3D Printing The War Machine on the Titan 1 and The Solidator

The War Machine is an invention of Marvel Comics who first appeared in 1979 but more recently has been a part of the Iron Man movies. Clad entirely in a suit of gleaming, gun-slinging, battle-ready armor, he has been the subject of a number of CGI artists’ creations. Recently, New York artist Joe Grundfast shared his amazing Z-brush model with 3D printing masters Craig Turley and George Barnes so that they could create a printed version of his vision.

Whereas The War Machine could clearly stomp and shoot its way directly through anything standing in its way, Turley and Barnes had to carefully and painstakingly approach the modeling and printing of this project. Turley explained the timeline behind the piece’s creation:

“It took us approximately 100 hours to cut and key the model in preparation for 3D printing…The print measures 10″x16″x16″ and it took approximately 200 hours of print time. The finishing process required approximately 125 hours to complete and consisted of the removal of support material (support removal was the most time consuming due to some very delicate structures) and minimal sanding.”

With all of that work ahead of them, the team was under a great deal of pressure as the beast needed to be ready to display at the Denver Comic Con and the deadline was looming. With the size and complexity of the print, they turned to some heavy hitting machinery in the 3D print world; particularly appropriate given the nature of The War Machine. In an interview with 3DPrint.com, Turley discussed the peaceful printing machinery utilized in the process.

“The War Machine itself was printed entirely on the Titan 1,” Turley told us. “The rock base required a larger format printer and it was printed in three pieces using the Solidator. Airbrushed lacquers were used to paint the print and a wash was applied for weathering. We were working under a strict deadline to complete The War Machine before showing at the Denver Comic Con and this wouldn’t have been possible using another DLP-SLA printer other than the Titan 1.”

Turley first recognized the potential for 3D printing models such as this when he attended the International Toy Fair in New York in 2004. His fascination with the technology culminated with the founding of his business Studioqubed which offers 3D printing services. In two weeks, he will also be launching his first Kickstarter campaign for the creation of a 3D printed chess set based, called The Art of War.

As for The War Machine, it won’t be sitting in a closet, gathering dust. Turley has decided to offer the intimidating figure for sale to a fan or collector.

You’d better start saving your pennies…it’s going to be worth it.