Hasta La Gadget!

The Aston Martin DB5 is a classic piece of machinery, and it was featured in earlier James Bond films like Goldfinger and Thunderball over 50 years ago. The car also made an appearance in the latest Bond movie, Skyfall, where it exploded into flames during an intense action scene. However, what you saw in the movie was actually a 1:3 scale 3D-printed model of a DB5.

The filmmakers didn’t want to destroy an original Aston Martin DB5 (for obvious reasons), so they relied on a company called Voxeljet who used a massive VX4000 3D printer with 283 cubic feet of space to create three 1:3 scale models of the Aston Martin DB5, one of which saw its immediate death from an explosion in the movie.

In order to actually operate different parts of the car like the hood, doors, and the trunk, the makers constructed the replicas from 18 different components. After all the parts were made, they were sent off to Propshop Modelmakers in London to be assembled, finished, lacquered, and chromed to make them look exactly like the original.

It’s not said how much it cost to make one of these 3D-printed replicas, but one of the models that wasn’t destroyed in the movie was auctioned off for $100,000. Voxeljet says that this opportunity has opened up another door for the company, and says that more filmmakers may be using 3D-printed objects instead of 3D graphics in the future for better realistic scenes.

[via Gizmodo]

James Bond Skyfall crew turned to 3D printers for Aston Martin DB5 stunt double is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Featuring four towering limestone columns and classic Flemish-bond brickwork, the century-old Mackay School of Mines Building at the University of Nevada, Reno, has long served as a bastion of Silver State history. Named after Irish immigrant and “Comstock Lode King” John Mackay, notable touches such as a cast bronze statue designed by Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum just outside the building helped it earn a spot in the National Register of Historic Places. Within its oak doors, however, are the makings of an intriguing experiment that’s decidedly more new school. Like a mini museum, a collection of 3D-printed models are displayed within the building’s sunlit, three-story atrium — attracting a mix of students and teachers. Even more popular than the displays of plastic gears and molecule models, however, are the two 3D printers that made them: a professional-grade Stratasys uPrint SE Plus and a hobbyist 3DTouch machine.

Continue reading The future of higher education: reshaping universities through 3D printing

Filed under: Misc, Science

The future of higher education: reshaping universities through 3D printing originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As 3D printers become more and more accessible to a consumer audience, one question lingers above the rest: why? Granted, they’re incredibly cool, but what, if any, are the practical implication of such a technology? For the most part, the great ambassadors of 3D printing have largely been printable toys — cool, but not particularly useful. The question, as posed by John Mabry reads as follows,

What if printed prototypes could become actual products? Meaning, once off the print bed an object could be assembled without any tools and be made functional by readily attainable components.

An attempt at the answer comes in the form of the 13:30 printable headphones, which can by created on a MakerBot Replicator and coupled with some off-the-shelf components, making for a pair of slick-looking, functional headphones that, at the very least, will help you stand out from the rest of the Beats By Dre enthusiasts on a crowded subway train.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Alt

Print your own headphones on a MakerBot Replicator and beat Dre at his own game originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The 3D printer craze shows no signs of stopping and Kickstarter is full of exciting examples of new printing hardware. Today’s entrant in the 3D race? The devilishly cute PandaBot, a “fur white” 3D printer with an 11x11x11-inch build area and a smooth, seamless design.

The bot prints in ABS plastic and has one enclosed print head. All of the major machinery is hidden behind white metal panels and the aforementioned “Panda” styling means this doesn’t look like a junk yard mated with the thing E.T. built in the woods.

Founded by Torontoans Kelly John Rose and Felix Tang, the project is looking for $50,000; PandaBots cost $800 for the basic model, which is quite reasonable. Like flowers in the meadow, 3D printers are beautiful and manifold, and this one is more attractive than most.

Project Page

We’re not quite in a place where the world is about to collapse in on itself because guns can be printed, but we’re certainly in shooting range. A collective by the name of Defense Distributed, lead by UT-Austin law student Cody Wilson, has made it clear that they want to be the first to create a 3D-printable model of a gun that anyone can make themselves in the comfort of their own home. The problem with this (if you consider this situation to have just one problem) is that the group that’d been leasing a DD their printer didn’t agree with the idea, and have come to Wilson’s home to seize the printer before any illegal printing activities occurred.

Wilson created a promotional video surrounding the creation of the weapon they’re aiming for – a partially 3D printed AR-15 assault rifle being one example they’ve got, shown above. The video notes that “The Defense Distributed goal isn’t really personal armament.” Though arguments have been made against the group in that the final goal of the end-users of the printed objects may not fit in with their original creator’s goals, DD goes on.

“It’s more the liberation of information. It’s about living in a world where you can just download the file for the thing you want to make in this life. As the printing press revolutionized literacy, 3-D printing is in its moment.” – Wilson

The group representing the creators of the 3D printer that Wilson had on-hand up until very recently when Stratasys Inc. sent a note to the man noting that his lease would be cancelled due to their policy to “not knowingly allow its printers to be used for illegal purposes.” Though Wilson argued against their claim that he needed a federal license to manufacture firearms with a point on how he never intended to sell the arms, Stratasys was not suitably impressed, and seized the printer.

Defense Distributed has raised $20,000 online all in a bid to create a design and develop the “world’s first entirely 3D printed gun”. This weapon they call the Wiki Weapon, and it’s on it’s way.

[via Slate]

3D Printable Gun effort cut short by Stratasys is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.