The world's first? 3D printed mouth-watering Kentucky Fried Chicken
For the last 30 years, 3D printers have been mainly used for rapid prototyping of new parts at the development stage. With recent advances in speed and accuracy, 3D printing has made its way to the consumer-level and the significance of this technology is changing the way we think about design.
Technicians at Yokohama-based 3D printing and data modeling firm iJet has recently reproduced a Kentucky Fried Chicken using 3D printing. After learning how to make an original chicken in a local KFC restaurant, they started their experiement. The team first placed a drumstick of an original KFC Colonel's Original Recipe chicken carefully on the working table, making sure not to damage its deliciously seasoned skin, and then started scanning the outline of the chicken.
The data was then sent to a computer in real-time. Due to the limitation of the 3D scanner, technicians needed to work on the correction of the contours and crevices. After some modification of the original data, the 3D model was ready for 3D printing.
The 3D printing process involves jetting colored liquid binders on each thin, plaster based, layer infusing the model with a full spectrum of color.
The 3D printed Kentucky Fried Chicken was a gift to Japanese reporters at website Lifehacker who recently visited the company. But how close does it look to the "original chicken"?
"When the package was opened, I hesitated for a moment, to take it in hand. Because I was afraid the oil would stick to my hand. It has good color fidelity and accuracy." said the reporter.
However when you hold it in hand, the 3D printed model is heavier than an actual piece of fried chicken, the reporter said. And because it is made of plaster, it is also more fragile.
But the fun is, the 3D model allows iJet to create another variety of 3D KFC: by adjusting the scale of the model, they came up with a pair of 3D printed KFC earrings!
