111 volumes, 1,122 episodes. One Piece is a beast from every point of view. If we adopt a pace of three episodes per day, the binge would take us an entire year, and that makes it difficult to enter this particular universe… but those already in it don't hesitate to show their obsession. Emily the Engineer belongs to that group, and living surrounded by 3D printers, she decided to take her hobby to the extreme with the printing of a giant Monkey D. Luffy.
3D printing has given rise to all kinds of users. Some seek precision, others focus on speed, and then there are those who bet on scale. Now, what happens when a project demands all three things? Usually, there's a guarantee of pain and suffering, but that hasn't stopped Emily the Engineer, the same one behind the 3D-printed toilet and the world's largest Benchy. What did she do this time? She took her latest hobby (miniature fabrication) and took it to an incredible level, with the printing of a giant Monkey D. Luffy, the main character of One Piece.
Printing a Life-Sized Monkey D. Luffy
Obviously, Emily had a lot of help. On one hand, the folks at Formlabs sent her one of their Form 4L printers (10,000 dollars in its basic configuration) and 30 liters of resin (1,000 dollars per 5L canister). And on the other hand, her friend Kev (known as vek3d on Instagram, who sells his models on the Wireframe portal) was essential for creating the design.
How is the project going? In relaxed terms, a piece is printed in resin, all supports are removed, it goes into an isopropyl alcohol bath for cleaning, passes through the curing station, imperfections are eliminated by sanding, it receives a second print, putty and sanding to correct the last details, and finally, paint. But that's not enough: Luffy measures 1.72 (he gained two more centimeters in his adventures), and is super thin, therefore, he needs an internal structure with PVC pipes and wooden sticks to gain rigidity. In addition, his ankles (and other elements) were printed in FDM, achieving greater strength.
The good news is that Emily only had one major failure. The bad news is that there's no escape: Even with perfect pieces, post-processing (cleaning, curing, fitting, sanding, sealing, painting) demands a frightening amount of time. But the final result is extraordinary, and it definitely does honor to a character who has been with us for more than 25 years.
More info: Vek3D on Instagram
