Project 3: 3D Model and 3D Print
For this project, I’ll be creating 5 models in Rhino 6, with one of the models ready for 3D printing. The scale has been set to 3" x 3" x 6" to fit the bed of the University of Minnesota’s XYZ lab printer.
A few ideas:
1. LEGO Brick
This was my first design and the printed model. Overall, I was happy to have a physical representation of my model.
Design was straightforward: construct a rectangular cube with 4 cylinders placed on top, mirrored, then using the command “boolean union” brought together into one form.
To evenly space each stud (cylinder), I created a grid, each .75 center to center.
Once the centers were found, I used my representative Lego brick to suss out the approximate spacing and sizes of the cylinders.
Once complete, I changed the file into an .stl and made sure one last time that boolean-union joined all solids together for printing…
Here is the final form. When I picked my model up from the lab, I have to say I was a bit shocked. Scale is apparent when you see the actual Lego brick (left) next to the 3" x 3" x 6" printed brick.
Also, I’m really happy that the XYZ Lab had an identical match to Lego’s medium blue color — truly representative!
2. USB charger
Building up my skills a bit, I chose to model a non-descript (borderline) USB charging block. This one felt good to complete as the tutorial from Robin helped me to understand the process of creating cavities for female end of the USB cable. This was done by creating the rectangle, extruding the surface, then removing the difference.
A bit of rendering and application of plastic to the main body and stainless steel to the outlet prongs, brought the charger to life.
3. Geometric house
I pushed the bounds a bit by exploring the solids commands union, intersection, and difference to create this futuristic concept for a home. The cylinder on its side was a complete form, then intersected and made for a hollowed out center sphere.
I like to think of the end on the left would serve as the bathroom, while the right would be the entry.
The rectangular section in the upper left would make a great large two story open-floor concept great hall or entertaining space.
The following images are of the rendered, final design.
I chose to apply concrete texture to the center sphere, giving a slight brutalist effect. Elsewhere, the copper flashing took well in the final rendering and gave a great color pop. The top ‘minaret’ has a small opening in the center, intended to be a skylight.
4. Coffee and Donut
Making use of the revolve function, I created this coffee cup and donut. Similar to the above models, I utilized explode to remove the solid top of the mug, providing depth.
The torus was fitted onto the mug in a way that would seem natural as a donut. Removing the overlap was as easy as boolean-union followed by difference commands.
5. Deadmau5 Helmet
What started as a few spheres which resembled eyes on a gum-ball, I remembered the Deadmau5 helmet!
The most difficult part to model was the mouth! When you think about cutting out a smile from a 2D object, it’s pretty straightforward — half ellipse and a line. 3D modeling in Rhino required a few extra steps.
First, I created a square curve in the front view.
Adjustments were made to placement in both the top and perspective views, then extruded in the right view. After trimming and extending the solid a large half elipse was left.
To create the undercut of the smile, as seen in the actual mask, I moved the solid behind the eyes, creating an underbite of sorts. Final trimming of everything outside the main sphere left a literal smiley face outlined.
Final rendering was really necessary to bring this helmet to life.
I chose black metal texture for the head and ears in the XXS speckle pattern. The eyes really came to life with a custom texture and cyan emission.
