Its always bothered me how clueless and innocent lots of makers are about their processes when I'm sitting on years of easy to find and understand knowledge.
Wanted to start last year but this year want to make a series showing how to do stuff and feature other makers teachings too.
Simple things like preheating material, mixing thinners with a catalyst, wiping an accelerator on curing surface, all contribute to the final product and effect work times.
Whether it be painting, printing, casting, molding, cutting, or even simple sanding. Learn material properties.
While yes there are times were its detrimental to work in a controlled environment, if you understand what causes things to happen you can rig the results in your favor.
The detailed parts that needed supports (so no islands) were supported with 0.2mm points. Very very very very small. And the rest were consolidated with point spacing of 1mm and parent spacing of 2 - 2.25mm.
Pro Tip: Calibrate and actually Learn how your 3d printers work people. Full sized piece for a Wolverine Cowl printed with very very minimal supports on an Elegoo Jupiter in sub 50°F weather.
Learn the material properties and mechanical functions of your printers and you can do no wrong.
I hear you on material QC going down in recent years. Funnily enough lots of manufacturers have changed their branding and "box art" in the last year too 🤔
✍️ Gotta try some of theirs soon
White used to bother me, but now I "cheat" with a createx 4050/acrylic mix or a cheapo rattlecan with 2k over it. Takes longer but worth not having to do so much cleanup or fixes on it. Haven't tried spraying any hvlp whites yet.
While this video is not really the best quality, friendly reminder to not be afraid to mix your paints and layers to get the effect you want.
Clearcoat is your friend, a savepoint, and a great buffer.
These were done quite some time ago, and were only shared in the discord I believe. But love what Leo has done with all his characters (Yui & Liv specifically) and have been using these helmets for paint testing.
Wish I had more good photos but over time these babies have been caked up
Bit of gold and bit of rose gold color theory testing on my Yui paint testers from @leosaurusr3x.bsky.social
The Skeleton Crew team thinks they're slick
Oh man the Holo Circus that the kids were watching was peak ROTJ
Funny I said all that stuff yesterday and completely forgot Skeleton Crew dropped. Currently watching the first episode and it great. And it honestly feels more lived in than Andor. Its got that Mandalorian vibes. Feels like the story was made with Star Wars in mind and not borrowing the universe.
Give me a new iconic design on the likes of a Lightsaber. Something that even when blacked out to a silhouette image I can tell what it is and like it.
Don't get much of those these days either. Its especially hard to find a game with unique designs I wanna make cause lots of stuff these days are special effects like fireballs or one of the basic models from the game but with a moving techno skin on it.
To add to this, the importance of shelf props. They can be anything from a helmet, to a ring, to a creature collar or tooth. They just have to be something with enough creativity behind it that I would want it irl on a shelf to look at and be reminded of where its from.
Silhouette, thematics, and colors, define the life of death of a model and its sad to see many people skimp on the simplest aspects of the three.
This "fake it till you make it" and yes men culture around art is starting to get annoying. A recent and notorious example of this is Concord.
And I hate the whole "concept art isn't final" or "3d modeling hard" arguments. While I appreciate their work very much, for those who know which specific few games I'm thinking of (one in particular), the inadequacies and liberties taken of these designs are very obvious.
I mean this very nicely but man some of these game models out there are the cheapest fastest versions of the concept art.
Y'know years ago I was pretty convinced learning art history wouldn't have a meaningful impact upon the art I make- until I eventually made the effort and started learning art history. Would highly recommend it if you haven't taken that step yourself. It will surprise, delight, and inspire you.
While some things I have no problem doing quick, definitely in the weeks category when it comes to replicating.
Measuring screw holes, deciding where they look good to place, tolerances, supports and balance. While it takes a lot of work, notes, and diagrams, at least the final product looks good with all the realized parts.
Full stop just model up a form, test the 3d print, paint it a bit, and boom, release.
I'm over here going through numerous test prints and diagrams, while everyone else is making an "art piece" and finishing at that. Sometimes I wish I wasn't like this and could just release a model.
All these droids and highly "detailed" models I have cooking and it always makes me jealous of those who do more free-form or sculpted models.
I have a strong love/hate relationship with the videos people put out of them turning a concept to a print in zbrush or whatever.
Looking forward to those who comment, finding makers on here hasn't been too easy 🫡
One of these days I will print out some of the Monster Hunter armor I modeled up and paint up. Hopefully for a full cosplay.
