Our story begins sixty-six million years ago, when a top predator of the Cretaceous period sadly died.
Its remains, after a period of time, were discovered by Naturalis in Montana in 2013, millions of years later.
Although the T-Rex's bones were remarkably well-preserved, there were still some missing parts - including the left leg.
This is not uncommon, as when a dinosaur dies, many animals begin to scavenge the body, and some parts disappear over time.
To help complete the missing parts of the 13-meter-long T-Rex skeleton, Naturalis turned to 3D printing for some elements.
Due to the incredible accuracy and flexibility of the Ultimaker 2+, the enormous skeleton produced was even more detailed than initially expected.
In fact, because they are so realistic, the printed parts were painted a slightly different color from the original bones to ensure they wouldn't be confused with the 3D printed sections.
A New Way of Modeling
More traditional methods of completing partial skeletons include fabricating bones from polystyrene foam, which requires very skilled craftsmanship to achieve realistic results, or using other almost identical fossils – you can imagine how difficult it is to find a bone that is perfectly sized!
T. rex bone Scanned bone 3D printed bone
Regarding this bone, Valentin Vanhecke, a Dutch scanning wizard from 4Visualization, created a 3D scan of the right leg for the museum, and printed a mirrored version together with Ultimaker: perfectly restoring and matching the left leg. What a clever idea!
The bones are currently being painted and will be further integrated with the skeleton in the coming months. Without a doubt, the result is astonishing!
How to print a T-Rex
If you're reading this blog, it must be stirring up your inner savage desire to own a piece of T-Rex for yourself.
You're in luck! We'll be hosting a "How to Print a T-Rex" guided tour in the near future.
Image source: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
If you haven't already marked it in your diary, we highly recommend visiting the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in September 2016 to see these amazing giant creatures brought to life!
Original link:https://ultimaker.com/en/stories/20312-3d-printing-a-tyrannosaurus-rex-skeleton