Nanotool Resin Helps Create Complex Mould
Advanced scanning and additive layer manufacturing technologies from DSM Somos are being used to provide customer-tailored solutions for the food industry. In 2009, the Liebieghaus Antique Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt, Germany, celebrated its centennial anniversary by offering visitors the opportunity to purchase chocolate miniatures of Myron's Athena statue.
The challenging project of transforming the 1.73m life-sized Athena statue into a minute 7cm, 3D data set and subsequent production of a chocolate miniature required the know-how of a variety of industry experts. The end result demonstrates the potential of high-tech additive layer manufacturing techniques for new product development and for the food industry in general. Prof Vinzenz Brinkmann, head of the collection of antiques of the Liebieghaus and an authority in the reproduction of ancient works of art, commissioned Munich-based Alphaform Group with the production of the highly detailed miniature master pattern of Myron's Athena.
The master pattern was based on high-definition scans and consequently realised with Somos Nanotool. This stereolithography resin is a third-generation Protocomposite material from DSM Somos that offers strong, stiff, temperature-resistant characteristics. Moreover, it produces parts demonstrating good sidewall quality and surface smoothness - critical elements in producing such high-definition detail in the small pattern.
Heavily filled with non-crystalline nanoparticles, Nanotool allows for fast processing and reduced finishing requirements that also speed part production. The high-definition master pattern made with Somos Nanotool has subsequently been translated by Clement Chococult into a mould made from FDA-approved silicone, enabling the Bitter and Zart Chocolaterie of Frankfurt to produce the chocolate miniatures.
The challenging project of transforming the 1.73m life-sized Athena statue into a minute 7cm, 3D data set and subsequent production of a chocolate miniature required the know-how of a variety of industry experts. The end result demonstrates the potential of high-tech additive layer manufacturing techniques for new product development and for the food industry in general. Prof Vinzenz Brinkmann, head of the collection of antiques of the Liebieghaus and an authority in the reproduction of ancient works of art, commissioned Munich-based Alphaform Group with the production of the highly detailed miniature master pattern of Myron's Athena.
The master pattern was based on high-definition scans and consequently realised with Somos Nanotool. This stereolithography resin is a third-generation Protocomposite material from DSM Somos that offers strong, stiff, temperature-resistant characteristics. Moreover, it produces parts demonstrating good sidewall quality and surface smoothness - critical elements in producing such high-definition detail in the small pattern.
Heavily filled with non-crystalline nanoparticles, Nanotool allows for fast processing and reduced finishing requirements that also speed part production. The high-definition master pattern made with Somos Nanotool has subsequently been translated by Clement Chococult into a mould made from FDA-approved silicone, enabling the Bitter and Zart Chocolaterie of Frankfurt to produce the chocolate miniatures.
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