When we think of great sci-fi franchises, we don’t necessarily think of Stargate first. But perhaps we should. After all, the 1994 hit movie spawned Stargate: SG1, a hit television series that ran for ten seasons, plus two other spin-off shows, Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: Universe. The universe also inspired a handful of straight-to-DVD films and even an animated show. Yet for whatever reason, Stargate doesn’t get nearly the same love that series like Star Wars, Star Trek, or even Firefly (which just ran for one brief season) does from fans.

Except, apparently, in Belgium. Thanks to the folks at Digitaltrends, we’ve learned that the employees at Belgium’s Musée royal de Mariemont are some pretty big Stargate fans, so much so that they’ve built a life size replica Stargate using 3D printers. Sadly, the giant portal does not take you to any distant pseudo-Egyptian planets ruled by androgynous aliens, but it still looks pretty cool. The finished piece ended up taking more than 1,000 hours to create, and required more than 2,000 separate parts, along with 10,000 cuttings. You can view a video of the creation of the replica Stargate above.

The CEO and owner of 3D-printing studio Vigo Universal, Hermanns Christophe, told Digitaltrends, “We were approached by the museum as part of their planning for an exhibition called ‘From Stargate to Comics: The Egyptian Gods in the Geek Culture.’ In preparation for it, they came to us earlier this year and asked if we could use 3D printing to create a replica of the Stargate. We’re always excited about using 3D printing for unique projects, so we were happy to get involved.” When asked later if the replica Stargate would remain in the museum or get moved once the exhibition is over, he said “We don’t know what their plans are. But be warned: it’s very, very large. To move it is going to require a truck.”

What do you think of this latest 3D printed wonder? Transport your thoughts to the comments below.

Image: MGM