Happy Veterans Day.

After learning some hard lessons last time around, I set out to do a better second version of the miniature hex.

My first order of business was getting a better hexagon model. The last time around, the mesh for my 3d print was a bit ugly to create — due to the way the hexagons undulate in Blender, the lower half sticks out of the bottom. Last time I did some really ugly boolean-ing that made me go in and have to fix a lot of faces and missed vertices. I used a cube to boolean the collection of meshes but then had to fix everything by hand. This time I was a lot smarter in cutting out more than I needed and then going back and shrinking the height in edit mode. Also I remembered to use a hexagon this time. Duh.

This time I also chose a more interesting hex undulation pattern with a transverse wave instead of a single sine wave. It might be a bit nastier to mold since it’s got a lot deeper cavities.

The part ended up costing about 2x as much as the last one (about $30 – it’s super heavy), but I really liked the way it looked, and I feel like I’m finally developing a bit of a workflow for this process. Also it’s much easier to have someone else handle the 3d printing aspect so I can focus on the design a bit more.

I then created the foamcore box for the mold like I wanted to do last time. Those extra wide side wells proved to be trouble as I found out later. I also hot-glued the mold to the bottom.

I picked up some model release agent and casting compound from Blick, after neglecting to use the model release spray last time around. Hopefully that helps with the deep channels and helps release the model a bit easier. The last time around even though it came out pretty well, there were kind of gross blue splotches on the model, and I’m hoping this time goes a bit easier.

Anyways the casting compound I got was actually a molding compound, which turned into a really nice looking plastic when it set. Thankfully I realized the error before pouring it on the mold but I’m still pretty annoyed I picked up the wrong thing.

I went back to Blick and again picked up a different Smooth-Cast set. This one also ended up being different than the one I got last time (it’s a different Blick location, so not sure if that had anything to do with it), but it’s super annoying that the packaging isn’t clear.

I mixed the silicone, this time it was a milky clear substance instead of the purple/blue combo I had last time.

I had sprayed the model twice (per the directions) with the model release agent, so hoping that helps. I poured the silicone over the model and it’s got a kind of snotty consistency. Those wells in the side really didn’t help with getting adequate height coverage over the whole model, so if I do this again in the future, I really need to think about blocking off as much of the container as possible, or getting more casting compound.

I ended up using some plastic spoons to scoop the silicone as it cured back on top of the model. This seemed to work (it was curing as I worked) so hopefully the model turns out nicely. This time I at least remembered to wear gloves so I didn’t get any of the goop on my hands. It was a real pain to wash it off so many times last time.

Ben started gathering some good footage that would make for interesting projection from pexels.com. Never heard of it before but seems like a great resource.

I want to finish up the miniature modeling part so I can focus on the digital dance performance. I think that’ll take the form of a performance captured dance piece, perhaps with a classmate as the performer, scanned into the scene.