The creation of Amanda

Well, this project is officially done now so I thought I'd post a thread here and talk a bit about the process.

The whole thing started over a year ago with an idea. The idea was to make a doll head in 3D, nothing more. I just wanted to see if and how it could be done.
And, yes, it could. With a lot of jumping between programs I managed to get a head with eye sockets, neck hole and head cap. I made a base mesh in Maya, exported that to Mudbox for sculpting, then to Zbrush for some boolean work and finally back to Maya for final touches.



Then nothing more happened for a long long time. Until I saw a video of someone using a 3D printer... Then I just HAD to print my own head out. It would cost a bit, but it would be a "fun thing to do".
So after another couple of months, I took the plunge and uploaded the mesh, just the face part though. The waiting was agonizing but so worth it. The feeling of holding something in your hand that previously had only been on a screen was awesome.



Then came the actual labour for my part. Priming. The process took ages. On with the grey goo, sand, on with more goo and sand some more. Over and over. Until I couldn't stand it any more and sent her off to Weiju in China.
During the priming process I also made a rough headback out of super sculpey.



Then came more wait. This one longer and much more painful. The casting took longer than promised and I was going mental. Then one beautiful morning, she came home.





During this process I have learnt that I'm much better with a 3D program than with actual clay. And if you do print something, don't bother with the tiniest details, they will be lost anyway.
And the details you DO want, exaggerate them. I completely lost the lip definition on this head during the priming stage. >.< And the eyelid creases is barely even there any more.
Another thing is to decide the neck circumference BEFORE printing so that it is already fitted for a neck. I had to dremel for hours to shape the joint so the head could fit a body. The same goes for eyes and the hole for the s-hook. Lots of dremel work there too for me.
Last lesson learnt is that 3D printing from a company is crazy expensive. If I would have printed just a couple more heads or tiny body, I would have almost saved money by buying my own printer. Now, it just so happens that I want to make more heads and other doll things so I will probably end up buying a decent printer.

Thank you for reading. I hope my journey was helpful or entertaining to you.

 

I don't remember at all, but these stats should be at the Shapeways website.