3D Printing A Fossil

Earlier this week I tried my hand at printing fossils. The print didn't perfectly, but it was quite encouraging.

Museum Victoria - an Australian institution - has released a 3D scanned trilobite on Thingiverse.

I trimmed the model - to make the bed shallower and the sides neater - and hit print. I'm pretty impressed with the results:

My remixed model is also available on Thingiverse if you'd like to have a go at printing your very own fossil.

I'm impressed with the fidelity of the print. It came out much better than I expected. You can really see a lot of the detail. I think it could be an excellent way to introduce people to fossils, to really give them a chance to examin them and feel them - even if they can't get to a museum.