Simple things like preheating material, mixing thinners with a catalyst, wiping an accelerator on curing surface, all contribute to the final product and effect work times.

Whether it be painting, printing, casting, molding, cutting, or even simple sanding. Learn material properties.

While yes there are times were its detrimental to work in a controlled environment, if you understand what causes things to happen you can rig the results in your favor.

The detailed parts that needed supports (so no islands) were supported with 0.2mm points. Very very very very small. And the rest were consolidated with point spacing of 1mm and parent spacing of 2 - 2.25mm.

I hear you on material QC going down in recent years. Funnily enough lots of manufacturers have changed their branding and "box art" in the last year too 🤔

✍️ Gotta try some of theirs soon

White used to bother me, but now I "cheat" with a createx 4050/acrylic mix or a cheapo rattlecan with 2k over it. Takes longer but worth not having to do so much cleanup or fixes on it. Haven't tried spraying any hvlp whites yet.

These were done quite some time ago, and were only shared in the discord I believe. But love what Leo has done with all his characters (Yui & Liv specifically) and have been using these helmets for paint testing.

Wish I had more good photos but over time these babies have been caked up

Give me a new iconic design on the likes of a Lightsaber. Something that even when blacked out to a silhouette image I can tell what it is and like it.

Don't get much of those these days either. Its especially hard to find a game with unique designs I wanna make cause lots of stuff these days are special effects like fireballs or one of the basic models from the game but with a moving techno skin on it.

To add to this, the importance of shelf props. They can be anything from a helmet, to a ring, to a creature collar or tooth. They just have to be something with enough creativity behind it that I would want it irl on a shelf to look at and be reminded of where its from.

And I hate the whole "concept art isn't final" or "3d modeling hard" arguments. While I appreciate their work very much, for those who know which specific few games I'm thinking of (one in particular), the inadequacies and liberties taken of these designs are very obvious.

While some things I have no problem doing quick, definitely in the weeks category when it comes to replicating.

Measuring screw holes, deciding where they look good to place, tolerances, supports and balance. While it takes a lot of work, notes, and diagrams, at least the final product looks good with all the realized parts.