Megalosaurus: 14 3D printers recreate the dinosaur

Desktop 3D printers recreate the Megalosaurus: 166 million years in seven weeks

Fourteen desktop 3D printers worked for seven weeks to bring back to life the first dinosaur ever named by science. The result is a spectacular exhibition at Blenheim Palace in England, where five nine-meter-long Megalosaurus skeletons dominate the historic gardens.

The installation “Dinosaurs Are Forever” represents an emblematic case of how additive manufacturing is also transforming the world of art and scientific dissemination.

The project: when art and paleontology meet 3D printing

British artist Jay Jay Burridge created five monumental Megalosaurus sculptures combining scientific reconstruction, artistic vision, and additive manufacturing.

Burridge, through his studio Future Fossils, did not want to create simple museum replicas. He collaborated with Dr. Matt Dempsey, a musculoskeletal biologist and vertebrate paleontologist who completed his doctorate at the University of Liverpool and the Natural History Museum in London.

Together they developed a new interpretation of the Megalosaurus based on the original fossils and evidence from closely related dinosaurs. The finished sculptures mix science, art, and engineering, with skeletons that appear part dinosaur and part machine.

Production: additive manufacturing on an artistic scale

Gerard Shields of Printpool, a British additive manufacturing company, coordinated production using exclusively desktop printers.

To create the 3D-printed bones, Future Fossils collaborated with Printpool. Shields used 14 Bambu Lab printers operating continuously for over seven weeks.

The chosen material was ABS-GF, an ABS filament reinforced with fiberglass. This choice ensures structural strength and durability for outdoor installations.

After printing, the components were sent to the Future Fossils laboratory for final finishing and assembly. Each sculpture is built around a lightweight mobile structure, with individual bones either 3D-printed or hand-carved.

The Megalosaurus: the dinosaur that made history

The project recreates the first scientifically named dinosaur, bringing it back to Oxfordshire where its original fossils were discovered.

Megalosaurus holds a fundamental place in paleontology. The fossils found in Oxfordshire were studied by geologist William Buckland, who formally named the animal in 1824.

It became the first dinosaur to receive a scientific name, although at the time no one called it a dinosaur. The term “Dinosauria” would only be introduced in 1842.

Now, over 200 years later, Megalosaurus has returned to Oxfordshire in a completely new form. “It is perfectly logical that the dinosaurs of the future are 3D printed,” said Burridge. “We are taking creatures from 166 million years ago and rebuilding them with today’s technology”.

Implications for additive manufacturing

The project demonstrates the maturity of desktop printers for large-scale artistic and scientific productions.

The use of 14 desktop printers for a project of this scale highlights how FDM technology has become reliable for complex serial productions. Seven weeks of continuous printing require stable machines and high-performance materials.

The choice of desktop printers over more expensive industrial solutions suggests a favorable cost-benefit ratio for artistic and museum applications. Horizontal scalability (more machines in parallel) confirms itself as an effective strategy for medium-large volumes.

The Megalosaurus case represents a concrete example of how additive manufacturing is leaving laboratories and factories to enter museums, galleries, and public spaces, democratizing the production of monumental works.

article written with the help of artificial intelligence systems