This is the RepRap, aka Self-Replicating Rapid Prototyper. It is in essence, a 3D printer. You feed plastic filament (much like string trimmer line) in the top, it melts and squirts it out the bottom in a very thin (0.5 mm) extrusion. This is then used to build an object. Almost anything you can model in 3D on a computer, you can print. You could even use a 3D scanner and scan an object, then print a copy of it on here.

It's mostly experemental. The project has direction and such, but it's very DIY and you hafta have some knowledge about electronics, software programming, and hopefully be mechanically inclined to build one. It's proven to be pretty tough, but a fun challenge. I hope to have it printing soon, and I'll put some videos on youtube for it too.

You could build a little statue of your character in 3D on a computer, using something like Maya or SketchUp or 3ds Max or SolidWorks and then print a physical copy of it!

If you wanna see more, check out my photoset on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chorca.....7623444319966/
Or my build log here: http://tastycrepes.blogspot.com

For more info on the RepRap project, check out http://reprap.org/