Modelers are always looking for the newest thing in their hobby. Scale modeling is still a worldwide phenomenon that is of such interest there are actual museums dedicated to it. The AWPC is one of them. A museum, the largest , dedicated to windmills. Now, 3D printing has come into play to add to this hobby.
The AWPC has a collection well over of 100 windmills. Both an indoor and outdoor gallery of them, full size and miniature adorn the place and people from all over stop by to take a look and learn. Windmills are striking structures that can be seen for miles around. They used to grind grain and today power electricity. Using the wind as a power source is an old technology and here at the AWPC museum you can see the progression of windmills from the first to the latest.
The company WhiteClouds joined up with AWPC to create miniature 3D printed miniatures of classic windmills. Some no longer existing. These mini windmills are designed in the computer and later 3D printed for use in display and model train exhibitions. WhiteClouds uses the Projet 3500 HDMax to print the windmills. Using a UV cured resin they can create very detailed and strong plastic parts. The Projet 3500 HDMax then prints each layer at 16 microns allowing for the exquisite detail.
Finally comes the assembly and detail which the team has their experts on the spot to do. The results are spectacular to say the least and helps preserve a part of history for future generations to enjoy.
This step up and application of 3D printing technology is changing the way art, collectibles, historical displays, museums operate. By having data that can be input into the computer, the specialists can recreate objects that no longer exist or preserve imagery of those that do. 3D scanners are getting faster with more detail and bigger. Priceless artifacts and fossils can now be scanned, stored, and 3D printed for further examination and preservation. Dinosaur fossils in particular can now be 3D printed and reassembled so that schools, museums, and other areas can have their own version of a one of a kind find.
It’s truly remarkable what 3D printing is achieving nowadays and the technology keeps on advancing by leaps and bounds.
Image source: 3D Systems