2016 Rio Olympics started today. Lasting until 21st of August, this sports feast draw wll the attention to Brasil. Started as a tradition for Zeus, olympics owns a significance this year. Because Zeus’ statue that was destroyed in 475 BC, is rebuilt for this event. 3D printing was used in building process.
Built in 435 BC by Phidias, this wondrous statue was meticulously cared for until the fifth century AD. It would stand at Olympus for eight centuries, until Christian Greece lost interest in the games and Byzantine imperial chamberlain Lausus has the statue seized and brought to Constantinople. There, it was destroyed in a fire in 475 BC.
After extensive research, a 3D model made by 3DPTree was 3D printed in thermoplastics – rather than gold and ivory – using a Stratasys Fortus 900mc 3D printer. Of course the model is quite a bit shorter than the original, which just further underlines how amazing the ancient wonder must have been. “The process used was fused deposition modeling. Materials were deposited in a very precise manner and at a specific speed – then cooled at target temperatures,” said Stratasys’s Jesse Roitenberg. “These controlled elements lead to very high quality 3D printed parts. With finishing techniques, the final product looks very close to the original.” The Greek statue was roughly 13m tall but the 3D-printed version stands at a more modest 1.8m.
