Astonishing 3D-printed Lego sandstone sculpture

This video has been around for a little while, but we've only just discovered it ourselves so we thought you'd might have missed it too. The ability to print in 3D has opened up avenues for many design disciplines - and Greg Petchkovsky has utilised 3D printing to create an amazing piece of Lego art-related sculpture.

Created for the Indestructables 'make it REAL challenge', Petchkovsky combined 3D scanning, 3D digital modelling, and 3D printing to achieve a dramatic effect. He chose a sandstone block with a chipped off corner, so that the 3D print could fit into the remaining space.

First, he took 29 photos from different angles and used Agisoft Photoscan which automatically derived a 3D mesh from the photos.

He then used a pair of calipers to take measurements from the sandstone block, and created box objects in 3DS Max using those values. He then scaled the scanned mesh so that it matched up with the size of the box objects.

The 3D modelling was completed using ZBrush. Because the model intersected with the wall, if he printed it out as it was then it wouldn't fit so to make it fit the real wall perfectly he subtracted the scanned mesh from the 3D modelled mesh using booleans in 3DS Max.

The model was printed using Shapeways, using a material called 'Full Color Sandstone', which cost just $16.89! Two texture maps were used, one for the Lego part, and one for the sandstone wall part.

The model was perfected using very fine sandpaper to get the correct grain, a thin coat of superglue and matte varnish to help bring out the colour and protect the surface, then it was finished off with acrylic paint to match the real brick more closely.

You can find out exactly how it was done here.

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What do you think? What would you like to see in 3D print? Let us know in the comments box below!