Busy as a Bee

Patkós Stúdió has been designing and creating interactive educational trails and exhibitions for over 28 years. Their work stands out for its quality and stunningly lifelike sculptures, which can be found across the country and even in neighbouring countries. In order to bring the entire production process under one roof, they have gradually opened up to 3D technologies in recent years and now have a mature 3D printing and post-production practice.

Patkós Stúdió has built more than 130 trails over the past 28 years. With a team of nearly 20 people, they can produce almost everything in-house. Professional copywriters, graphic designers, naturalists and landscape architects, skilled carpenters and decorators work to deliver a flawless result to their partners, both in terms of content and appearance. We were invited by Gábor Patkós, Managing Director of Patkós Stúdió, to take a peek into the studio's colourful world.

The challenge
Patkós Stúdió has been incorporating three-dimensional sculptures and visual elements into their work since before the discovery of digital fabrication technologies. They were first inspired by the bulging saints of Roman frescoes and then by the work of an Italian sculptor who later became a regular client. Patkós Stúdió thus made its first appearance at the 2015 World Expo in Milan with realistic sculptures of giant enlarged cereals in line with the Expo's theme ("Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life"). However, their sculpture partner was looking for new challenges over time, and Patkós Stúdió was also facing increasing difficulties with the waiting times associated with outsourcing and the problematic control that physical distance posed.

The solution
They first opened up to CNC milling, which they used to produce spectacular relief sculptures. A few years later, in 2020, they purchased their first and then second Craftbot FFF 3D printer. After that, there was no stopping them. With the positive feedback, demand and the studio's machine park grew. They now produce their detailed sculptures with 4 Craftbot FFF 3D printers and 1 UltiMaker S3 FFF 3D printer.

Result
In-house 3D printing makes it easier to produce more accurate and better quality sculptures. They don't have to wait for an external supplier, they can validate their designs in the palm of their hand, modify them quickly and easily, and they can re-produce from their growing 'natural digital warehouse' at any time and in any size.

How is the may bug made?
A common barrier to the uptake of additive manufacturing is the lack of in-house 3D modelling expertise, but this challenge has not deterred the team at Patkós Stúdió. One of the company's mainstays, Károly Gerhát, left his job as an art teacher to join the company as a graphic designer 27 years ago, and even after such a long career, he was open to new challenges. He has mastered the tricks of organic modelling, digital sculpting in Sculptris software, and the use of 3D printers. His models have been evolving ever since, not only striving for precise imitation, but also constantly innovating; now he even makes moving or movable sculptures. In addition to the models photographed by us and presented here, the downloadable catalogue of the Patkós Stúdió is also very impressive.

PLA is used to print various creatures, insects, fish, birds and mammals. If necessary, models are cut and oriented before production, taking into account the capabilities of 3D printing. A fleet of four Craftbots is responsible for the bulk of the production jobs, while the Ultimaker S3 printer is used to print smaller models requiring removable supports.

Decorator Györgyi Hantos is responsible for post-print finishing. The first step is to polish the surface of the models to ensure a nicer result and better adhesion of the paint. They are also considering using coatings instead of sanding in the future and have already tested a few solutions. The prepared surfaces are then brought to life using acrylic paints, followed by acrylic varnishing. The outdoor models are varnished in several coats, so that the printed sculptures retain their colour and shape even in direct sunlight. The biggest challenge is to render small details such as tiny spines or the fur of bees in a plastic and accurate way.

Dazzling butterfly models with ~40 cm wingspan in the office of Patkós Studio

Their largest model to date was a 1 metre tall stag beetle, which took 220 hours and 1500 metres of filament to print, but they have plenty of other gigantic projects in their portfolio. They are currently working on realistic sculptures of a wide range of species, from mountain flowers and mushrooms to butterflies and other insects, fish and vipers, commissioned by the Satu Mare County Museum. And as part of the exhibition accompanying the Ipolytarnóc fossil remains, they have undertaken the creation of a 13×2 metre three-dimensional wall that will depict animals that lived 18 million years ago in a peaceful moment before a volcanic eruption.