FabLab Kielce Breaks Guinness World Record with 10-Foot-Tall 3D Print of Soccer Star Robert Lewandowski

The 3D printing world has been setting and breaking records like crazy lately. As the technology’s capabilities continue to increase, it’s no surprise that 3D printing enthusiasts have been getting competitive, trying to outdo each other in terms of the first 3D printed this, the biggest 3D printed that. In such a fast-growing industry, though, it’s unlikely that anyone will hold a particular record for very long – and while that may be frustrating to the record-holders, it’s a lot of fun for the rest of us.

This year alone has seen several records set and broken, including that for the world’s largest solid 3D printed part and, just this week, the (unofficial) largest metal 3D printed part. In May, the Guinness World Record for tallest 3D printed part was set by Backface when they 3D scanned and printed TV presenter Jon Bentley. That larger-than-life statue came in at 2.05 meters, or 6.7 feet, tall, and was an impressive sight – but alas, Backface and Bentley have already been usurped.

The usurper comes in the form of Polish soccer player Robert Lewandowski, who agreed to lend himself to 3D scanner manufacturer SMARTTECH for a full-body scan. Using their recently developed scan3Dmed medical 3D scanner, the company scanned the six-foot-tall Lewandowski, then scaled him up a little bit for record-breaking purposes, 3D printing a statue that ended up standing at three meters, or nearly ten feet, tall.

“By using a 3D scanner dedicated for the medical industry, we were able to very quickly obtain detailed information about the shape of the body of Robert,” said Anna Gębarska, Managing Director of SMARTTECH. “There was no room for mistakes since even the smallest of details would be exposed during the process of enlargement and adjustment of the shape of the human in order to be able to 3D print it. Our medical 3D scanners enable us to scan the surface of the human body in just 0,7 second, providing not only information on the shape but also the colour of the scanned surface.”

The project was a collaborative effort that involved five institutions and companies in total. The whole thing was collaborated by FabLab Kielce, which handled the source file preparation and the 3D printing process itself, as well as the post-processing. The print took over 350 hours on a desktop printer, using standard PLA filament. Once all parts were assembled, the statue was painted by a professional artist.

Lewandowski’s 3D printed doppelgänger made his debut at 3D Printing Days in Warsaw, which ran from September 29 to 30. On September 29 at 2:00 PM, the new Guinness World Record for tallest 3D printed object was broken. Sorry, Backface. It wasn’t all about the record, though, said Janusz Wojcik of FabLab Kielce.

“Except beating Guinness world record – our goal was to assure 3D printer users that it’s possible to print our bigger objects than they usually print,” he said.

A 10-foot-tall statue was certainly an effective way to show attendees the capabilities of 3D printing. The statue itself, now that 3D Printing Days is over, was given to Lewandowski, who will in turn give it to a charity auction.

The Institute of Design Kielce served as a partner on the project, and SUPEREXPO.COM managed the media coverage. Below, you can learn more about the scan3Dmed line:

Discuss this further in the Guinness World Record forum at 3DPB.com.