Buttercup, the duck with a 3D printed foot!

Posted By Arthur Cassaignau on Jul 6, 2013 | 0 comments

Buttercup might not be as famous as Donald duck yet, but the little duck has made himself quite a reputation in the 3D printing world. And since we love a good 3D printing story here at Sculpteo, we wanted to share it with you.

Buttercup was born last year at a Arlington high school in Texas with his left foot turned backwards. Mike Garey, who adopted the duck, knew that under these circumstances, the animal would never survive in a natural environment. The only option left was amputation and Buttercup went into surgery. 

After the procedure, Garey reached out to NovaPrint — a 3D printing service company — to recreate a prothese. NovaPrint scanned the left foot of Buttercup’s sister Minnie, created a 3D model, and printed it in silicon.

“It’s different for him because his leg is taller than it used to be when he just had the peg,” Garey told USA Today. “His muscles will have to adjust, but I’m amazed at how well he’s doing right off the bat.”

You can follow Buttercup’s journey to becoming a “real duck” so he can go outside and play and swim with all the other ducks. His Facebook Journal is Here.

As cute as this story is, it also reveals that there is a great potential in 3D printing. It’s just about what you chose to do with it. Sculpteo’s team wishes a long and happy duck-life to Buttercup!