My first post was back in February - before I had even purchased a 3d printer, and it is now November and I am writing the introduction... This blog is all about my experiences for 3d printing. It is a way for me to share what I learn along the way, and to show off what I have created. Most pages are tagged Model and are about a specific model, and the prototype it is based on. Generally I try to visit the prototype, and include a couple of photos of that for comparison. I also try to learn the history of the building, which is not always easy, and record that on the page too. A lot are buildings in and around Preston, as that is where I live. Models are further divided into Building , Railway (i.e., railway-related buildings), Feature (bridges, tunnel portals, etc.), Rolling Stock , Vehicle and Clutter (smaller items) In addition, there are pages tagged How to and Prototype . If you want to know how to use Blender to make 3d models, there is an article I wrote on another s...
This is an issue I hit whilst revising Lund Church. A model is made up of polygons, and each polygon has a front and a back. In Blender it is not obvious which is which, though Blender does track it. And occasionally it gets it wrong, and a section of mesh is, in effect, inside-out. When you try to print out, there is just a hole there. In the image below you can see some of the stones to the left of the windows are not just missing but also caused holes in the superstructure. Microsoft 3D Builder does not spot it, all looks good in there. But Chitubox does. It will not actually say anything or stop you producing a bad file, but it does highlight bad bits in your model. In the image below, all that roof is wrong, the right side of the arches, a part of the cross at the end of the roof, and some stones in the tower. All are shown in a much darker colour. So what are normals? Behind the scenes Blender creates a vector (essentially a line) that starts from the centre of the polygon and ex...
I have recently been using the lattice tool more and more. It is excellent for gently deforming an object. A lattice is a primitive type in Blender. To add a lattice, go to Add - Lattice . Note that the default size is a 1 m cube, so half the size of the default cube. A lattice is a 3-dimensional array of points, and by default is just two in each direction. If you go to the properties pane, you will find it has its own tab, and you can vary the number of points in each dimension, from 1 upwards. In practice, there is not much point is more than five or so. Rather than x, y and z, it uses u, v and w, I guess because it can be rotated. On its own a lattice is not much use. You need to combine it with an object. To do that, add a modifier to the object Deform - Lattice , and then link to the lattice. You also need the lattice to be is the same location as the object, and completely enclosing it, So far the object will not be changed; select the lattice, and go into edit mode. Now move on...
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