Large 3D printed sculptures Teylers museum
About the project
3D printed images Teylers museum produced by Reszto in collaboration with various printing and finishing specialists.
The original sculptures in Haarlem were carved in marble and had been outside in the courtyard of the Teylers house for years. When the Teylers house also became public to the public, the museum wanted to bring the sculptures inside and restore them. The sculptures had "sugared," i.e., the marble had deteriorated from the weather. The once smooth marble surface became coarse and grainy as well as less strong and cohesive. As a result, dirt stuck to it more quickly and the sculptures also became less and less detailed.
The original sculptures were going in and new sculptures needed to be placed in those places. Because the surface had become coarse and grainy, we didn't think it was a good idea to make a silicone mold of the statues. There was a possibility that silicone oil would soak into the sculpture; we did not want to run this risk.
A 3D scan was therefore made of the statues. This 3D scan was used to 3D print the statues. This is done with very large resin printers and because of the large volume, the statues can be printed in a few parts. The 3D printed statues are later assembled with a strong epoxy glue so that nothing can be seen of the part seams.
The printed sculptures are reinforced on the inside with stainless steel wire ends and also in the base a large stainless steel plate is glued. As a result, the center of gravity is at the bottom and the sculptures remain securely on their pedestal, as they were placed on top of this. The entire 3D printed sculptures are also filled with hard PU foam for extra strength.
Finally, the 3D printed sculptures are marbled to match the original images. Finished with an additional matte lacquer coating so they were indistinguishable from the real thing.
A wonderful assignment to work on with the latest reproduction techniques.
