3D printing harnessed to produce wheelchair Comic-Con costume for young Star Wars fan

3D printing harnessed to produce wheelchair Comic-Con costume for young Star Wars fan

3d printing

The force of Massivit 3D printing was used to create the ‘world’s first’ X-Wing Fighter wheelchair costume for Star Wars fanatic, Vedant Singhania.

Massivit 1800 3D printer has been used to produce a Poe Dameron X-Wing Fighter wheelchair costume for a young Star Wars fan to wear to Comic-Con International, San Diego.

Magic Wheelchair, a non-profit organisation who provide bespoke costumes for children who rely on the use of wheelchairs free of charge, collaborated with a host of companies to design and manufacture the costume for Vedant Singhania, 13. The charity welcomed contributions from Pixologic Inc, who designed and modelled the costume; Dangling Carrot Creative, who 3D printed the costume with materials donated by Massivit 3D; and Monster City Studios who finished and assembled the printed components.

Dangling Carrot Creative printed 50 individual pieces in just over two weeks, harnessing the high print speed and dual print heads of the Massivit machine. Put together, the 50 parts make up a 2.44m high and 3m long spaceship-like costume.

Vedant received the 3D printed spaceship at Comic-Con, San Diego.

“We connected with Magic Wheelchair realising that our technology and modelling expertise could help them with the amazing work they’re doing for children in wheelchairs,” said Paul Gaboury, 3D Product Development Manager at Pixologic, explains. “After we designed the costume, Dangling Carrot Creative was the last piece to the puzzle. The company gave us the capability to 3D print life-size parts to help eliminate the need for moulds or casting, saving considerable time and money.”

“Together with our customers like Dangling Carrot, we’re constantly discovering new and exciting applications achievable with our 3D printing solutions for the entertainment market,” commented Avner Israeli, CEO at Massivit 3D. “This project has been an extraordinary opportunity to test the true value of our technology and to put young Vedant in the spotlight for the right reasons. There’s nothing quite so wonderful as bringing joy to a child.”

The costume was presented to Vedant at the Comic-Con International show last Saturday, who was overwhelmed with his new attire and the reaction from other attendees: “It’s mind-blowing. I didn’t expect the costume to be so big and I’m thrilled that it’s an X-Wing Fighter because I love Star Wars. I was really excited during the parade. I was so happy because all the people were taking pictures of me. It made me feel like a celebrity.”

Article from TCT mag online by Sam Davies 27 July 2018 11:42