Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve always wanted to create my own covid face mask.
While there are conventional DIY ways with paper, scissors, glue, if you’ve got a 3D printer in your home, you can make your own. Check out some of these STL file downloads.
While in the middle of the new mask-centric society, a creative Japanese artist is set to commence offering hyper-realistic 3d printed face masks like these
You can buy them from Maskalike– one of many sites selling photorealistic masks.
Though Okawara Shuhei’s masks haven’t been designed to stop the blowout of the novel Corona Virus, they allow their wearers to don facial features or random strangers. With a price tag of 98 yen, equivalent to $950, Okawara’s masks were set to be launched in the spring of this year. However, anyone with an interest to view the products in person is free to do so at his local shop in Tokyo, Kamenya Omote, where party accessories and theatrical performances accessories are sold.
While in an interview with Reuters, Okawara said that most people view the face masks and buy them as art pieces and not for specific purposes such as curbing the blowout of the coronavirus.
How It Started
Initially, Okawara launched his avant-garde project in October, after he had received headshots from more than 100 prospective applicants. After he chose a lucky stranger’s photo, Okawara paid 40,000 yen equivalent to $350 for rights to use the stranger’s face. Additionally, he stated plans to comprise more faces to his lineup in the upcoming months. These faces were expected to include those of Non-Japanese models. However, it is worth noting that the masks are never created without permission from the faces’ owner.
The first model- his own face was lucky to sell after getting preorders on the shops’ website. Based on the positive response of the interested parties and the over 50 daily inquiries he received, Okawara had expectations of extremely high demands of these products in the near future. Additionally, celebrities approached Okawara with intentions to ask him to reproduce their faces which would result in more sales. However, he claimed to rather do it for art’s sake and have fun rather than the sales and income he would expect from the same.
To ensure that the 3d printed facemasks are produced, Okawara is working closely with an unknown engineer from a certain unnamed printing company. The novel printing technique needs a face to be 3d scanned to form a high-resolution virtual model. After that, the full-color 3d image is physically touched to make it ready for the whole 3d printing procedure. At this point, it is published out onto a visible base template. As it stands, the trade secret method used by Okawara facilitates the production of around 100 face masks in a month.
“Mask shops in Venice perhaps do not sell or buy faces. But that is one thing that is likely to take place in imaginary stories. I thought it would be fun to actually do that,” concluded Okawara.
Though additive manufacturing has its uses in heavy-duty engineering solicitations, there is a lot that can be said about its use for art. In the previous year, the Historic Environment Scotland revealed what the dogs from the Stone Age might have resembled through 3d printing. In specific, the organization commissioned a reconstruction of the Neolithic canine skull, thought to be close to 4500 years old.
In another place, global engineering company Renishaw used 3d printing to make a replica of a 12th century Gloucester candlestick. This candlestick, a historic item of early-twelfth century English metalworkers, was formerly commissioned by Abbot Peter for the Church of St. Peter and later relocated severally over the past centuries until it settled in the V$A museum in London Central.
Making Your Own
You can make your own stylish covid face mask- check out the DIY tutorial above.
Summing Up
With the availability of many facemasks made to resemble Okawara’s work, not many people have the ability to copy exactly what he had previously done. To protect his work from other entrepreneurs, it would be better if Okawara found out how he would defend his creativity by ensuring anyone who tries to counterfeit without his permission has been arrested and sued. The novel 3d printing idea has spread all over the world resulting in hardships in identifying Okawara’s work. However, you can order from him directly to avoid counterfeits.
Hello, my name’s Rush Chapman. I’m a 3D printing enthusiast. I started this site to help people choose 3D printing projects and select the best 3D printer for your needs, whether you’re a hobbyist or a pro!
