The 3D printing world thrives on community and on crowdsourcing; even more so when proposed projects encompass the whole world. The Great Globe Project is an initiative that is looking to crowdsource the creation of the world... on a 1:100,000 scale. The project is turning to middle school-aged children across the world to put together a scale model of the Earth, in great detail. Teams of students will each create a 4-inch triangular 3D printed tile representing about 6 miles of the Earth's surface, complete with any object, natural or man-made, larger than 30 feet. This will take about 10.5 million of these tiles to complete, with the proposed globe having a diameter of about 420 feet and weighing in at a staggering 3.5 million pounds. The project hopes to be updated as the world continues to change and new landmarks emerge. Check out more details about the Great Globe Project in the full article: http://3dprint.com/26236/great-globe-3d-print-earth/ ‎


Below is a look at a rendition of one of the 10.5 million triangular tiles: