Changing direction

Time to take stock and think about some new ideas.

This blog has had over 40,000 views now. Does anyone ever read these notes or do people just come to look at the pictures? Many thanks to those few people who take the trouble to comment on my work.

I can't sell these prints so I just have to store them all. I'm not allowed to share the model files because of copyright restrictions on the base meshes. The owners are showing no signs of releasing the promised 3D printing license. I sincerely hope this changes soon. The only other solution is to keep working at sculpting until I can stop having to rely on character posing tools.

3D printing is slow and expensive, especially for some of the larger models, which can now take over 24 hours to print. It's easy to forget that 2 times the size equals 2x2x2 = 8 times the volume (and hence time and cost). I recently tried printing Casual Undress at half the normal size and was pleasantly surprised by two things. Firstly, the print was finished in under 3 hours, and secondly, it still had an amazing amount of visible detail. I would definitely try that again.

The one thing I am least happy with, at the moment, is the ugly scars left behind on the underside of parts which have been printed onto support material. I do my best to hide these in the photos I take, but if you look closely at some of the videos it is easy to spot these unsightly blemishes. I have some interesting ideas about how to try some experimental techniques to improve this.

Perhaps more fundamentally though, maybe it is time to move on and start working in a different area. I am happy to maintain this record of what I have achieved with some free software and a cheap home-made 3D printer, but I'm beginning to wonder what fresh challenges await ...

Lush

This beautiful photo of Kayleigh Lush was one of the 100 photos taken by Ray Rapkerg and published on Twitter.

It's another interesting and challenging pose and also presents a great opportunity for me to practice sculpting hair.

The fingers of the right hand only make light fingertip contact with the ground which would present a problem during printing, so I have added a thin disc to anchor the hand firmly and take the weight of the right forearm.

Here is another angle which gives a better view of the hair.

The model printed well at the first attempt but needed plenty of support material under the face and breasts.

Here is a selection of views after removing the support material and ending with a video showing the model from all sides.

The next picture and the video were taken in full sunlight which brings out the amazing sheen in the printed plastic. It's called Christmas Green PLA from 3D Filaprint.

The obligatory full rotation view video.