So, this is one of my most elaborate creations yet. It’s unofficially “Big Red”…officially. Holland Harbor Lighthouse in Macatawa, MI. A favorite vacation spot in my family for 60+ years.
I learned a lot.
There’s a few bits I added later. Some minor detail glued on. As well as another railing around the light cupola. It was very tiny and a PITA to glue/solvent.
The real deal…for reference…
- This stuff is really hard to paint because of the striation effect. You can really only paint one direction. I should have done like a cloisonné kinda thing. Although, it doesn’t help that I’m a terrible painter with shaky hands. Next time, I’ll print inserts. (or leave holes for lights!)
- Some detail in the design needs to be exaggerated in the print. There’s shingles that you can barely sorta make out in places. Same with the ‘siding’ texture I tried to add. Some horizontal “lines”/“channels” didn’t show up. You can see the vertical ones real well, but the horizontal ones. In the drawing they’re the same dimension. Not so much in the print.
- Now that I’ve learned how well this thing will bridge gaps, I could do the railings and the stairs a lot easier in fewer parts to glue.
- I need to add memory to my computer if I want to create designs with high levels of lots of detail.
- 3d printing is the most awesome tool for an ‘artist/creator’ who hasn’t put 10,000 hours in on the physical/mechanical elements of art…like carving, sculpting, machining. I’m good with a computer. That’s my mechanical contribution. The machine does the heavy lifting of physical creation. That’s the point…isn’t it?