Our pals over at Instructables are always having one cool contest or another, and have given away some fabulous maker dream-prizes in the past including four Epilog laser cutters, now, in a series of annual contests. But with their new Make It Real Challenge, they have truly outdone themselves: The grand prize is an Objet30 from Israel’s Objet Geometries, which manufactures some of the highest-performing and most sought-after 3D printing equipment in the world. It’s described as a “desktop” model, but it’s priced like a luxury car at $51,995. Here are the juicy technical deets straight from Objet’s website:

• Layer Thickness: 0.0011 inch (28µ)
• Accuracy: 0.0039 in (0.1 mm)
• Material: VeroWhitePlus, VeroBlue, VeroBlack, VeroGray, DurusWhite
• Net Build Size: 11.57 x 7.58 x 5.85 in (294 x 192.6 x 148.6 mm)
• Tray Size: 11.81 x 7.87 x 5.9 in (300 x 200 x 150 mm)
• Resolution: 600 x 600 x 900 dpi
• No. of Print Heads: 1 modeling head, 1 support head
• Weight: 205 lbs (93 kg)
• Size: 32.28 x 24.4 x 23.22 in (82.5 x 62 x 59 cm)

As if that weren’t enough, each of ten first prize winners gets a $4,000 Up! 3D printer, and each of twenty runners up gets a coupon for a single 3D printed object costing up to $1,000. The challenge is to “post an Instructable that shows how to turn a virtual item into a tangible object,” and the deadline is April 30. Details here. [Thanks, Randy!]