3D Printing
3D printing is a hobby I've picked up in the past year or so. I haven't got a printer of my own (yet), so I've been using Shapeways to turn my creations into real objects. I've made a few gifts using 3D printing so far, and have a few more ideas on the horizon.
Star Wars Chess Set
This project was extremely ambitious and I'm really proud of the results. For the full breakdown of the process, have a look on my blog.
Leopard Gecko
My first ever 3D printing project. I made a replica of my leopard gecko , Smiley, in 3DsMax, and rigged it in Maya. I made it life-sized (fully grown she was about 20cm in length), and I tried to include as much detail as possible for her bumpy skin and creases. I sent it off to be printed by Shapeways in their 'Strong flexible white plastic' material and it arrived within a couple of weeks. I was very pleased with the result, although the material I picked was quite grainy and masked a lot of the fine skin detail I had added. I've chosen not to paint this one, I quite like it white... maybe I'll gloss varnish it one day.
Vader the Dog
This 3D print was a gift to someone who absolutely adores Star Wars, and not only that adores black German Shepherds to the point where he one day wants to get one and name him Vader. The idea was to combine these two loves into a figurine, so in 3DsMax I created it and sent it off to Shapeways to get printed in black nylon plastic. When it arrived I painted areas that needed a splash of colour like the eyes, mouth and medallion. When I gave it to him he couldn't have been more pleased!
The Rumblevolt
This was a quick and easy project to turn a friend's logo into a badge. You can check out his artwork here.