Hello,
Im Marian Toma,and here Im going to explain how Ive did my model for this competition
http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/3dprintcup
Before I start,just want to give a thumbs up for the cool people at http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/ for this awesome ideea,Ive been a part of it last year and really enjoyed it,so this year I pushed myself harder to see what comes out of it. Its great mostly because it gives you the chance to meet people,get new connections,.and see their way of creating/printing /concepting,,,networking ,thats the main thing in every domain,especially in 3d modelling.
So,creating a model for 3dprint!
The software I used is Zbrush and Netfabb.
Firstl,I've started by doing some concept sketches,in pencil,and tried to come up with shapes/ ideas.
Nothing fancy,just silhouette exploration + some joints ideas.
After having a general idea about the model,I jumped into Zbrush straight away and started building shapes,I always start by using primitives,and then turn them into dynamesh,and start deforming them ,if needed, Im not going to post images of the whole process,just the parts as they sit in relation to the other parts :
Above is the top part,with the head+neck+body +arm (which I only duplicated and mirror for the second arm)
Here is a image of the bottom part and how it connects to the upper body :
The final model doesn't have the full mobility I envisioned,but hey,you can't have everything :) .I spend some time to develop the correct joints,and actually only came up with the ball type of joint when I was doing the arms + leg,and I didn't had time to redo the neck area.
Zbrush really shines here,its really easy to do the joints ! I took the arm,attached the ball joint to it ( by ball joint I mean a sphere and a cylinder) ,then duplicated it,inflated it by a small amount ( depends on how big/small your model will be ) and the inflated part,I just subtracted it from the shape in which I wanted to insert the arm.
I like to explain it this way : I want to insert the arm(part A),with a joint,inside the body (part B),so I do the following process
Duplicate part A,you will get part A2
Inflate Part A2
Subtract Part A2 from part B,using Dynamesh and the Subtract feature .
After using this process a few times,you will love it!
Ok,so,after a while,I finished all the model,added some detail to it,had all the joints,and now I had to do some Keys,in order to be able to use the joints in the actual 3dprinted model. Keys follow the same procedure as the joints...duplicate the shape,inflate by a small amount,and then subtract the inflated one from the bigger shape.
Finally,have a double check at the model,and prepare it for 3d printing,
In this case Ive had to arrange it in pieces so I can assemble them when printed,so I can have the moving parts,and I wanted to get as much detail as possible.
Here is a image with the model inside zbrush all connected,and then one with the parts all laid flat for a better print
Plugins:
http://pixologic.com/zbrush/downloadcenter/zplugins/
Decimation Master:
From here,having everything modelled,its time to decimate it,so it can have a really small number of polygons,this will help with the printing process,and the people printing it don't have to do additional work for you. I used Decimation Master Plugin ( thats whats made for lol) ,and I got my model from 2-3 millions polys down to around 150-200 k polys.
3d Print Exporter:
After checking that the model still retains all the shapes/detail,its time to export the decimated version,so for this ,again in Zbrush,I'm using 3D Print Exporter .Again,simple process,just define what type of file you want to export ,in this case I choose STL,and choose the size you want you model to have ,but its not really decisive,as you ,or the people printing it,can scale it later,to fit the printing bed.
Netfabb:
Now you are done with Zbrush,and hopefully you have a model you like,and exported properly. A final step,which is not always needed,but I like to do it just to be sure that I dont mess up,is to check it via Netfabb.
This is simple,just import the model into the software,do a standard analysis ( there is a button called Standard Analysis lol ) ,and when thats done,apply a default repair ( there is a button called Default repair lol) ,this always repaired any flipped polygons,gaps,shells overlapping. So a 2 button process,helps you to be sure,,so I strongly suggest you do it.
After its done,just export it ,I export obj and stl, you will be prompted that there are some errors in the mesh,just click repair ,and its done,,,exported ,and all clean and ready for print!
Part 2:
This is how my model got printed:
I think Ive managed to get as much detail as possible from arranging the parts carefully,and with the parts which needed more detail facing upwards .
Next its just the tedious part of removing the printed bed+ scaffolding while trying to not hurt yourself too much ,I never manage this part ,so here is how it looks after I've removed all the parts
Next,its time for sanding paper,putting glue ,and some patience,to remove the imperfections,try to cover the back side where the printer can't properly print,and in my case,I've even tried to remove most of the printed texture,but that has its own beauty,and its your choice if you want to keep it,I only tried to make some contrast in the shapes. A small advice,try using a medium sandpaper,as the soft one wont do almost nothing,and a rough one might delete your details.
Next,double check all your parts to have the same amount of finishing,and then proceed to painting.Here you can use any color that goes on plastic,or use a primer first,Ive really spend a lot of time and paint on last years model,so this year a was a bit clever and bought nail varnish,I only bought 2 shades,being a robot,I went for some metallic ones.
I wanted to add a bit more detail,but the rule was to not add nothing that wasn't 3d printed,so,off course I had to improvise,and I've cut some of the 3d printed scaffolding,and bed ,which usually its rubbish ,so I hope the people/judges will see this as something innovative,and not cheating.,,,as it is 3d printed :)
so here is the final image with the model,not really fancy photos,but Ill get some better ones when I receive the model back.
Thanks for your time,and I hope it helps somebody to make their own model!
Btw,if you are still interested in this cup,Im sure its going to be on next year as well,so here is the link!
