Bonus
![Reference Pic](Images/week4images/catstaff.jpg)
I thought I'd include a personal project of mine that involves 3D printing since I was also working on it during week4. I'm going to NYC Comic Con on the 9th, and the final thing I have to make for my cosplay is a witch's staff! I'm cosplaying as Amity Blight from The Owl House. I have a tube to use for the pole, so I 3D printed the cat.
Head CAD
![Head](Images/week4images/catheadcad.jpg)
Here's the stl file of the cat's head. I bought the CAD of the cat from Etsy since I didn't have the time/experience to design the cat myself. Working with surfaces to mold the bird pencil holder was finicky enough, so I knew the cat would be too complex to attempt in Fusion; I plan to look into sculpting software in the future so I can make more organic shapes!
Satisfying supports
![Head Supports](Images/week4images/cleaningprint.jpeg)
Since my lab needs to print with our Stratasys Objet once a week to keep it in good condition, I was able to print the head on that fancy machine. I adore the supports on the Objet because they're so fun to remove. It makes me think of shaving parm cheese -- very satisfying.
Body
![Body](Images/week4images/bodysupports.jpeg)
Since we ran out of resin for the Objet, I used our Markforged to print the rest of the cat. Here's the body with the supports still on.
Supports
![supports](Images/week4images/supports.jpeg)
And here are the removed supports, also super satisfying for the grainy texture and for the fun accordion structure.
Assembled
![assembly](Images/week4images/printdone.jpeg)
Here's it all together! I wasn't sure if printing on different machines would mess with how the parts fit, but fortunately, the Objet-printed head successfully slotted into to the Markforged-printed body.
Sanding Pt. 1
![dust :(](Images/week4images/respirator.jpeg)
I had to sand down the PVC tube for the staff so that the handle and tail would fit around it. Here I am in the "Death Room" in N51, using a respirator and vent/fan to protect my lungs from the carbon fiber/nylon and PVC dust. I was using my Dremel with a sanding bit since the belt sanders in N51 were broken, so it wasn't very efficient. The bit was too small to cover as much area as I needed, and the onyx filament kept melting onto bits since the piece got very hot.
Sanding Pt. 2
![It fits!](Images/week4images/sanded.jpeg)
I went to a different shop for belt sanding, and the parts finally fit together! I focused on fit, so I didn't have as much time to make the cat smooth; in the future, I'd do more sanding of the bumpy printed areas, maybe using bondo filler to create a smoother surface, so that the prop looks more polished and less identifyable as 3D printed.
Spraypainting
![drying](Images/week4images/spraypaint.jpeg)
After priming the carbon fiber parts, I spraypainted the cat white and painted the PVC staff purple. Don't worry -- I took this picture from greater than 6 feet from the fume hood! I continually added layers of spraypaint to get an even finish, since I couldn't paint all sides at once, and the spraypaint drips. I'd definitely paint 3D printed parts differently in the future. I imagine the most efficient method would be to fill a bucket with white paint, dip a part inside, then let it dry on a rack (like a cookie cooling rack). Or just use a rack with spraypaint in general so that I can spray the bottom of parts more easily.
Details
![head](Images/week4images/paintedhead.jpeg)
I took the train home on the 8th, and there I added the final details to the staff and touched up rough areas. Here you can see I outlined the eyes and painted the nose with acrylic paint.
Key
![key](Images/week4images/key.jpg)
Here's another prop for my cosplay; a key I made from polymer clay! I haven't sculpted with polymer clay since I was a kid, so I didn't have much practice, and the final thing looks rough up close. It was much trickier to sculpt than I thought. The inside is tin foil to eliminate the total amount of clay required and make it lighter.