One of the most exciting stories I loved to hear as a kid was that of my mom seeing the Beatles in concert as a teenager, joining the hordes of shrieking, hysterical girls hoping to get as close to their precious Paul, John, Ringo, and George as possible. Today, I must imagine that if they’d had the 3D printing technology we have right now, those 3D printers would have been quickly worn to capacity.
While not exactly excited to the point of crying, the crew at PaulMcCartney.com was still obviously pretty happy when they heard that the pop star was scanned in 3D during the filming and production for a holographic image of music from his latest video, ‘Hope For The Future,’ which was used for the video game Destiny (which has proven very popular among makers). The website team eagerly worked to get the file so that they could do some 3D printing of Paul on their own.
There’s no doubt that 3D printing fits right in with Beatlemania and the fan obsession with trinkets, goodies, and a wide and varied assortment of memorabilia that go with the Fab Four. While it’s certainly a hoot to be able to grab your own Paul hot off the 3D printer, one can only imagine the fun fans would have had in the ’60s with such technology and the opportunity to customize and manufacture items for fun, not to mention for sale. One thing is for sure: there are plenty of rock stars and fans around — and lots of 3D printing to be done in the future as full-body 3D scanning becomes more widespread.
3D scanning of full-body figures hasn’t exactly become a craze yet, but it is becoming more and more of a reality and something that people are enjoying trying as a novelty. We’ve reported on several companies that provide scanning booths with the opportunity to order figurines sort of like giant, modern selfies, as well as more traditional software available by Microsoft — and other products offered by companies that offer mobile apps for scanning yourself, others, or even other objects. These scanned files can then be 3D printed at home by the user or sent out to a 3D printing service bureau, 3D printed, and shipped.
The files are available for free downloading so that anyone is able to 3D print their own Paul McCartney figurine. While the files are optimized for the more common desktop printer, they mention that if you have a big enough 3D printer, you could feasibly 3D print your Paul as a life-size version! (There’s something to write home to Mom about.)
Is this something you are interested in doing, or is there some other type of memorabilia you are interested in 3D printing as a keepsake? Do you see mobile apps and full-body scanning services replacing the ubiquitous selfies that currently abound? Tell us your thoughts in the 3D Printed Paul McCartney forum thread over at 3DPB.com. Check out the behind-the-scenes video below detailing McCartney’s experience being 3D scanned for Destiny.
