About the Work
Tide Walkers is a 3D-printed installation by Rising Sun FPV featuring two towering crabs each standing 1.8 metres tall and a hermit crab the size of a small dog, along with a mantis shrimp. Printed in PETG and hand-finished with acrylic paint, the sculptures integrate environmental storytelling with advanced fabrication methods. The crab carries pieces of discarded human waste as its shell, representing the adaptive strategies of nature in response to humans’ impact.
The PETG filament used in this work was made from recycled plastic with the help of RSX, Rising Sun FPV’s sister company, which specialises in filament extrusion and sustainable material innovation. In addition, members of Rising Sun FPV and their families have collected rubbish from Townsville and surrounding beaches, repurposing these materials into jewellery and embedded objects that adorn the sculptures—bringing real-world impact into the artwork itself.
Inspired by the theme of ‘Trace-less’, Tide Walkers reflects how natural life leaves only fleeting marks, while human waste persists until nature reclaims it.
About the Artist
Rising Sun FPV is a Townsville-based creative collective led by Zak Martin-Taylor. Specialising in drone racing, FPV systems, and industrial-scale 3D printing, the group transforms digitally driven processes into sculptural works that explore intersections between sustainability, technology, and ecology.
The Tide Walkers project was made possible through collaboration with several veteran-owned businesses within RSFPV’s trusted creative network, including RSX (material and recycling solutions), S3DP (precision 3D printing), Standfast Acrylics (custom fabrication), and Spack. au (concept design and modelling).
Tide Walkers is the collective’s first large-scale sculptural piece created specifically for public exhibition. While the project explores familiar themes of impermanence, environmental responsibility, and adaptation, it does so through a new artistic lens. By stepping outside their technical comfort zone, Rising Sun FPV aims to spark conversation around human impact and nature’s quiet resilience even in places where our presence is meant to be trace-less.
Vote for us in the People's Choice Here!
Tide Walkers: How a 3D Printing Project Turned Into a Coastal Art Installation
It all started with a customer walking into our store with an idea. They wanted to create an artwork for something called Ephemera which, to be honest, we hadn’t even heard of at the time. We had a chat, bounced around a few possibilities, and explained what we could do with 3D printing. But the customer wasn’t ready to move forward and hadn’t submitted a proposal yet. So, that could have been the end of it… but it wasn’t.
We got curious.
With just a week to go before submissions closed, we decided to look into it ourselves. The 2025 theme was Traceless a concept that immediately made us think of rubbish, waste, and the traces (or lack thereof) we leave behind. In the store, we already had two 3D printed crab models designed by Paul Braddock. They were just cool display pieces but suddenly they looked like the beginning of something bigger.
The Concept
Crabs that look like people. A hermit crab using human trash for a shell. Coastal wildlife adapting to our leftover rubbish. It all clicked. We discovered that nearly 40% of hermit crabs globally are using trash as shells. That fact became the core of the concept crabs walking The Strand, adapting to our waste, but still moving forward.
We got the proposal submitted just in time and not long after, we were officially selected to exhibit at Ephemera 2025.
The Build Begins
With our direction set, we scaled up. We wanted the crabs to be larger than life between 1.8 to 2 metres tall and made entirely from recycled materials wherever possible. Luckily, our sister company, RSX, had just received a Townsville City Council grant to build a filament extrusion line. That meant we could make our own recycled filament, turning plastic waste into art.
Printing took place on our Modix Big 60 V3 printers. And let us tell you these things are huge. Once printed, we had to figure out how to brace them for wind, salt, and public interaction. That’s where Standfast Acrylics came in, helping with welded chain supports and transport logistics.
Then came the extras: a mantis shrimp, another hermit crab, and finally a bunch of character development (because even 3D printed sea creatures deserve personality).
Meet the Crew
Hellen: Our female crab, painted like a Tasmanian giant crab, named after our local Australia Post girl who does our daily pickups.
Jack: The male crab, styled after a blue swimmer crab, named by Zak’s son, Odin.
Junior (J.R.): Our trash loving hermit/coconut crab, named by the younger crew.
Remy: A mantis shrimp that looks like a dachshund, named in memory of Zak’s late pup.
These weren’t just props they became part of the story. Jewellery and accessories were made from trash collected by our staff and their families from beaches around Townsville. We even 3D a printed turtle shell handbag, a Greenback turtle skull pendant that was originally 3D scanned by the crew at Rising Sun FPV in 2023 for another project, and other beachcombed treasures.
Eggs, Paint, Resin… and Glow in the Dark Crustaceans
One of our team members, Jasmine, developed silicone moulds for the female crab’s eggs. Inside each egg? Miniature alien creatures, shrimp, and glow in the dark pigments mixed into resin from The Little Shop of Resin. The eggs aren’t just decorative they reflect microecosystems forming in unexpected places.
The paints came from Townsville Wholesale Paint, who helped us mix custom colours. We used adhesives from our trusted friends at Icky Sticky! (which we also stock instore). Every part of this build had a purpose, often recycled or repurposed.
Community Involvement & Collaboration
The scale of the project brought in incredible support.
Spack.au helped with logistics and custom component creation. S3DP supplied hardware, helped with jewellery casting, and even upcycled a resin printer to create solar powered UV lights that make the crabs glow at night. RSX created the filament and consulted on structural design. Creative Signs Townsville helped us print interpretive signage for the site. Prusa Research even donated recycled PLA (made from corn, algae, and wine waste!) for kids’ trinket giveaways.
🎥 Behind the scenes of Tidewalkers – Ephemera 2025, Site 22
In this video, Zak takes you through how we’re making the glow-in-the-dark egg cluster for the big female crab in our Tidewalkers sculpture.
We started by 3D printing the egg shape in PLA, then made a two-part silicone mould from it. Inside the mould, we’ve added:
🦀 A bunch of tiny 3D printed baby crabs
♻️ Bits of 3D print support trash
🧩 Strips of silicone offcuts
Then we pour in resin mixed with green pigment and glow powder. Once it cures, we clean it up, sand it smooth, and attach it under the crab to form her brood.
This is all part of our story about adaptation, waste, and the future of life at the edge of land and sea.
Catch Tidewalkers glowing at night down at Site 22 during Ephemera 2025 🌊
The Result
The finished installation Tide Walkers can be found at Site 22 on The Strand 19th July - 3rd August 2025, across from the Watermark Hotel. Complete with solar lighting for night viewing, it’s a fully immersive piece of environmental storytelling.
We’ve never done anything like this before. As a business that usually focuses on drones, tech, and one off 3D prints, stepping into the world of public art was a leap. But it’s been worth every moment.
This project was about creativity, collaboration, and doing something that like the theme itself leaves a positive trace by showing what can be achieved with community, innovation, and a little trash.
Prusa Research
Crabs, Corn, and Community: How @prusament ’s rPLA Helped Us Create Ephemera Giveaways
We’re excited to share a small but meaningful part of our Tide Walkers installation at Ephemera 2025 a limited run of miniature 3D-printed crabs, made using rPLA filament generously provided by @josefprusa
These little crustaceans aren’t just cute souvenirs they’re made from some pretty clever stuff. Prusa’s rPLA (recycled PLA) is made using leftover production waste, which is ground up, reprocessed, and turned back into high-quality filament. Unlike most mass-produced recycled filament, Prusa’s process focuses on traceability, consistency, and eco-conscious practices, allowing them to offer a filament that is both sustainable and reliable for high-detail prints.
The rPLA itself is made from the same base as Prusament PLA a renewable bioplastic derived from corn starch and re-extruded under strict quality control in their Prague facility. The result? A premium recycled filament with less waste, fewer emissions, and all the performance you'd expect from the Prusa name.
We used their rPLA to print a batch of small crab figures as giveaways for visitors to Ephemera. These are available (for free!) at the Ephemera 2025 Information Stand, while supplies last.
Our team at Rising Sun FPV has always believed in the power of recycling, community, and education through making and this initiative ticks all three. It’s our way of thanking everyone who stops by, especially families and kids who connect with the story behind the project.
A big thank you to Prusa Research for supporting sustainability not just in their products, but in the global maker community. From repurposed beach trash to recycled filament, Tide Walkers has become more than just an art installation it’s a statement about innovation, collaboration, and what’s possible when creative minds come together.
Come say hi at the information stand on The Strand at strand park and grab a crab while they last!
