The Chapel Prints 3D Printed Virion
Safely hold a SARS-CoV-2 in the palm of your hand.
Covid-19 Home Introduction Background Method Downloads Models
An Education, Science, and Teaching Sculpture.
Rendering from digital to physical.
After the lengthy process of creating the digital model, we spent several months converting it to editable 3D files and perfecting their printing on our FDM printers. A notable problem was the fragility of the spike proteins and finding a way to dispense with the need for support material during printing. After a month of prototyping 3D prints we finally came to a version which is both accurate and robust.
Assemble the model Spike by Spike.
The Virion is delivered to you in 27 pieces, the large virion envelope sphere, 25 spike proteins of various confirmations, and a display stand. A “Map” and numbered stickers aid in assembling the Spike Proteins into the same positions as the digital model. Several “spare” spike proteins are also supplied.
Spread awareness not disease.
The model is a great discussion piece, suitable for all ages and knowledge levels. It poses questions; for example, our Covid-19 model is spherical although the actual virus can distort and often shifts between round and slightly oval. We’ve chosen to uses various colours in our model for artistic reasons. However, at 100 nanometers the virus is far smaller than the wavelengths of visible light (400-700 nanometers). This means visible light can’t interact with the virion in a constructive way to be seen.
