This mega-statue represents team spirit and the new face of manufacturing

A huge royal blue 3D-printed lion now sits at the entrance of the Parc Olympique in Lyon, France, the home stadium for the famed football club Olympique Lyonnais.

Measuring 13 feet high, 13 feet long, two feet wide, and weighing 1.6 tons, the big cat statue took nearly 500 hours to 3D print and more than 20 days of non-stop production. It also required another 600 hours of finishing and assembly. This project requires a notable amount of time and material, but it is precisely what makes additive manufacturing (3d printing) the perfect method for the job. The first 3D printed lion is just one of four mascots that will be used to decorate the stadium. The following three lions, to be painted, red, white, and gold (Olympique Lyonnais’ team colors), are expected to be completed between now and April, and will represent team spirit and a shift in manufacturing processes.

It was produced by French company Drawn using its large-format industrial 3D printer called Galatea. Through a process called “3D printing by hot wire deposit,” the printer laid successive layers rims, which naturally weld when heated. This robotic arm is unique in France and has only one other clone in the world.

Despite the machine’s ability to 3D print large objects such as ready-made furniture, each massive lion requires 88 individual parts, 3D printed with fiberglass-reinforced ABS and assembled with screws. Drawn was initially contacted by local architectural firm Naço. They’d procured the original 3D lion design from a Dutch designer named Marthijn of 3DWPStudio, and were looking for a 3D printing service that could scale it way up to decorate the stadium.

The team is currently working on the second 3D printed lion, which will be painted white, followed by the remaining two. Once finished, the mascots will stand facing each of the four cardinal directions, serving as a symbol of what can happen when innovation and spirit meet 3D printing technologies.

Photo from the founder of Drawn, Sylvain Charpiot.

Drawn | Naço | 3DWPStudio

Originally published at www.psfk.com on March 2, 2016.