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Trilobite 3D printing project


dadrummond

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An update: a print of the remodeled legs arrived. The print process, in a plastic resin Shapeways calls frosted ultra detail, permits layers with a 29-micron step size -- 34.5 layers per millimeter. With this model, the detail pays off.

Here are the legs and shell separately and together.

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Here's me holding it for scale. The bug is at the larger end of the normal size range for Ceraurus, making this life-sized.

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And here's a macro closeup of the base of the cephalic appendages where they converge on the mouth at the base of the hypostome, showing the bristles on the coxa.

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Gills (exopods) are missing from these remodeled appendages, as are antennae. But I'm quite happy with how this first print turned out.

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Oh my! Yes, that works! This is really an astounding asymptote between art and technology.

As I have no aptitude for either, I am in awe...

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Oh my! Yes, that works! This is really an astounding asymptote between art and technology.

As I have no aptitude for either, I am in awe...

WOW! this is getting better and better.

I'm very grateful for these kind words, guys. Thank you. Nice to know folks are still interested. More to come!

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  • 2 weeks later...

A quick update: I received some new metal prints, and had a moment to photograph them. Here's a taste, shots of the steel model with a more accurate hypostome and curvature on the genal spines.

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Gills are difficult task to reconstruct.

as exact information is not available and due to lacking of modeling skill.

So it is my compromised one with Paraceraurus macrophthalmus using particle hair in Blender

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  • 2 weeks later...
Update: converging on the final metal trilobite.


As mentioned before, you can 3D print directly in steel. Or you can combine methods: 3D print in wax, then do lost-wax casting in a range of metals. Disadvantage: more steps. Advantage: resolution and finish. Because Shapeways provides printing/casting as a service available to anyone, and the slender legs of the trilobite cannot be directly printed in metal at the size I want, I opted for the wax/cast process.


So I printed the trilobite in bronze -- the legs, and the shell.


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Using liver of sulfur, a poorly understood quasi-alchemic brew, I oxidized these pieces, creating a patina, then polished the patina off of the raised parts. What a difference! The details leap out. The "bling" recedes.


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And finally, I assembled the legs and shell together with antennae made from a bent piece of wire. Little details matter, so I polished the wire ends using a burr cup, a device I didn't even know existed until I searched for a way to polish ragged cut wire tips.

Here's the final result. For those who've been following along since the beginning, you can appreciate the distance between that first rough plastic transparent print and this solid bronze Ceraurid.

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Underneath, she may be the most accurate life-size reconstruction of a trilobite out there. The endopods (legs) closely follow Stormer's 1939 and 1951 reconstruction studies, down to the segmental architecture of each limb. I'm very happy with how they turned out in bronze!

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Many inaccuracies remain. The lack of exopods (gills) particularly bugs me. The unusually protrusive eyes represent an artistic choice, not a scientific one. Still -- you have to hold her in your hand! She practically squirms.

You can imagine her exploring her world, questing with her cephalic appendages and antennae, seeking prey and potential mates.

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And that's the project. I've got a bit more to share -- this trilobite has a fraternal twin -- so stay tuned.

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:) This topic is about the process of implementing a new technology to make an amazing trilobite model. Any discussion of commerce would be out of place, here, and should be conducted via PM.

;)

The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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As promised, here's the twin. This trilobite is solid silver -- again, 3D printed in wax and cast in silver, with silver wire for the antennae. The patina's again liver of sulfur.

Here's the shell alone. The color, I think, reminds us that trilobites were marine animals.

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And here she is, fully assembled.

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Here you get a fairly good view of the bristled coxa at the base of the cephalic appendages, which are thought to be how Ceraurus pushed food into its mouth at the base of the hypostome. Missing here, as before, are the gills (exopods) which should be arrayed in frilly layers right above the walking legs (endopods).

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It's Christmas, so a parting gift for tonight: the two trilobites encountering each other.

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Hope you enjoy! Please, since JohnJ has had to intervene a few times, science and art are our purpose here. I'm happy to share methods, swap information about reconstructions, take suggestions for species that have good soft-tissue evidence that might make strong additional projects, and the like. I also love hearing what y'all think. PM me for anything else.

Happy holidays, all!

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Merry Christmas and thanks for showing us your ornaments!

Merry Christmas! As you imply, these should indeed be hanging from a crinoid or some Carboniferous cycad. ;)

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New 3D models from Comsuella2293 (thanks a lot for the gift) : one Harpes and one Gondwanaspis. They were first printed in plastic by Shapeways and I use these models for bronze casting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great job!

Is the .stl file going to be made public or available from you??

I do a ton of 3D printing!.., I have a FDM style printer and would like to give it a go!

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Don't know how I missed this thread but all I can say is thanks for the fantastic journey of creation I feel like I have had a trip through time and been presented with a creature from the distant past.

Excellent work truly stunning end piece.

Thanks for sharing

Regards

Mike

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Mike -- thank you! It makes me really happy to know that. Thanks for taking the time to say so. Makes it all worthwhile! -- Allan

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