Quinn Baldacci Week 10: Kite

I decided to have fun with this project and make an Iron Man kite.  I found an stance I liked and placed it on a black background.  Then I simplified it to three colors and vector shapes.  To print on the plotter I brought it all the way down to line work but that was mostly to save ink and printing time.  I used red duct tape and black, red, yellow, and blue tablecloths.  It was a pain in the ass to glue together because of all the angles.  It never wanted to lay down smoothly.  When I got to the beach it really felt like it wanted to fly.  Unfortunately the 3/8ths dowels were too thin to support the pressure and my span beam snapped.  I tried duct taping it back together but then it snapped again with the grain.  Luckily for me but unluckily for Jace, his kite dove and ripped all the way up the side.  He let me have the thicker dowel he had used to try again.  It worked perfectly.  Almost too perfectly.  I had 250ft of string and it took almost all of it and would have taken more if I let it.  I don't have a picture of it on the ground but I have a video of it flying.  For reference my kite is almost 9 feet tall and is 8 feet wide.  Luckily I brought it back down to a point that when it dove it didn't hit hard enough to break anything.

Quinn Baldacci: Week 9 Rocket Lamp

My lamp is a rocket.  My rocket is a lamp.  Lightbulbs symbolize ideas and my rocket lamp takes off with those ideas.  I wanted to make something fun for this project.  I considered modeling a lava lamp but I already have one of those.  Then I hit on the rocket idea.  I'd love to have a rocket lamp in my apartment.  So rocket lamp it is.

This was fairly simple to model and then a little harder to make into a feasible product.  I used the solid tool to create the body and the extrudesrf tool to create the fins.  The contours and sections were easy enough.  The hard part was making it open to get a lightbulb in.  I quickly realized a cap would be best.  I initially had the cap just be the top two contours but when I checked dimensions I realized the cap would really have to be about half the body of the lamp to fit a bulb and a hand in.  To actually make it a cap I just split the sections and rotated them 30 degrees so they wouldn't overlap.  Then I trimmed all but two of those so they wouldn't even hit the same contours.  This I did so I could have the cap easily slide on and off.  The two that hit the same contours as the base are cut in the same direction so they can slide out and up to take the cap off.

When I went to render it I decided to stick with wood textures because I'm making this lamp from luan.  I'm not a huge fan of luan though so I played with the wood I would actually want this made from.  The darker vertical sections are maple and the lighter wood is ash.  I put in the lightbulb and then played with the environment and angles.  I wanted to show it lit, unlit, capped, and uncapped.  The first two renderings include the top, front, and right views.  The third rendering has the cut sheet.  I can actually fit two lamps onto a 2'x4' sheet of material so thats what I'm making.

Quinn Baldacci: Week 7 Ring

 

 

Because I'm a geek I decided to model the Green Lantern ring.  An iconic part of superhero memorabilia, it gives the wearer the power to create anything they can think of from green light.  That's a really simple explanation but I'm not here to talk superhero origin stories.  As with any other superhero costume, the ring has had a few redesigns so I took a quick glance at Google to make sure I wasn't too far off with what I had in my head.  Then I designed my version.  It's sturdy but sleek and would stand up in a fight.

The fairly simple design gave me some trouble when I was trying to build it.  I ended up using sweep2 for the band and the lantern and then triming and unioning the two pieces.  I set the center back a bit and had a painful time trying to fillet because of the angles of the lantern.  I added a separate piece behind the center to light in keyshot.

The band is Rough Anondized Black metal.  In reality the lantern would be a stone of some kind but I don't like how Keyshot renders stone on a dark background so I used Rough Clear Green and Shiny Clear Green plastic for the lantern.  Rendering in passes was a pain because I completely forgot what I was doing and had to keep going back to the tegrity videos.  In the end I like the final result better than a standard Keyshot rendering but I definitely need more time to familiarize myself with the method.

On Shapeways it would cost me $10.47 to print this in black plastic or $10.22 to print in alumide or $11.46 in polished alumide.  I'd probably print in the polished alumide to get the right texture look and polished feel.

EDIT:

I wasn't happy with the Green Lantern Ring I created so I made a different ring to print.  Also it let me play around more and keep working on my Rhino technique.  I wanted to create a simple band that was smaller on the bottom and expanded on the top.  I like the design on an open curve and I wanted to see how it would look with a square base shape.  Then I added the trace indent along the outer curve and the indent on the end.

I used sweep two for the overall structure.  Then I used sweep two and a triangle cross section to create the indent and then booleandifferenced it out.  For the punch on the ends I extracted and offset the curve.  Then I extruded it and booleandifferenced again.  There is a small fillet on all the edges.

This ring I would make out of a silver metal.  Possibly brushed nickel or chrome.  So in Keyshot I played with a dark metal and a shiny one.  I used the darkest background possible to really get the reflections to work and make the rings stand out.

On shapeways this would cost me $3.90 to print in alumide or $4.25 to print in polished alumide.  Or I would go a little more expensive and print in polished nickel or grey steel for $19.99.  Though according to the initial audit the walls might be too thin to print in metal other than raw silver, brass, or bronze.

Quinn Baldacci: Week 5 Sunglasses

The concept for the design I was given was a pair of glasses with a solar cell on the front and the possibility to charge small electronics from that solar cell.  The design itself was fairly simple.  The only tricky part was figuring out how to add the usb port without it being to obtrusive.  In the end I decided it would have to go at the end of one of the arms as anywhere else would be too bulky and would seriously throw off the balance of the frame.

To create these glasses I used sweep, extrude, and booleandifference a lot.  After I scanned the original sketches I traced them over in photoshop and tweaked the curves a bit to better fit the design.  The lenses are inset into the frame so they won't come loose.  The solar cell matches the frame shape and size and sits at the front.  There are two small hinges on the arms.  The usb port is at the end of one of the arms.  I imported my flash drive from last week and using booleandifference, created a usb port in the arm.  In the last rendering I added a simple mock up charging cord to show how it works a little better.

I wasn't given an indication of material or color other than the solar cell on the front.  To get the look of a solar cell I used one of the granite textures and played with the color and scale of it.  Then I decided to play with the frame itself.  The frame is just a shiny black plastic.  The arms I designed after a pair of my own glasses.  They have a tortoise-shell design but are transparent.  To do this in keyshot, I again took one of the granite textures and played with it's attributes.  I just kept trying things until I found something that worked.  That ended up being a dielectric type texture with the original granite pattern and then the color density turned way down.  The hinges are chrome and the usb port is white plastic and gold contacts.

Quinn Baldacci: Week 4 Detergent Bottle

For my detergent bottle I looked at the tutorial and then went with a little different design.  I got about half way through my first design when I realized it wasn't really useful.  It was too back heavy and would have been hard to pour.  So I reworked my initial rails so that with the handle and bottom cut out it would be easier to pour.  I know large detergent bottles can be very heavy when full so I used the bottom cut out to create a place to support the bottle when pouring the detergent.  Personally I like the bottles that have measuring cup/caps that can just be dropped in with laundry but I didn't think that would work well with this bottle.  Instead I used the curves from the bottle, extended them and created a cap that was more of an extension of the bottle. I added a label and hollowed out the inside.

I used sweep2 and loft quite a bit on this model.  Making the screw threads on the cap was easier because I had already done it for my flashlight.  Some of my fillets gave me trouble because of some tiny geometry that was forming.  I fixed that and only had to use pipe/split/blend on the top edge because of some edges left form fixing a previous change.  Hollowing the bottle was interesting.  I copied a smaller model inside and then stretched it a bit so it didn't cut into the handle hole.  I also removed the handle so make it easier to hollow.  The edge analysis says I have three naked edges but I can't find them!  I don't see any pink lines or dots anywhere.

In keyshot I used plastic for the body and cap and then a matte paint for the label.  I like the look of the clear plastic for the cap and it makes it easier to see where you're measuring to when pouring.  I used bright colors because those are the detergent I notice at the store.  I usually go for Tide which is the classic bright orange but I actually notice bright greens first so I used that instead.  Bright green also fits better with the scents detergents usually have.  I wanted to add lettering to the label but rhino kept crashing on me and I didn't want to push my luck.  I'll probably add it in later when I have time.

Quinn Baldacci: Week 4 Flash Drive

I decided to model my flash drive after one I really liked and happened to lose.  I particularly liked that it had a swivel cover and a loop to attach a key ring to.  I didn't like the five cut outs in the tutorial so I lengthened it and made it a single cut out.  I also rounded the overall form and added a cap.  Finally I added my initial in the swivel hinge.

I used the ExtrudeCrv and Sweep2 tools for the main structures.  Project, loft, and fillet for the details.  The fillets gave me some difficulty because of the curves but they worked out eventually.  I learned a lot about the Offset tool.  I figured out it doesn't work quite the way I would like it but it can be useful.

In Keyshot I used a number of textures to play and show different ways these product could be made.  The first is rough plastics and a metal cover similar to the flash drive I lost.  The second I took the cap off and swiveled the cover over.  I used just plastics on this one.  The cover is a clouded plastic and the cap is a clear one.  The main body is a rough plastic.  The final one I played a lot more.  The body and cap are the same clear blue plastic.  The cover is wood.  The engraving I decided to make a light source.  It is refracting through the body of the flash drive.  I imagine if I were to actually produce this, the initial would illuminate when the flash drive is plugged in and working.

Quinn Baldacci: Week 3 Mouse

I had a lot of trouble with this project.  I tried following the tutorial but my commands seemed to be different than the tutorial and I couldn't figure out how to do what it was trying to tell me.  There seem to be some naked points?  I'm not sure how to fix that.

I decided to go add a roller ball on the side and model it a bit after the mouse on Crites' light board.  Then I used dark colors in keyshot but I wasn't really happy with the colors and textures available.

EDIT:

I went back in and fixed up the naked edges.  I'm not sure why they were here in the first point but they're gone now.

Quinn Baldacci: Week 3 Hammer

I decided to continue with the toy theme I had for the duck.  I made the head of the hammer a squeaky toy and added a rattle to it.  I used bright plastics in keyshot.

I have no idea where that naked edge is coming from.  Short of rebuilding my hammer I've tried everything to get rid of it.  I would have just rebuilt it but I ran out of time.

EDIT:

I went back and reworked my hammer.  The naked edges left are from bad fillets on the handle that I don't have time to fix unfortunately.

Quinn Baldacci: Week 2 Flashlight

For my flashlight design I decided to go with a sword hilt.  I wanted to make something fun.  I added the helix for the leather grip and a circular guard.  The pommel has a screw thread on it so it can be taken off to reach the button.

I used the screw thread techniques on blackboard to make the grip and the thread for the pommel.  It was definitely a learning experience.  I used the revolve tool to make the base of the structure.  I then added the detail on the guard using extrudeisocurve, loft, and booleandifference.

Obviously a sword hilt would be made of metal with a leather grip.  I used brushed bronze for the details.  The inset diamonds are actually a plastic texture.  I tried the gemstone textures but because of the way keyshot renders they weren't showing as red but instead as grey.

EDIT:

I reworked my design so the guard is a separate piece and then did two more renderings with a light in the design,

Quinn Baldacci: Week 2 Duck

When I was considering the design for this project I was stuck on a toy.  I originally planned on making a cat toy as I have two 5-month old kittens.  Once I started to work though I realized my design was looking more like a child's toy.  That was when I decided to make a teething toy.  I added the bumps and decided to use bright colors on the renderings.  If I were to actually make this toy it would be weighted so as to always roll right side up and possibly have some kind of noise maker in it.  Either a rattle or a quack.

I used the split tool for the most part with the duck as well as the control points.  With the rings I used the solids tools and the polar arrays.  I ended up having the most trouble with the rings.  I had originally only planned on two rings and had booleanunioned them at the beginning.  When I went to add the third ring Rhino was not cooperating with the union and I had realized I had to make them separate layers to make them different colors.  So I made them again from scratch the correct way.

For my materials I used just plastics.  The duck is the solid rough plastic as are the rings.  The bumps are clouded rough plastic.  As the oldest of four and one of the oldest cousins, I've seen my fair share of teething toys.  They are always a durable plastic.  For the most part they are hard plastic though occasionally some parts are softer for different stages of teething.  I used the rough texture not the smooth one because it would provide a better grip covered in saliva and would probably feel better on teething gums.  I used the bright colors often seen in children's toys and made the duck fairly close to realistic colors while keeping it simple.

Quinn Baldacci: Week 1 Castle

I decided for my "castle" to build a beach house instead because its been so spectacularly cold the past week.  I looked up a few houses and decided on a layout that I liked.  I'm a big fan of open spaces and large balconies and porches so I incorporated both of those.  And of course what beach house is complete without a pool?

I've never used Rhino before and its been difficult for me to get the hang of it.  I'm used to working in Google Sketchup because it's a lot of more useful for Production Design.  The keyboard and mouse controls are completely different so I really took the time to explore how the tools worked.  I used the solid tools and the surface tools mostly.  The extrude tool does very similar to the pull tool in Sketchup but works completely differently which threw me.  The boolean tool is very useful but it took me some time to really get the hang of it.  I used those tools the most.

I didn't play with the lighting too much but I did play with the textures.  Obviously I chose a base close to sand.  I really wanted the main structure to be stucco but I didn't find a texture close enough so I used one of the stone textures.  The porch I decided to have fun with and see what some of the different textures did.  The pool in the last shot is the water texture.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  It seems a little too much like glass.