Reading 3D printing company sees opportunity in cosplay, 'geek’ culture
By Andrew Kulp - Reading Eagle - Feb 19, 2021
Reading tech start-up Verde Mantis was founded upon the principle that 3D printing has limitless practical, everyday uses and should be easy and accessible for everybody.
But 3D printing can also be used for the whimsical — like recreating a full suit of armor from your favorite video game so you can wear it out in public.
A piece of 3D Printed T-60 Armor, in the process of being assembled before finishing.
It's called cosplay, the act of dressing up as fictional characters from games, movies, TV shows, cartoons, anime, comic books, manga and graphic novels. Participants fashion elaborate costumes based on their favorite personas from sci-fi and fantasy stories, then attend fan conventions or other role-playing scenarios in full garb.
While Verde Mantis didn't necessarily have cosplayers in mind when it launched its core product, the Mantis 3D Printer, the tech is now being used to replicate one of the most exquisite outfits in gaming: the T-60 power armor from online game "Fallout 76."
An intricate head-to-toe, full-body armor complete with helmet, the T-60 makes for an ambitious first attempt at cosplay, though Verde Mantis believes it's up to the task.
A photo of the body cast process, which was chronicled on film for the Cosplay audience who wants to learn the technique for themselves.
"It just sounded like a cool idea," said Mandy Heard, general manager for Verde Mantis. "We've never done something to this scale before and just thought it was a great collaboration."
Why cosplay?
The T-60 Armor Project is a collaboration between Verde Mantis and TheGeekGrid, a Lehigh County events and content creation studio.
Initially, Verde Mantis was set to hold a presentation and display its 3D printer at PA STEAM Fest 2020, a celebration of STEAM educational fields, makers and video games, set to a steampunk culture theme. Unfortunately, the event was canceled due to COVID-19.
Verde Mantis remained committed to the festival for its scheduled return in 2021 though. It was over the course of those conversations when Kat Mahoney, owner of TheGreekGrid and a "Fallout" superfan, had the inspiration to produce a real-life, to-scale T-60 suit.
"We were talking about our product, why we thought the Mantis would be a great thing to share with her audience," said Heard. "Then Kat had this crazy idea for a project that would really highlight both the ease of use and application for cosplayers out there."
For Mahoney, the project has a personal meaning, describing the "Fallout" series as her "true calling toward video games and cosplay" in an introductory video posted to TheGreekGrid's website.
Founder of The GeekGrid, Kat Mahoney, holding up the arms of her body cast, which will be used to “test fit” 3D Printed parts during the project.
For Verde Mantis, the project's scope is an opportunity to showcase their printer's potential the fullest.
"It's going to put our product to the test and show its capabilities," said Heard, estimating 100 parts will be printed to complete armor. "Because they're going to be all different sizes, different angles, it's a perfect opportunity to show what the Mantis can do with its size and power."
A massive undertaking
Because the armor will be fitted to Mahoney, she actually had to pay the Verde Mantis office a visit at the Berks LaunchBox inside GoggleWorks to kick off the project.
Once there, a very high-tech process involving digital cameras and duct tape — the latter used to create a life-size body casts similar to molds — was used to begin nailing down the exact specifications for the armor.
"We took over 360 pictures of Kat, then we had to seam them together make this STL file of her," said Heard. "Right now, what our team is doing is they're taking these (3D computer aided design) models of these parts and scaling them down to her.
"We'll start printing them out this week and see if they'll actually fit her and all of our calculations are correct."
Heard added that all 12 Mantis 3D Printers in the company's fleet will be running parts this week.
And design and printing aren't even the only aspects of the job. A member of the Verde Mantis team will also be handling the assembly, sanding and painting of the parts to complete the aesthetic, ensuring the finished T-60 armor's appearance is authentic to the source material.
Since neither Verde Mantis nor TheGeekGrid attempted something quite like this before, the companies are documenting the project's progress through livestreams and videos available on their websites: mantis3dprinter.com/t60-project-home or thegeekgrid.com/t60-project.
The project is slated for completion by August, just in time Mahoney to don at PA STEAM Fest 2021 at ArtsQuest in Bethlehem.
Home solutions, locally made
When Gov. Mifflin High School, Reading Area Community College and Penn State Berks graduate Joe Sinclair founded Verde Mantis, the target markets were parents, educators and schools.
Already, the T-60 Armor Project has revealed new avenues to explore with its product.
"We're just in the beginning stages, so everything we've gotten as far as feedback from our audience and Kat's audience is they're very excited to watch it play out," said Heard.
"But we would love to become the 3D printer of cosplayers or for gamers or that 'geek culture,' because we're geeks in our own right. We're engineers. I'm a teacher for 20 years. We kind of all have that geeky culture in us as well."
Yet, the Mantis 3D Printer wasn't created with any one subculture in mind or even the technically savvy.
Anybody can use it.
When Heard started with the company, she admits she knew nothing about how 3D printing worked. Within minutes of using the Mantis, she was able to print her first project, and has since created countless household items, often using free printing files available on the web at sites such as Thiniverse.com.
"I've printed soap dishes, doorstops, over the door hangers, iPad cases, iPhone cases," said Heard. "There are so many everyday uses that I use it for or that we can envision."
And the printers are manufactured right here in Berks County.
"When we grow and scale up, we'll be looking in Reading," said Heard. "Ideally, we would love for our Mantis 3D Printer to be in homes, workplaces and schools across the U.S.
"We're hoping people can see how they can apply 3D printing in their everyday lives."