Leading film industry model-maker, FBFX Ltd, used Stratasys’ Objet30 Desktop 3D Printer to design key components for lead actress Noomi Rapace’s space helmet for Hollywood blockbuster, Prometheus.
With over 20 years’ experience in model-making for the film industry and working with many of the world’s leading film directors and designers, FBFX recently invested in a Stratasys Objet30 Desktop 3D Printer to enhance its in-house prototyping capabilities.
‘The film industry is rapidly moving towards digital – more and more 3D files are coming in, so we’ve had to align our in-house resources to meet this demand. We can now take 3D data and quickly 3D print a model for our customers to hold in their hands and make design changes if necessary. Having this capability puts us on the frontline, and in this business, having the most cutting-edge technology in-house can be the difference between being called upon for a multi-million pound movie or not,’ said Grant Pearmain, FBFX Managing Director.
This requirement for technology expertise and superior design capability was evident in the company’s recent involvement with the widely-acclaimed hit movie, Prometheus. When designing the space helmet for lead actress Noomi Rapace, complex geometries were required when creating mating patterns to ensure the fit and lock of the helmet onto the space suit. A traditional model-maker could typically take weeks to produce such precision, however, armed with a digital toolkit, FBFX could quickly create a 3D CAD file of the helmet and 3D print a model in just a number of hours using its Stratasys 3D Printer.
‘When it comes to creating accurate models, 3D printing is revolutionary in the industry when you think of the traditional methods we used to use,’ said Pearmain. ‘As you can imagine for the Prometheus helmet, the cast were not always in the same place at the same time, so to be able to rapidly recreate a 3D model, in such a supremely accurate fashion, was integral in the design verification phase.’
