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LordTrilobite

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So recently my father bought a 3D printer and we've been experimenting printing some cool fossils for a while now. It's a really cool technology. Though it can take a while to print a piece the results are really quite cool. A life size Archaeopteryx can take a few days to print if you don't keep printing during the night. Finishing up the prints afterwards can also take a bit of time. Cleaning off all the supports and sanding down rough surfaces can be quite the process. Then there's painting depending on the desired result of course.

 

There are actually a lot of nice things that can be found for download on the internet. Though many of these models still require a bit of digital cleanup before they could be printed. So here are a number of the painted, unpainted and half painted results. Most of the printed stuff is dinosaur.

 

Photo of the 3D printer and the just finished print of a juvenile Edmontosaurus lower jaw.

3Dprint12.thumb.jpg.b3d29d37a04338e9f354c4f2e87dd26d.jpg

 

And here's the same Edmontosaurus jaw print half painted again with the real fossil in mirror image next to it. I scanned the original bone that I then mirrored digitaly so that I could print out the other side of the jaw.

3Dprint13.thumb.jpg.e6927798416eeb49e648acb2598025d2.jpg

 

Allosaurus hand claw.

3Dprint01.thumb.jpg.1359d4b39071a56cdac552b8e46a3cd3.jpg

 

Clidastes Mosasaur quadrate bone.

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Skull of the "Prosauropod" Massospondylus.

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Holotype right lower jaw of Owenodon hoggi, an Iguanodontid.

3Dprint04.thumb.jpg.68b22e5a8d3eb13f6ee00d14462a8d15.jpg

Download link: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/iguanodon-jawbone-f016ad38ebb647988dafd6bbdc1510d0

 

1/5th scale Nanotyrannus lancensis skull. The Cleveland specimen.

3Dprint08.thumb.jpg.8ab0d9f6c4fd31e3c9e988045ad1257d.jpg

Download link for original file: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/nanotyrannus-lancensis-young-t-rex-7b0967fa27674d959647868686b6717b

 

One of my favourites. The Eichstatt Archaeopteryx specimen.

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Download link for original file: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/eichstatt-archaeopteryx-b71872ad42794ef7883021f2fa9a8079

 

The right side skeleton of the baby Parasaurolophus "Joe". Printed at 1/5th scale.

3Dprint03.thumb.jpg.4076dc4c945238cb4099f395967fcca1.jpg

 

Right humerus and pedal phalanges printed at life size.

3Dprint09.thumb.jpg.f2af1828e4a25edb441cc3c54b3da8b6.jpg3Dprint07.thumb.jpg.2229cde53e6c7cc7d899a4a8d92e73b2.jpg

 

Most of the fossil prints are for my collection. But my dad also wanted a few cool things which I painted for him. Skulls of Dodo and Australopithecus Taung Child.

3Dprint10.thumb.jpg.7592309022dff33997fe4e0e635783d0.jpg3Dprint11.thumb.jpg.a636db7309b027668045fe24314c85b7.jpg

Download link for Dodo original file: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/dodo-264b7746a42b41b2845a499de16f8538

 

Most are painted roughly to look like their real counter parts.

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Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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Technology, I guess it has its uses sometimes. :P

 

Looks like a heckuva lot of fun. Better than the plastic models I had to play with when I was a kid. Thanks for sharing.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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Looking very good! 
Seems a fun project to follow! :) 

Interested in all things paleontology, geology, zoology, evolution, natural history and science!
Professional exotic pet keeper, huge fantasy geek, explorer of the microfossil realm, member of the BVP (Belgian Association for Paleontology), Volunteer prepper at Oertijdmuseum Boxtel.  

View my collection topic here:

The Growing Collection of Ziggycardon
My animal collection at the "Members pet" topic

Ziggycardon's exploration of the microfossil realm

Trips to Eben Emael (Maastrichtian of Belgium)

My latest fossil hunt

 

Next project will be a dedicated prepping space.

 

"A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge." - Tyrion Lannister

 

5d68d9f3c550a_153657011360380104(21).jpg.bda3d3b7ae7b8321dd0620a0c61cc459.jpg5d68da1b497f5_153657011360380104(20).jpg.8610ffc65ccaa5d057e7b52b65989cd0.jpg5d68da353dd03_153657011360380104(24).jpg.ae73afaefa6ab34e7af5f6131aed96ff.jpgsolnhofen.jpg.76dd03ba7eb39946850662021b7d8dd4.jpg166802558255587143.jpg.c38d91e9e45f17addf29c40166b797a2.jpg5d68da49ad887_153657011360380104(25).jpg.dfff987039b3c99f41e44da51f71ae91.jpg

 

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Very interesting,  technology has made this process much more affordable and provides lots of opportunities to experiment.  Have you tried isolated Theropod teeth?  Is the scanning process the same as you do with your 3D images? Thanks for sharing looks very cool.

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  • 3 months later...

I have printed one of those stegoceras skulls, it's really cool.

Can I ask where you got the files for your other prints? 

Also nice job on the post processing it looks great!

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Wow! Looking great! I’m curious what kind of material costs are you looking at for one of those skulls?

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Thanks for the comments all!

 

44 minutes ago, Misha said:

I have printed one of those stegoceras skulls, it's really cool.

Can I ask where you got the files for your other prints? 

Also nice job on the post processing it looks great!

I got most of them from Sketchfab actually. The Archaeopteryx, Nanotyrannus and Owenodon are all from there. The baby Parasaurolophus is from the open access paper itself. The juvenile Edmontosaurus jaw is of course my own scan.

I had to edit some of them as they had a few problems though. Like holes and such.

 

30 minutes ago, Randyw said:

Wow! Looking great! I’m curious what kind of material costs are you looking at for one of those skulls?

If we don't count the paint it's probably just a few Euros.

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Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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2 hours ago, LordTrilobite said:

I got most of them from Sketchfab

How would you go about downloading a file from there?

I have only ever used it to view models.

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6 minutes ago, Misha said:

How would you go about downloading a file from there?

I have only ever used it to view models.

It has a download option on certain models.

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Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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That one amazing looking skull! Very nice piece you printed there! :) 

Interested in all things paleontology, geology, zoology, evolution, natural history and science!
Professional exotic pet keeper, huge fantasy geek, explorer of the microfossil realm, member of the BVP (Belgian Association for Paleontology), Volunteer prepper at Oertijdmuseum Boxtel.  

View my collection topic here:

The Growing Collection of Ziggycardon
My animal collection at the "Members pet" topic

Ziggycardon's exploration of the microfossil realm

Trips to Eben Emael (Maastrichtian of Belgium)

My latest fossil hunt

 

Next project will be a dedicated prepping space.

 

"A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge." - Tyrion Lannister

 

5d68d9f3c550a_153657011360380104(21).jpg.bda3d3b7ae7b8321dd0620a0c61cc459.jpg5d68da1b497f5_153657011360380104(20).jpg.8610ffc65ccaa5d057e7b52b65989cd0.jpg5d68da353dd03_153657011360380104(24).jpg.ae73afaefa6ab34e7af5f6131aed96ff.jpgsolnhofen.jpg.76dd03ba7eb39946850662021b7d8dd4.jpg166802558255587143.jpg.c38d91e9e45f17addf29c40166b797a2.jpg5d68da49ad887_153657011360380104(25).jpg.dfff987039b3c99f41e44da51f71ae91.jpg

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

For those wanting to 3D print their own baby Parasaurolophus...

 

The actual scans are available for free on the open access paper, but the surface scans aren't exactly suitable for printing as they are. For when I wanted to print them I edited them slightly so they didnt have any holes and such. I have now uploaded those edited models so anyone can download these printable versions as well.

 

Link to the open access paper: https://peerj.com/articles/182

 

Right humerus of Joe the baby Parasaurolophus. Printable at life size. The download button is in the top right corner.

 

 

And the right side of the skeleton of the same specimen. Print scale is 1/5th

 

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Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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  • 4 months later...

I got another fun 3D print I want to share.

 

A while back I scanned this partial Prognathodon right jaw.

Prognathodon_sp_02.jpg.51634ca890f36454c8768ebd96a84091.jpg

 

And recently I put a bit more work into that scan and reconstructed the teeth on it. As I only have one side of the jaw, I wanted to 3D print the other side with the reconstructed teeth. And here are the results. Unpainted and painted to look close to the original fossil.

prognathodonJaw01.jpg.ff74f7691c5551b31cafbcfb332fe69a.jpgprognathodonJaw02.jpg.0ac93079c3a79c5740bd7a9783080b9b.jpgprognathodonJaw03.jpg.502a163035a16279bfad7b2929169c03.jpg

 

And both sides together. 3D printed left jaw in the front and the real fossil in the back.

prognathodonJaw04.jpg.86874ccf75c30539037e60d472c1bd8e.jpg

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Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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Im still trying to catch up with the technology of a hand crank memiograph machine. :o

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Ruger9a said:

That's really awesome!  Is the printing and scanning equipment expensive?

You can get a pretty good printer for like 500 bucks. Printing material costs is quite low, at least for PLA. Printing takes quite a bit of electricity though.

You can start scanning with free software and a camera. There's a whole lot of professional software out there as well. Look up photogrammetry here on the forum.

Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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13 minutes ago, LordTrilobite said:

You can get a pretty good printer for like 500 bucks. Printing material costs is quite low, at least for PLA. Printing takes quite a bit of electricity though.

You can start scanning with free software and a camera. There's a whole lot of professional software out there as well. Look up photogrammetry here on the forum.

Thanks for the quick response.  I am looking for a unit that will allow me to scan some of my own fossils as well.  So. is it a special printer I would need or a scanner, or both?

I tried looking up photogrammetry in this forum as recommended and all I got was your note.

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Printers and scanners are different things. Like I said, you just need a camera and some free software to get started scanning. You don't need a special apparatus for scanning, just a camera.

If you look up photogrammetry on the forum, there is a tutorial on it.

Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here's another print project. I have way too many projects. One such project was a reconstruction of the Archaeopteryx lithographica skull I was modelling digitally. I had it 70% done for a number of years on my computer. So I finally decided to finish the project. And while I was at it I also made it printable. So here's the print result. Life size, of course.

 

I've spent a lot of time getting the anatomy and details right. So it should be fairly accurate. Most of the general shape I've based on the Peter Wellnhofer reconstruction. But there were some problems with that, which I fixed using the London specimen CT scans of the brain case as reference. The rest is mostly based on the Thermopolis, Eichstätt and Munich specimens. All real Archaeopteryx fossils are of course pretty flat. So inflating that shape can be tricky. Still, I'm quite happy with the result.

Click to enlarge.

archaeop01.jpg.21b99eeadb67f9aedbb95a222cb29d05.jpgarchaeop02.jpg.390059217435885d4e76a3c8cad7bd2b.jpgarchaeop05.jpg.dc15e8b455eccab8a39258a69ca1fa51.jpgarchaeop03.jpg.b5965a0e0f91fea0e88a0283ed085ba2.jpgarchaeop04.jpg.feb3e1406a4367b59a498aba615031a8.jpg

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Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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Very cool! I can't wait to see what tools paleontology has in another 20 years. ;)

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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