Artist Peter Mountain takes four years to 3D print a life-sized US army tank

Put together using an incredibly complex jigsaw of wooden boards and pallets, the piece at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre in Scunthorpe is a literal representation of a virtual gaming model.

As explained by the gallery: "Beginning with a downloaded digital map of a tank from the internet, the piece is composed of a series of stacked metre cubed sections manufactured using a form of 3D printing, which Peter developed specifically for this commission.

"Formed using thousands of sheets of plywood that slot together to create a skeletal mesh, the artist filled in, fleshed out and re-sculpted this one-of-a-kind artwork from hundreds of recycled broken pallets. The piece was then set on fire in a controlled manner, to produce the unique feel of a charcoal drawing.

"This is the first time the sculpture has ever been assembled in a real-world situation, and until now has only ever been seen in its complete state as a virtual representation on the artist’s computer."

The project has taken almost four years to come to fruition and is the culmination of a research period Peter spent at Salford University’s Department of Virtual Environments. The tank's official opening is Saturday 20 August but will run until 30 April 2017.

To discover more, visit www.2021visualartscentre.co.uk. And if you want to see the tank being built, scroll down to watch the time-lapse video of its construction.