Bluehinter's Free 3-D printable 5" scale figures & vehicles (Got a printer? Print your own customs!)

[bluehinter]

That is a big improvement.

Just how sophisticated are the clean-up tools in the #-Dsoftware you use? It seems like the basic shape is there. If this were a 2-D scan in Adobe Illustrator, you could probably smooth it pretty easily, but I have no idea what your software is like.

There is probably very sophisticated stuff out there... I just don't know how to use any of it. I use three pieces of software:

TinkerCAD is my go-to builder, because it's very easy to use, but it's also very primitive in it's shape choices. You can add or subtract all sorts of geometric shapes, but it sucks for trying to create natural looking organic surfaces.


Meshmixer is what I smooth and texturize stuff in. It's hard to control, but if I build or import something that has really noticeable polygons, or I need to smooth out rough/lumpy patches, it has it's uses. I can also reduce or refine the polygon count for certain areas to try to find a happy medium between maximum detail and what TinkerCAD will actually let me import.


3D Builder comes free with Windows 10, and I use it mainly to carve up and simplify objects when the polygon count gets too high. This affects the entire object as whole, so sometimes it's more advantageous to use this instead of MeshMixer. It also doesn't screw up flat edges the way Meshmixer does.

[bluehinter]

Here's what half a day in meshmixer will get you. (Working version is in blue)



The head is a lot cleaner now. I'm basically cutting and shaving in TinkerCAD, exporting, smoothing, stretching, and sculpting in Meshmixer. Reimporting back into TinkerCAD. Rinse, and repeat.

There's still a lot of work to be done, and I'm going to have to correct a couple of mistakes that were made on the original Eaglemoss sculpt. Unless there were multiple Voord masks with slightly different designs, the "jester points" on the visor actually loop back and fuse with the base of the skull, rather than hanging free. There were also a few other mask details (like the ear holes and front mouth grille area) that were omitted, probably because they were too small to sculpt at that scale, but will need to be added to my 5" version.

[skifflebits]

Very interesting. It looks like difficult work. The sheer number of polygons in that original scan is fascinating.

I had no idea Eaglemoss screwed up the back of the head that way. I wonder if they got their hands on the original mask and the back two jester prongs were just hanging free.

[skifflebits]

Oh, I got the Yeti printed up a long time back, and finally got a chance to paint it up a few weeks ago. It took a lot of dremel work to get the joints to fit because the plastic was not as flexible as I had expected, but in the end it turned out great.

[bluehinter]

The Kroton came out more or less okay. The biggest disappointment was the pincers at the end of the hands which are just too small to print with sufficient detail, (I'm going to try to give these ones a once-over with the soldering gun to try to clean them up a little bit, but they still won't look pretty). There were a few other minor issues including a small hole that got left behind the surface of the first chest step which created a visible gap (though that's easily patched with paint), not making the bottom hole in the head deep enough, some alignment issues with the head holes, and the lower body pivot needing about 2 mm taken off the height.

I believe I've corrected all of these problems for the next printing, but I've got to put the reprint on hold for a while since I've got some stuff to print for family members prior to Christmas, and my second machine has been kaput for several weeks.


The one thing that does work extremely well on this design is the retractable arms. They extend and contract beautifully, and stay in place quite well so you can pose the figure in a variety of gestures.

[skifflebits]

Hey, so far so good. Shame about the claws but the rest of it looks like it's on track.

[bluehinter]

For those who aren't following along on Facebook, here's the Google Drive link to the pre-beta McGann Console.

I say pre-Beta because this is a mashup of two different designs by Jeffrey Fink and Smappy, with a tiny bit of extra fiddling by me. It is fully printable if you're using a resin SLA printer, though you do have to glue the control panel elements on yourself. The photo above (printed and painted by Shane Cook) is a resin print, so the detail is probably better than you can expect from PLA, and some of the levers may be too small to accurately reproduce with standard filament printing, but it's a glorious piece of work from both designers, and I'm eager to print up my own version once my lone functional printer is no longer being monopolized printing Christmas gifts.

I'm mainly including this version here so customizers who really want to print one now can do so, but also to let folks know that if you hold out a few more months, I intend to release a deluxe "pimping out" version in 2019 with additional tweaks here and there to be a little more screen accurate and filament printer friendly. It'll also include internal LED mounts, snap-in flippable date/time/location settings, and the big boxy scanner, which Jeffrey is kindly going to provide me from his original digital sculpt.

The zip file does include the three STL files necessary to construct the curved arches (not pictured above), which the scanner will eventually be suspended from. If you print this version now, I expect the scanner part will still be compatible, but I won't know for sure until I print it up myself.

[skifflebits]

Wow! That's impressive. Are the transparent parts printed, too?

It makes me want to dig out the resin model I bought years ago but was too intimidated to paint.

Just as well. I found out the hard way from painting my Tom Baker console that you most resin models have residual oils on them that paint won't stick to unless you wash them off.

[bluehinter]

Wow! That's impressive. Are the transparent parts printed, too?

As far as I know, they're clear resin SLA printed.




I'm painting some of my own figures from the past year in-between frantically finishing up the kid's Christmas stuff.
I picked up this really cool Spaz Stix mirror chrome airbrush paint, which looks awesome on anything that is supposed to be polished metallic. It works even better if the object you're painting is smooth and black, and while I'll never be able to do the smooth part with filament printing, I may test out the black part the next time I print a Kroton. (I'm probably going to dullcote lacquer the War Machines and bottom half of the Kroton when finished, since they're not supposed to be too shiny)

[bluehinter]

A Merry Christmas to all, and a happy New Year.

I'm afraid life very much got in the way of creative stuff this year, as evidence by the meager 7 figures I managed to create in 2018, as opposed to the 15 I managed to crank out in just the later half of 2017. (Though a good part of 2018 was spent tweaking and improving upon the first batch of figures I designed before I really knew what I was doing) Here's hoping 2019 will be more productive *and* less stressful for us all.

I'm finally finished with the kids toys for Christmas, and both printers have been behaving themselves, so after a brief rest to sooth my jangled nerves (and not have to listen to the constant whine of two 3D printers running non-stop), I'll be diving straight into the 8th Doctor's Console Room set starting first thing in January.

After that, who knows.... I do want to reset and try the Voord again, but it's been pouring rain outside every weekend, so photography under natural lighting conditions has been out of the question. If the Voord doesn't work out, I may try one of the other figures from the poll, or the totally sweet Mandrel figurine I should be getting in the mail in a few weeks time.