Voxeljet, a German 3D printing tech company, has had the priviledge of participating in the creation of the newest James Bond movie titled Skyfall, which premiered a couple of weeks ago. In the spirit of the unionized European atmosphere, the Augsburg based company 3D printed three replicas of the iconic British wheeled weapon of choice for the 007 – Aston Martin, more specifically the timeless 60’s era classic DB5 model. This is the car – the one featured in the very first film about the MI5’s charmant, yet deadly agent.
The need for the creating replicas was apparent – the original car being a priceless piece of both automotive and cinematographical history. And that priceless in this case means $4.7M, which was the Aston’s highest bid in an auction two years back. Nonetheless, the method of using 3D printing for this purpose doesn’t, however, pale
in comparison – nor is the most conventional way of replicating this icon. The benefits from this manufacturing technique are still very justifiable: “An important factor is the excellent precision offered by voxeljet’s 3D printing method as well as the mechanical stability of the plastic models, since the models are elaborately processed to appear completely authentic in the film,” states Dr. Ederer, CEO of Voxeljet. The resemblance to the original DB5 is indeed very striking, as Dr. Ederer continues: ”In fact, it is not possible to distinguish between the Aston Martin models from the voxeljet printer and the original, even in the close-up shots”.
Even the bullet holes vere created with precision to the 3D printed replicas by Propshop Modelmakers Ltd. But no matter how amazing and detailed the copies were, one of three still had its date with destiny during the shooting, as it went up in flames. And what about the other two? Well – one was auctioned by Christie’s for close to $100k and the other one could also be already at peace. To find out for sure, it’s best to watch the respective movie with also this angle on mind in a theater near you!
Source: Voxeljet
Image credits: Propshop Modelmakers Ltd.
