Category: 3D models summer work

Here are some pictures of the finished models. Overall I’m very happy with how they have turned out. I’m pleased with the colours and detail I was able to achieve. I learnt a lot from completing these. I stared the process completely new to all of it but I’ve learnt and became more confident with any skills. Such as 3d scanning, editing scans, 3d printing, and working on/painting 3d models. These are all skills I’d like to advance further. They did take longer than I originally thought they would to complete. At some points I did get a bit tired of it but in generally I enjoyed the process. I was given lots of creative freedom on this project and I liked that. I’m excited to see them displayed at the University in the model of the Great Hall.

These are some photos of the models in our exhibition at the Harrow campus. It was nice to see them on display and get some positive feedback about them. I’ll be continuing this project in the Industry 2 module so I look forward to that and the big exhibition at 309 Regents street.

I logged the hours I spent making these onto my DCDI work based learning form.

Mixing and painting the skin tones was the most difficult part of the process. I tried to get the skin tones as accurate the the reference images as I could. I watched lots of videos to learn how to mix skin tones. I decided the most efficient way to do this would be to make a big mix of paint from equal parts red, yellow and blue then from that base created each models individual skin tone. I started with the darkest skin tone and worked to the lightest. This way I could work off the previous tone to create the next one. I did all the skin tones before I started any of the facial features. At this point it became very tricky to get into all the little areas without getting paint of the hair of clothes. Due to this progress became slower and the skin took me around 15 hours to complete.
Once all the skin was dry I started the facial features. I did research looking at marvel and other action figures to see how to do the facial features what what level of detail. I decided for each I’d do the lips, eyebrows and for the eyes, the white bit with a black pupil and line at the top for definition. I had to exclusively use the thinnest brush I have for these. I completed all of 1 feature before moving onto the next. I started with the lips, I used a more red version of their facial skin tones. This was the easiest feature to do. Then I did the eyebrows and used a variation of the hair colour. Finally, the eyes which where by far the hardest part as there was more detail and more room for error. I spent a while on each trying to get them symmetrical which was difficult with the texture of the models. I used black pen to get the pupil as it was too small to accurately use paint. These took me about 5 hours to finish.

For painting the figures I began with the clothing. I had coloured reference photos for each of the figures. I took the ideas from the colours of the outfits but made lots changes as there where lots of dull greys and blacks. And these would have been boring to paint and less visually striking within the model of the Great Hall. I wanted to make sure they all stood out without making all the colours obnoxiously bright. Furthermore, the brief wanted modern day looking people so I tried capturing that with the colour choices.
I made sure to mix every colour myself and not use any paint straight from the tube. This make for more realistic and cohesive colour palettes. A tip that I was given was to desaturate the colours using grey to make the models appear larger. I made sure when making each colour to create an excess and not wash out the palettes. This way I would have spare to paint over any mistakes or bits I missed without spending the time mixing the exact colour again. This really helped save time especially as I got the the smaller details.
I used different thicknesses of brushes to cover all the clothes. I painted 1 models outfits fully then moved onto the next. This is the work flow I chose and after finishing it I feel like it was a good decision. The paint dried faster than I thought it would which was very helpful for speeding up the painting process. Completing all the outfits took around 25 hours in total

After the outfits I did the hair and accessories like caps and phones. There wasn’t a huge variety of hair colours, mostly shades of brown so I altered some but not drastically. I started with the darkest hair and moved to the lightest. I did each hair with slight colour variations. Giving it a bit more of a realistic look with some lighter and darker bits. With some of the longer hair I accidentally painted over bits of the clothing so it became very helpful that I had been saving the paint from the clothes. For the hair I mostly used thin brushes as there was lots of small gaps that were hard to fill. The hair took about 10 hair to do.

I’m very happy that the repairs I made with the modelling clay have held well and aren’t noticeable after I’ve painted them.

I spent about 2 hours practicing painting on the spare model. I tried out the different brushes and getting into the small gaps and little areas wasn’t a problem as I have some really fine brushes. The primer is effective as the paint seems to hold and cover the model well. Each part will need multiple layers to get the desired finish. Mixing colours for the clothes isn’t too difficult but skin tones are. I struggled with making skin tones but watched some videos on it and I now understand the theory of it. You start with black, white, red, yellow and blue. Then mix the 3 primary colours to create a base brown and build up on that by adding white, black or more of one of the primary colours. Continue to adjust the colour until you reach the right skin tone. For the painting style I’ll be taking inspiration from is the Marvel action figures that I have as they are around the same size and I’m gonna try capture the same amount of detail.

Spraying primer is an important step as it create a surface that the paint sticks to better. Before spraying the models I did some research about the best ways to apply the primer and tried using some of these techniques in my own work. I put on safety equipment such as a mask, glasses and a glove for the hand I moved the models with. I sprayed them outside and also let them air dry outside. I found different items around my house such as coasters and metal jar lids to stick the models feet to so I could move them without messing with the primer.

I had to shake the can for 2 minutes then spray from around 20cm away from the model, this helps to create a more even coverage. I did a combination of turning the model around, moving around the model and changing the height the model was at to try to cover every part.

As I worked through the models I became more confident in the best technique to cover them thoroughly and evenly. I waited around an hour after spraying them and looked to see which ones needed more. In total this process took around 3 hours. It was slow to begin with as I was figuring about the best way to spray them. They’re not all perfectly sprayed as I couldn’t get the primer into certain bits such as the folds of some of the clothing but I think they’re covered well enough for painting. The primer is grey which helped as it was obvious which bits had been sprayed.

The primer takes 24 hours to dry and hardened so after this I can begin painting them.

The first thing I did when I got the models was break off any big bits of plastic sticking out of the model using tweezers and scissors. Then I found the models that had printing error so I could fix them with the miliput. I had to mix the 2 parts in equal quantities for around 5 minutes. It softened up to become malleable and hardened again after a couple hours and was completely solid by the next day. There were 5 models that needed repairs in total this process took me around 3 hours. The first one I did was adding the heels onto this models shoes.

This one was more difficult as I needed to add in his phone and part of his hand. Most of the hand had been printed so I had a good base to work from.

This one needed some holes in the cap filled in and her hands and phone. This was more tricky but I’m happy with the definition I got in the fingers

On the model on myself it needed a couple bits in the back filled in and the hand and phone. This was the most difficult as there was almost no hand printed so i had to construct it all.

Modelling is not something I’m very confident with but it was fun repairing these prints. I’m happy with the repairs I made but in future I’d look to improve the quality of the 3D printing to avoid so many errors. The next step will be to sand down the surfaces ready for the primer.

Today I received the package which has 14 models in, 2 sets of paints, a set of brushes with varying thicknesses and the moulding clay. I did some research to find out the best process for painting 3D printed models. I created a step by step plan of what to do. First use tweezers and little scissors to pick of the big bits of extra filament. Then use the moulding clay to add in certain bits that didn’t print such as hands, phones and caps. Then sand down the models to create a smoother finish. For this I will use different grains of sandpaper, a tooth brush, craft knife and tweezers. Then I’ll need to spray them with a primer, this will make the paint stick better. I’ll buy this from hobby craft for £11.50. Next is the actual painting, this will require some trail and error to see how many layers of paint it takes. A tip I learnt was to desaturate the colours with some grey to make the models appear larger and more realistic. Finally I’ll spray the models with a clear sealer to stop the paint running and give it a matte finish. I’ll also buy this in hobby craft for the same price. I aim to have these done by September so I can send them back ready to be put in the Great Hall model for display.

During the summer I learnt how to use shining 3D to edit the scans and get them ready to be 3D printed.
The first step is to open Shining3D and go into IR Mode then open the scan file. Then you will see the scan and use a tool that works in essentially the same way as the lasso tool on Photoshop to remove any unwanted bits such as the floor. Then click the triangle mesh option, then press accept and confirm. This essentially fills in the scan to create and object with no holes. Save it as an OBJ and simplify it to about 80% so its file size is around 50MB. Then you save it. It will save 3 files but only 1 is needed to be 3D printed.
If you’re unsatisfied with the final edited scan you can further edit to using a 3D modelling software such as Autodesk Meshmixer.
Then the scan is ready to be sent to the 3D printer. When printed it will be a white model so it will lose the colour but maintain the detail.
I found editing the scans not too difficult but a fairly time consuming process especially when removing the unwanted floor from around the feet. In total I spent around 5 hours editing all the scans. I’ve got the images saved on my Google drive to use for colour referencing when it comes to painting. Here are images of some of the edited scans:

I’ve put in an order for the brushes, paint and moulding filler that I’ll need, which will arrive with the models once they’ve been 3D printed and sent to me.