3D Printing is so cool!

I have received the first shipment of items from my new shop. This is so much fun! I build a 3D model, then upload it to shapeways, order, have it printed out and mailed to me as a real physical object! You loose a little detail on the itsy bitsy stuff, but I was surprised at how much I was able to get.

It's the love of crafts and digital art combined. It's really fun to make a 3d object and turn it into a real object you can hold in your hands and not as expensive to do as I thought it would be. I wanted to show all my new projects and items I have done with this method to you guys as I am very excited about it. My next post will be some thumbnails of different models I have uploaded.

Oh and here is a link out to learn more about the process and see things people have commissioned me to make for them: http://silverbeam.blog.com/the-shop/ there's a video link about the process too. I might post it here....

Wow! Thats really neat that you can make a model and in the end create it for real. I really love the first object you posted, it looks like something you'd pull out straight from a video game like Final Fantasy! :D

Thanks! It was a lot of fun to make. the heart chain is a choker I can wear around.

That is so cool. :O
Now I wanna make something in 3D. :P

Mmm, I loves me some shapeways.

Sadly, it's such an unknown and under-appreciated site. D:

Hubby and I have a shop over there, but we basically just dabble in the occasional pendant making.

I make the rough sketch/concept, he pulls it into flash to get a nice vector, and off to Maya to model it. I'm no good at the modeling myself, but to be truthful, he's not much better. :P (He'll kill me if he saw this~).

He's a character animator, so he's all about the movement, but in his beginning years at Uni they had him learn the basic principles and create his own models. We want to take this knowledge and take the plunge into casting some small sculptures on shapeways, but I think we're too nervous. XD

Have you considered buying your own 3D printer? They're costly buggers, but we'd like one, one day. *_*;

That wand is adorable, it'd do well for selling your own cosplay equipment on Shapeways. :3

And I LOVE the heart chain. Hubby and I can't wrap our brain around some of those amazing, interlocking designs they have up in the best sellers.

There's one shop on there I believe... You can make your own custom ring on their site. x_x; Just enter the dimensions and they'll cast it in silver/gold/etc. They've become so popular they're even sold at most high retail jewelers.

Congrats on your commissions! We've not sold much ourselves, but it's only been a passing hobby, not a passion like yours seems to be. X3

And we were recently talking about a BJD project ourselves! *_* But I was wary the mechanics of it all would be much too complex, so I'll be watching your blog obsessively. XD

Neller: Cool, glad to be at least an inspiration.

Ceridwen: Very cool! What's your store name? shapeways was the best site I could find that was affordable. I looked at a few others but they were either very expensive, or too hard to navigate/upload models.

For me animation is what I do horrible at and modeling is what I enjoy, as well as designing. Sometimes I look for free models to alter if I feel particularly lazy. the heart necklace was easy and fun to do. the hearts are actually single items with overlapping geometry, and it doesn't seem to bother shapeways. Thank goodness, otherwise the models would be horrible to make! I use lightwave myself, but I have played around with maya a few times. I liked it better than 3ds max anyway. That's cool about the rings. I plan to make a bunch sometime.

I will have to post more on my doll blog tonight. Haven't updated it for a while.

Also i am having a sale on small items! If anyone wants something like a ring or pendant, let me know!

Holy baccarat, Batman! This is the coolest thing I've seen in a LONG time! Have you done a lot of cosplay prop work? What are the final objects made out of?

there are several materials but mostly plastic but they do have some glass and stainless steal. I can only do smaller objects before it gets too expensive. I do a lot of doll cosplay props though!

Also its my bday!


here's the latest.

Coolness. I've been curious about this type of thing for a while now. Have you heard of pulkidoll? They're making bjd's like this, and then casting them in resin. I'd like to do that sorta thing, but I'm not very uh. . . computer-y.

I didn't know someone else was doing their dolls like this! I am working on a 1/3 scale doll series myself!


oo painted!


New stuff!