I turned a character reference image into a mini I could actually hold
Hey everyone!
I’ve been learning 3D printing recently, and I wanted to see if I could turn a character reference I liked into an actual physical mini, so I tried a few different image-to-3D tools.
I used the same reference image for all of them, but the results came out pretty different, especially around the face, hair, clothing, and the hammer. In the end, I went with the meshy version because the overall shape was closer to what I wanted, and it was also easier to work with afterward.
Before printing, I did some basic checking and cleanup. I mainly fixed holes, areas that were too thin, and smaller details that looked like they might cause problems during printing, especially the hair tips, fingers, hammer, and feet.
The workflow was basically:
Reference image--AI-generated model -- check/fix --thicken a few details --add supports --print --clean and paint
Printed in resin, then cleaned, assembled, and hand-painted.
This was my first time trying this kind of workflow, and the final result came out better than I expected. I was especially happy that the expression and overall feel of the original character still came through pretty well in the physical version.
Still learning, so I’m curious: when you’re printing character minis like this, what problems do you usually run into before printing? Anything you always make sure to check first?