Dutch Woman Uses 3D Printing to Create Amazing Statues of Actors & Actresses

3D printing can be used for a lot of things, as most of us are quite aware. Each and every day, we come across new exciting uses for the technology, which we previously had not even conceptualized. The great thing about the technology is how attractive it is to innovators, inventors, artists and designers because these are the individuals who ultimately dream up amazing ideas.

For one woman living in the Netherlands, named Diny Kuypers-Beeks, 3D printing just happened to work its way into her life. As an IT consultant on SAP and BPCS, Beeks has her hands full, but in the free time that she gets, she typically enjoys drawing and painting portraits of other people. However, recently she and her husband discovered the marvels of 3D printing.

“When my husband and I visited a demo on 3D printing in February of last year, I immediately got very excited about the idea of printing statues of people,” Beeks tells 3DPrint.com. “So we went to Makerpoint one week later and bought our Ultimaker 2.”

She then, she began making various 3D printed designs using Autodesk 123d Catch on her iPhone. However, she really wasn’t all that happy with her results. After some time passed, Beeks decided she would purchase a Sense 3D scanner, and that’s when the magic really began.

Beeks’ daughter sings and acts in a musical in her hometown, called “The Show Must Go On.” It’s based on Moulin Rouge, and she plays one of the courtesans. In the play, they sing the chorus “Voluez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi” from Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan’s “Lady Marmalade” song. Beeks thought her daughter looked just spectacular in her costume, so she decided to try to create a 3D printed statue of her.

The statue came out very well, and when her daughter showed it to the other actors and actresses in the play, they all wanted one created in their own likeness.

“I offered that I would [create statues] for other singers/actors as well,” Beeks tells us. “I expected 5 or 6 people but after 3 evenings scanning during their shows, I had 27! It took me some weeks in my free time in the evenings to make good printable STL’s out of the scans.

Beeks used Meshmixer to help her out along the way, and each statue was printed 12 cm high, taking 6-9 hours to print, depending on the costume detail and the character’s posture. Once the statues were all printed, they were spray painted with a bronze paint before being dried and patinated, in order to give them an authentic patina finish. All of the actors and actresses were thoroughly impressed.

Next Beeks is working on creating a 3D printed wedding cake topper for a couple who is getting married in the near future. What do you think about these unique 3D printed bronze statues? Discuss in the 3D Printed Statues forum thread on 3DPB.com.