It’s been just over a year since I got my 3d printer, and for this whole year I’ve been modeling in Tinkercad. It’s high time I learned a *real* 3d modeling program.
Don’t get me wrong.. Tinkercad is awesome! It’s easy to use, and if you’re clever and tricksy you can make some pretty intricate stuff. But it’s also really limited, and after a whole year I’m a little ashamed that I haven’t graduated to a more advanced program.
So that’s my goal for this year.. getting my chops in a real 3d modeling program. I’ve chosen Blender, for various reasons — it’s free, it’s powerful, and there are tons of online tutorial videos all over YouTube, from beginner to advanced. I get the impression it wasn’t designed as a 3d printing model making program, but there are a bunch of plugins and add-ons that seem to make it work really well for 3d printing.
Tonight I have a fire show with a Roman theme, and I wanted some cool Roman bracelets to wear with my toga. They’re fairly simple.. a nice bracer shape with some edge ridges, and this Auryn Medallion from the Neverending Story as decoration.
This took me SO LONG. I could have done it in 20 minutes in Tinkercad.. but honestly they wouldn’t be nearly as cool. Blender has bend and warp functions, and precision modeling features that meant I could fit my wrists perfectly and give the medallion just the right amount of bend so it flows seamlessly with the design. I worked on it all week and used most of a roll of filament getting it right.
I finished them off with a couple different colors of gold spray paint and I’m so very delighted with them. Let me know what you think!
Download the file and print your own on Thingiverse
