Let me start off by saying that I have created this Blog as a means to help myself keep track of my processes and to document all the things that I have done for the Yeti Mountain board game. I am also doing this Blog in the case that someone may find it interesting and they could benefit from this information for a future project of theirs!
Materials Used:
- 3D Printer (Afinia H479)
- Paint
- Autodesk 3ds Max
- Autodesk Maya
- Afinia (for 3D printer)
The first thing that I had to do was create the model for the Eskimo. I designed the Eskimo using the program Autodesk Maya. The reason being that I find it easier to model things in Maya compared to Autodesk 3ds Max. However, I still transferred the file from Maya to 3ds max, so I could scale it to the right size that I wanted for the board game. (Cm: 0.858 X/ 1.232 Y/ 2.688 Z)
After exporting the file as an .STL I then brought it into the Afinia program. This is the program that I use for my desktop 3D printer (an Afinia H479). From here, I printed out the first Eskimo playing piece. I printed it out a lot larger so that I could see all of the details:
Eskimo #1:
It might be a bit difficult to tell from the picture above but the huge problem with the first Eskimo is that he was very slanted. I obviously forgot to look at the playing piece from all angles when modeling, and ended up with an Eskimo who looks like he is about to face plant into the ground.
Eskimo #2:
Eskimo #2 is slightly different from Eskimo #1, but for the majority of the part he is similar. I fixed his "mid-air fall" stance and just printed him out even larger, so that I could see the details. The problem with my 3D printer is when it prints out a small object, it cannot print out the fine points.
The problem with the second Eskimo, is that he still did not feel detailed enough, and the rope on his back felt a bit odd and out of place.
Eskimo #3:
For Eskimo #3 the main changes that I made were detail orientated. I added a pocket on the sleeve of his right arm. I converted the odd bit of rope on his back to a back pack, which I think suits him much better. I also added a belt and an icepick on his right leg. The problem with the icepick is once again, it is too small for the 3D printer to print out in detail.
After testing out Eskimo #3 on the 3D board prototype, I came across some minor problems: he doesn't fit. Granted he was way bigger then the actual size I wanted the playing pieces to be, but the main problem was the circular base that he was stood on.
Eskimo #4:
For the fourth Eskimo, I changed the base to a more rectangular shape. The printer messed up on his left arm, only printing half of it. I think this had to do with the fact that he was smaller than the past Eskimo's. He is also a bit dirty, this is because when I tested him on the board, the clay was still wet and rubbed off onto him.
Eskimo #5:
Eskimo #5 is practically the same as Eskimo #4, he is just slightly smaller. None of the details are printing out on him properly as well.
Eskimo #6:
For the 6th Eskimo, I printed him off at the size I would want the playing pieces for the board game to be. I also made the base slightly skinnier so that it would fit appropriately on the board. Once again though, my 3D printer was not high enough quality to print the small details.
Eskimo #7:
Eskimo #7 had some pretty major changes. I moved the arms in so that they were not sticking out. The main reason for this was it would have been a lot more costly to get a mold made if their arms were sticking out because this would require a more complex mold. Also, there would be a higher chance of broken pieces, if their arms where only attached to the Eskimo's body by one point.
I had the 7th Eskimo printed by Shapeways, which is a website where you can send your models to and they well print them out. The reason I used Shapeways is because they produce very high quality prints which I need for the small details. When the Eskimo's arrived, you could see the majority of the tiny details on the Eskimo's! I then proceeded to paint some of them, to see what they would look like in different colors.
After doing a myriad of tests on the playing pieces, I have finally created, what I think, is the perfect Eskimo playing piece for a 3-dimensional board game. Which is a very unambiguous achievement to have accomplished!
Here is a photo of all 7 Eskimos types lined up:
Here is also another photo of an Eskimo next to an explorer from Fireball Island:
If you have any questions on some of the specifics, please ask and I will try my best to answer them!
If you have any feedback on how I could have improved the design or the overall process, I would love to hear it!
Thanks,
Marlon :)
Yeti Mountain Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/YetiMountainBoardGame/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElementaryCeo
Prefundia page(Sign up on the email list here!): http://prefundia.com/projects/view/yeti-mountain/8917/
No comments:
Post a Comment