Research Casting International, an expert in the preservation, restoration, and fabrication of museum specimens, has revealed more details about a current project with the Grand Rapids Public Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US, where it is working to scan, 3D print and recreate a unique mastodon specimen.
In October 2024, scanning technicians from the company visited Grand Rapids to scan the nearly complete skeleton of a Mastodon. This skeleton was discovered in 2022, just north of Kent City along 22 Mile Road. After spending two years drying in the archives of the Grand Rapids Public Museum, the bones of the Clapp Family Mastodon were finally ready for scanning.
Upon reaching Grand Rapids, they started to scan each bone individually. Once scanning concludes, Research Casting International will create casts from the 3D models that replicate the mastodon’s original positioning, preserving the actual bones for future research and study.
An exciting find
The images are subsequently forwarded to the company’s collection of 3D printers. Printing plastic copies of each bone will take approximately one month. Afterwards, these bones will be assembled to form a complete, articulated skeleton, which will serve as the centrepiece of an exhibit at the Grand Rapids Public Museum in autumn 2025, alongside the real bones.
Dr Cory Redman, science curator at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, says: “If you picture basically an Asian elephant, with some degree of more hair, you’re pretty close to picturing what an American mastodon looked like in life.
“What makes this specimen unique and so exciting is it’s a juvenile. It’s a young animal. Typically, when you find them, they’re adults. And also, the degree of completeness. I don’t know how to put it into words, honestly. It’s unbelievable. The Clapp family was extremely generous in donating it to our museum to keep it local.
“To choose our institution to house and conserve this specimen for generations, it’s humbling and exciting.”
Research Casting International scanning technician Patrick Fair told Wood News 8: “Usually, on average, you get between 20% and 60% of a skeleton. 60(%) is usually on the high end. So, if you get 80(%), that’s really something.
“3D scanning allows us to capture and share data on artifacts and specimens with researchers around the world and increase accessibility for different institutions. I can send this [3D scan] file back to Cory, I can send these files to a colleague in London, it increases the accessibility to share it better with colleagues.”
Later this year, the Research Casting International team will exhibit at Ecsite 2025 in Warsaw, Poland.
