I’ve finally taken the time to explore Blender. I made a 3D model of a cartoon version of my wife and had it printed at Shapeways for her 30th birthday.
Yes, I know I forgot the ears.
Most important discovery: models need to be hollow and have “escape holes” for the material to escape. Otherwise the volume of the entirely model will be charged and it will be unnecessarily expensive.
Also, the fingers came out too thin for printing. I selected the “print it anyways” option since I didn’t have time to fix it, and the fingers turned out fragile, but intact.
I was quite happy with the printed model. This material is called “white, strong and flexible”. It was quite easy to paint on. After discovering that there are 50 materials to choose from, some of them metals, I decided that my next project would be to design and print jewellery.
