3D printed walker outside to reenact the Battle of Hoth.
The 3D printable AT-AT model was created by Gambody guru Elyiot using Autodesk Maya, and stands 40 cm tall and almost 50 cm wide. That, understandably, makes it a pretty demanding print job. The walker consists of 75 3D printed parts, and requires around 1.5 kg of 3D printing material to print in full. When the Gambody team made their version, printing took almost 100 hours, while another 30 hours were required for removing supports, assembly, and painting.
The magnitude of this Star Wars 3D printing project was something that its creator had to contend with. Luckily, he decided it was worth the time, effort, and filament. “The only thing that made me question the success of the project, when I was modeling it, was that its big size might scare people,” admitted Elyiot. “I was afraid that they would consider it a complex 3D model to accept the challenge of 3D printing and displaying it in their home. But, it turned out that the size was an advantage for the 3D model.”
The AT-AT, which was originally inspired the giant and extinct Paraceratherium, has become a symbol of the Star Wars universe, appearing most notably in The Empire Strikes Back, when Empire forces battle the Rebel Alliance on the planet Hoth. You may also recall Luke Skywalker getting into a bit of a tangle with one.
Given the size of the 3D printable AT-AT, you probably won’t be able to make your own by the time Rogue One hits the screen this Friday, but the 3D printing project could nonetheless serve as an enjoyable side serving next to the film itself. Makers can download STL files optimized for either FDM or SLA 3D printers.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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i want but dont have 3d printer
Tom McBaum wrote at 12/20/2016 7:38:33 AM:
No offense intended, but there are more detailed models available for free on Thingiverse, such as thing #343956