I am delighted with my latest 3D print of a caiman alligator skull. This is a model of a Yacare caiman alligator skull created from a CT scan of an actual skull measuring 35 cm (14 inches) in length. The skull is 5.6 cm long and 3 cm wide (2.25 inches by 1.2 inches). The Yacare caiman is a species of caiman found in central South America.

I have waited decades to be able to create something like this. Years ago, I was able to cast a few natural objects such as a pine cone or an insect body in silver using the lost wax technique, but this combination of CT scan and 3D printing technology opens up a whole new world of creating replicas of nature's beautiful and intricate creations.

Thank you Shapeways!

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[Updated on: Thu, 08 November 2012 14:51 UTC]

Thanks for the compliment! But the beauty is in the natural object itself. Just look at all the incredible sculptural detail on the actual skull. Unfortunately a lot of that detail is lost in the 3D print. (I may have smoothed the CT scan data. I will have to look it over again and perhaps upload another version.)

As for your suggestion of adding a loop, check out the attached pictures! The natural openings in the skull provide a perfect way to string a lanyard for making a necklace. I just threaded the string through the openings in the skull and tied a simple adjustable knot. I did not want to add a loop to mar the beauty of the skull. (But if you really wanted a version with a loop I could do it!)

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Hi Natalia:
Yes, I think this 3D printing technology is incredible. I am a biologist by profession, and have been fascinated by Nature's incredible patterns and designs ever since I was a kid. Over the years, I have been able to "capture" some of this beauty in bronze lost wax castings, of things such as the fetal pig and white-breasted nuthatch. But my opportunities for bronze castings are very limited, unless I decide to spend $100s of dollars on a project. CT scanning and 3D printing is one way of creating sculptures of natural objects. I suspect that in the not-to-distant future, 3D scanning will be an affordable way for me to build up a collection of 3D prints in steel or silver. For me, there is something very satisfying about having a bronzed sculpture of a beautiful natural object.

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Hello Youknowwho4eva:

Just wanted to thank you for pointing out 123D Catch as an alternative to other ways of obtaining a printable model from natural objects. I used the online version of 123D Catch to create a model from a monkey skull that I have scanned using CT. It worked out fairly well, although plenty of detail was lost. Attached are some photos to let you compare the various technologies. There is a photo of the actual skull, a rendering of the CT scan, a cleaned version of the CT scan that took many, many hours to fix, and finally two renderings of the 123D Catch obj file.

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[Updated on: Sat, 10 November 2012 13:30 UTC]

Hi Brick:

Not sure what is going on with your problem downloading the 3 images. As you can see from the attached screenshot, lots of people have been downloading the pictures. And you can also see them in the message without downloading them. The CT scan render of the monkey is the file called "MonkeyBeforeAfter.jpg" Scroll up to message labelled "Follow up - 123D Catch Fri, 09 November 2012 16:54 UTC" and you should be able to download the 3 jpeg files.

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[Updated on: Sat, 10 November 2012 22:46 UTC]