Jan 18, 2017 | By Benedict
Angelo D’Angelo, an engineer from Italy, has been traveling the world and making miniature 3D printed replicas of the famous landmarks he visits. After starting with Milan Cathedral, D’Angelo has gone on to make models of buildings in Cologne, Pisa, Athens, Bucharest, and elsewhere.
3D printed model of the Parthenon, Athens, Greece
When your two biggest passions are 3D printing and traveling, it’s probably very satisfying when you think of a way to combine the two. For Angelo D’Angelo, an electrical engineer from Italy, that satisfaction was duly delivered when he realized he could make tiny 3D printed versions of all the amazing sights he was encountering on his travels. With 3DPrinTravel, his dedicated blog for the project, D’Angelo has been documenting his adventures, celebrating each individual print with a humorous yet visually arresting Instagram photo of the 3D printed model held up in front of the original landmark.
D’Angelo, who has hundreds of Instagram followers eagerly awaiting his next print, seems to be appealing to a niche group of 3D printing fans, partially because of the fun nature of the project, and partially because he allows others to get involved—by uploading his 3D printed monuments for others to print themselves. In his own words: “Basically what I do is create (or download) models of monuments of places where I’m going, 3D print them using different materials depending on the model, and take a picture of the model in front of the real monument. Then I share the shots on my Instagram profile using the hashtag #3DPrinTravel and post the models on my Thingiverse profile.”
Since starting the unique travel blog over a year ago, D’Angelo has collected about 20 landmark-next-to-landmark photos from 17 different countries. His collection includes Milan Cathedral, the Aspire Tower and Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, and the Parthenon in Athens, with each miniature monument printed in a particular 3D printing material best suited to its appearance. The Bucharest landmarks, for example, were printed in wood PLA, while the stunning Cologne Cathedral was printed in gold and silver PLA to best depict its opulence.
3D printed models of the Blue Church, Bratislava, Slovakia (above), and the Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest, Romania
The machine constructing most of these historically significant landmarks—in miniature—is D’Angelo’s own FABtotum 3D printer, an Italian-made FFF machine capable of handling a few different material types. Before getting his hands on that 3D printer, however, the busy backpacker used a handful of other 3D printers, including a Lumipocket DLP printer for the model of Milan Cathedral. Depending on circumstance and his current location, the maker is also open to using other printers for certain prints.
The talented D’Angelo was able to find pre-made models of some of the famous landmarks online, but for others he had to get his hands dirty and make his own. TinkerCAD and Fusion 360 both helped the traveler sculpt his own impressive models, which he then brought to the original landmarks to take his unique snapshot.
With many more places left to see (and recreate in PLA), D’Angelo has no plans to stop #3DPrinTraveling just yet.
3D printed models of (t-b) the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy; Cologe Cathedral, Germany; Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Posted in Fun with 3D Printing
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