This company will print a 1: 1 scale 3D mammoth skeleton

The Belgian company Materialize sells large-size 3D-printed objects. Their latest and most impressive project is the reconstruction of the first publicly presented mammoth skeleton. The discovery took place in 1860 near the town of Lier.

Until now, the bones have been kept at the Royal Institute of Life Sciences in Brussels. In total, the Belgians have to print as many as 320 items – all because of the size of these animals, which were one of the largest mammals in the history of the Earth. Of course, this is not the first time mammoths have been reconstructed, but so far no one has printed them in real size.

Materialize has experience in such endeavors thanks to previous historical and archaeological reconstructions. In the past, the same team recreated a 17th-century battle ship and the skeleton of the so-called a man of ice, whose body was more than five thousand years old. The whole thing is to look as realistic as possible thanks to cooperation with the scientific community. Apart from the bones, you also need to recreate the construction. It will be made of carbon, unlike the original rack that was built in the 19th century.

In total, the mammoth skeleton printed using 3D printing technology will weigh only 300 kilograms. Interestingly, it will be even more perfect than the bones found in 1860. All because of inaccuracies and deficiencies in the original find. Speech incl. of the right canine, which has been redesigned thanks to the mirror image of the left canine. Then the skeleton will be painted in natural colors. The printing itself will take about a month, so taking into account the additional work, we can expect the project to be completed by the end of this year.

[Źródło: 3dprint.com; grafika: Materialise]