Apr. 3, 2015 | By Alec
A wave of shock passed through the world’s science fiction community when iconic actor Leonard Nimoy, famed for his performance as mr. Spock in the Star Trek franchise, passed away in late February. Dying at the age of 83, he is one of those few people who can say that they’ve inspired millions. It’s therefore hardly surprising that all sorts of original tributes appeared all over the internet, and the 3D printing community (that incorporates many a science fiction an as well) isn’t absent. Perhaps the most impressive 3D printed tribute to Leonard Nimoy has been made by veteran designer Phi Vu from Glendale.
The bust is already impressive, though only a 1/5 scale test print that is approximately 4.75” tall. In the coming months, Phi Vu hopes to make a much large 1/3 scale bust that will be sought for by every true Trek fan. As he explained to 3ders.org, he has been a fan of scale model kits for years. ‘So for as long as I've been a digital sculptor, I have sculpted character figures and busts in my free time. My portfolio is full of characters and creatures from pop culture,’ he tells us. Since getting his hands on a 3D printer over the holidays, the veteran designer (who has been professionally modelling for at least 16 years now), wanted to try his hand at a 3D printed scale model as possible.
While also working on a model of Sean Connery’s portrayal of James Bond, the passing away of Leonard Nemoy was an obvious imputus to make a tribute to him as well. ‘[Both] seemed like natural choices to work on since they both have such iconic and distinctive faces,’ he says. ‘Sadly, the impetus to print it out the Spock bust when I did was Leonard Nimoy's recent passing. It felt like a good way I could pay tribute to him, in my own small way.’
Fortunately, Phi Vu was able to rely on a huge amount of experience in 3D modeling. ‘When I start a project, I like to think about what aspect fascinates me most about the character I want to sculpt, and then go from there. With the Spock project, for me, everything is about his face, so that’s why that one was a bust,’ he says. Phi Vu also quickly settled on a faux-bronze appearance, as it gives the plastic parts a bit more weight and makes it more suitable for display.
For actual design, he generally relies on a simple set of steps. ‘My general workflow is to build a low resolution base mesh in a 3D modeling program, or more often these days, just start from scratch in ZBrush, and then import it into ZBrush, where I do all my sculpting and detailing. Zbrush offers just so much control over how you can manipulate the digital "clay". It's an amazing program,’ he adds.
Once there, he goes through a typical, time-consuming process of moving through levels of subdivision to add all the necessary details. All through this process, I had reference pictures open in another window and I will constantly go back and forth between the reference photos and my digital sculpt,’ Phi Vu adds. Once satisfied with his design, he makes it ready for 3D printing. In this case, that meant scaling the bust down to 1/5 and orienting all parts (as OBJ files) to fit on the print bed.
For actual printing itself, he relied on his CEL-Robox 3D printer. As the bust seen above is supposed to just be a test print, all parts were printed on a 200 micron setting with automatic supports and a 10% infill in ABS, as Phi Vu ran out of PLA. The final pieces are set to be printed on the Fine (100 micron) setting, again with 10% infill. Afterwards, it’s a matter of typical post-printing processing, including the removel of support structures and carefully sanding the pieces with sandpaper and a dremel tool.
But the bronze effect makes this sculpture even more impressive. As the designer explained, this was remarkably easy to achieve. First of all, he added a couple of layers of primer before using an acrylic surfacer that has ground bronze in it (from Triangle Coatings). ‘It has a nice luster to the finish. I put on a couple base coats, and then I use black acrylic artist's paint to lay down a wash that brings out the details, wiping off the excess with a paper towel. After that, I finish it off with another coat of bronze surfacer that's dry-brushed on,’ he says. ‘This final coat brings back the bronze highlights.’
This amazing miniature model of Sean Connery's James Bond was made in a similar fashion.
The results are certainly impressive, and Phi Vu was also very pleased with his tribute to a great actor. I’m sure the Vulcan would have been proud, if capable of that emotion. Unfortunately for Star Trek fans everywhere, he is currently not planning on marketing busts of Leonard Nimoy. Instead, the eventual piece can expect a place of honor in Phi Vu’s own house. Very satisfied with these results, he is currently looking forward to 3D printing other pieces from his extensive design portfolio.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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Can i buy copy of Sean Connery in 1/8 scale ?
Michael wrote at 4/9/2015 1:22:17 AM:
Dear Phi, I would love to purchase a complete 1/5 scale Mr Spock if they are available. Would this be possible?
Kirk wrote at 4/3/2015 10:30:18 PM:
PLEASE, PLEASE, Phil, please open source the Spock Bust files...Amazing!!
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