Custom 3D Printed Metal Gear Solid ‘Grey Fox’ Action Figure
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We 3D scanned our web designer to create the ultimate custom 3D printed Action Figure
How and why did we create this custom 3D printed action figure?
Backstory:
Chris had always wanted his own custom action figure. He had saved up tokens from GI Joe toys for years in the 80s. After a year of pocket money spent collecting tokens the competition sadly ended. He was left toy-less.
On hearing this sad story we wanted to help him and we set about creating the ultimate custom 3D printed action figure. Seeing as he was the director of Grey Fox Web Design, it seemed fitting to make him into the real Gray Fox from Hideo Kojima’s 1998 stealth classic Metal Gear Solid.
How it was made:
We 3D scanned Chris using our structured light scanner. This allows us to quickly capture 3D photo data while creating workable 3D meshes. With the full colour scan of his head we could then use his face in our CAD designs.
We laser scanned the helmet piece of the Kai Arts Grey Fox collectible action figure. We used this high detail scan as a base to custom sculpt our own new helmet, with a slightly more opened helmet to show off more of the face.
Our new helmet design was used to cut out Chris’s face from the scan of his head. The helmet was then used to boolean cut his face so the separate parts would fit perfectly in place. The parts were then scaled to match the size of the action figure.
We 3D printed his face using colour CJP printing. Next, we printed in Nylon SLS and painted silver to match the figure. This meant that a hard plastic helmet piece protected the colour plaster face. We glued the face plate to the custom sculpted helmet and assembled the new head to the body.
We gave it to him for his birthday after taking some rather camp photos with it. 3D scanning – CAD – 3d printing; combined to create the ultimate custom action figure. Chris’s 8 year old self finally had his dream realized.
Digital manufacturing allows us to customize and characterize existing items, augmenting and expanding their appeal.
I want to use digitization and digital fabrication to make engaging, fun pieces that showcase the creative potential of the technology.
Fred Hair – Form Capture Director
If you would like to make custom 3D printed action figures based of 3D scan data, our want to explore the technology in other creative ways, we would love to hear from you!
Grey Fox Web Design
