3D-print at low costs again - Mallory, how to realize it

Yep, the 0,3 mm at the smaller connectors works very well. Good move!
Soo ... I completed the "black" body. Balance so far:

I enjoy it so much to compare it to Shapeways offers. To remind you: We talk about a figure wich is bigger than half a meter!

 

The right leg:

I just glued the boot. No gypsum so far. It'll become tricky because I have to cast the gypsum around the corner of the knee:

But I'm optimistical that it'll work.
I'm more curious about the marriage of both legs and the arse:

The complete body will be easy:

Oha! This picture looks damn close to the original photo already, doesn't it? I love it to let dreams come true.

 

The day of the right leg. I filled the lower leg with gypsum and glued the connector:

Than I added the upper leg:

After 10 minutes time for the glue to dry gypsum again:

Than I glued Mallorys arse to the leg:

It has still the suspension structures on it because it is easy to place it in right position. I will remove that after filling.
I have to say, that all this assembly is very easy and quick. It was worth it to put some work into construction and printing of the connectors. No help needed from brackets, adhesive tape or whatever. Just a vice wich can be turned in several directions.
Finally I glued the left leg to its slot:

I will wait until tomorrow with further filling. But this will be the day wich ends with the complete body. And everything so easy and fast! I still can't believe it. Nearly like a snap kit.

 

Well, it was planned as "The Day Of The Body". Didn't work. It started as scheduled by filling Mallorys arse step by step with gypsum:






To check it out I put the upper body without glue to the lower body:

The holes are too small to fill the body. And how do I fill the arms later? Even fluid gypsum is not as fluid as water. Seems I didn't spend enough thinking about this issue at the start. What now? In such situations it's always a good idea to have a break and weigh some opportunities. I will do this.

Meanwhile I tested something else. An important part of the finish: painting. I bought some primer and treated a former and smaller attempt (67%, current model in the background):

The dealer told me to let it dry at least 24 hours before use varnish. Okay, time to think about what to do next with the assembly of the body. I don't like the idea to print the upper body again with bigger holes. So one option is to let it as it is, print the hands and arms and glue and fill them as I did with the legs and the lower body. In this case I would need some kind of - no clue wich is the right translation - oesophagus or gullet to fill the cave in Mallorys belly when I put the upper and lower body together. Wouldn't be that big deal. Guess what, I can simply print such part ;-) All other options lead to changes at the upper body and another print. Without doubt this would be the smarter solution. But is it worth it? I'm uncertain about it. Most important is another issue. The model was planned and build in parts for seperate painting or print in different colours. Assembling the upper body with the arms would destroy this idea. So what ... ?

 

Yep, I thought about it already. That's my one:

Alas, there is another thought in my mind. I play around with the idea to publish the "Mallory Project" as a small ebook. Probably to earn at least some Euro to counterbalance the costs of the 3d-model. That would be a really smart move. In this case I need smart solutions and would use the failed solutions as bad examples only and add some emergency steps just for failed parts. This leads directly to a rework of the upper body with grown experiance after several attempts to find a balance between "what is smart and possible" and "man, I'm to lazy to refine this part and print it again during kinda 12 or 13 hours". Finally I think I should follow the title of this threat consequently and find a good solution instead of healing a failed solution. Well, no rush. Tomorrow will be a really nice summer day in my hometown. Another summer evening at the loggia, red wine, hang out with my wife:

... to top Narfi's bad summer ;-)
Probably some pasta, relaxed music and talk about life, the universe and everything. Does it sound good or does it sound good?

 

Well, currently we have 22 °C what is nearly 72 °F. Not really what we here call "heat". This summer we had temperatures up to 100 °F (37 °C). That's not fun anymore for me too. But 22 - 25 °C I call "pleasant". I love sun so much - as long as I can sit in the shadow ;-)
At 4 pm: a good point to start the mediterranian evening with Campari-Soda and Ice:

Mallory can wait.

 

1 am of next day meanwhile and it was indeed a very nice evening hanging around and doing nothing but talk and enjoy the pleasant late summer evening. Wife is sleeping meanwhile. One of the main themes was the Mallory-project of course. I am not sure but my impression is, that I am the only one who runs such big 3d-prints. At least not many other reports so far at the low cost segment. I am really astonished about it. Wich confronted us during this evening with the question: "Why not?"

Why the hell don't tons of other 3d-freaks run similar projects? To print LEGO-bricks is easy and not really challenge. Most videos deal with really simple projects I would never care for. My idea is, that 3d-print at the low cost sector can become important. But it seems nobody is really interested in. Neither I found meaningful information about costs nor meaningful help for methods of 3d-printing.
I'm sure 3d-print will play a major role in consumer area during next years (approximately latest in 10 years). No doubt, modern industrial firms use 3d-printing meanwhile. And there is a wide community of low-cost folks as well. And ... ? Nothing!

 

Yes, I agree 100% with you. Tbh I don't want to talk to the masses but to the creatives who are trapped in the small cages of their imagination. I myself at the age of 63 am naturally trapped in several cages. But at one or two places I am younger than most of the people at lower age it seems. Or more conservative? To build / craft something of my own has an important meaning for me. How ever, to publish a book about "how to" isn't a try to evangelize the world. The idea behind is simply to earn money by selling knowledge. Just because I have this knowledge and others don't. I estimate that there are at least a few hundred folks out there around the world who would buy it and pay some 3 or 5 Dollar for it. That's all. That alone would be enough to compensate the costs of the 3d-model I use. I have no mission like Jesus. I simply know much more than other guys, even veterans from the 3d-community. Just because I tested it based on a wide knowledge according 3d-engineering, reverse engineering, 3d-modeling at all, visualization and marketing products. I hope there are few people out there around the world who think like you and me.

And yes, there is a significant generation difference between you and me. Guess what: We will celebrate 40th birthday of my son in September at his own home. I am happy about his way (wife, grand daughter, extraordinary home). We disagree about politics. But that's another field.

 

Hard to decide, at least for me. I don't know much about other methods. Especially about the costs. I think the main question is how many figures you want. The costs of 3d-print and the amount of work to assemble such a figure is the same every time. They will be reduced dramatically when you use any cast method even with higher costs during the preparation phase.
But I would start a cast process not with a printed figure. What I got at the start was a 3d-model as CAD file. One can easy use this data to develop and manufacture a negative. As one part. Probably this would decrease the costs of preparation significantly. Another theme is demoulding the cast.
Finally I must say, that I don't have the ability to run such a cast process. But I do have the ability to print the figure. And since I want only one figure the decision is pretty easy for me. If you plan to manufacture a large number of figures the cast version is surly the better choice.
A complete other question is the material. You can treat and paint a printed figure but it'll still be a plastic model. Although the lower body of my Mallory is at more than 2 kg meanwhile because of the heavy infill. But it will never become a bronze statue. Never.

 

Now it becomes interesting. The main theme is to print a 3d-model at low costs. It based on a photo I once found somewhere in internet. The use of this photo for clearly private purpose shouldn't be a problem. But what if I want to publish a book about all this with a commercial background? To tell the true story I can't avoid to show the picture.

I started a search with TinEye and got 30 results. (Surprisingly no entry about EntropiaPlanets, although I posted this picture here two or three times already.) Many of the results are dead meanwhile. Earliest date is here:

And no one of the other results told me anything about the author. Well, "waldgeist" is a german word (wood gnome?). To search for this word doesn't really help. I don't know the photographer/author. The picture is available at several sites wich offers wallpapers for free without any restriction or hints of "private purpose". Only one site has such a text:

At least there is a link to contact them:

What if I didn't find this site?

 

Yep, but no author again.

 

LOL yes. But the models name doesn't matter. The artwork counts - the photographer.
I know enough about copyright by myself. I ran my own company for five years and had several projects in advertising, use of pictures and texts and such. Resulting from this knowledge the question regarding this picture came to my mind. And yes, you are right: If nothing helps the hint to an unknown author is enough. Probably combined with the offer to talk about conditions of permission if the author want.