This is my Thomas the Tank so far. As you can see there is no face yet. That is because it will be added later in ZBrush. The number in the back is Thomas’s Number in the same style as the show. Also, I want to mention that although the treads look unstable, I will make sure they combine as one piece and that everything is connected. That is why the wheels and treads overlap slightly, because that stops there from being an infinitely small point. I do want to print this in blue at the least and maybe paint the number and face to make them distinctly Thomas.
Questions:
1. Any tips for painting PLA?
2. What size should I make this?
I don’t have any recommendations for painting since I haven’t done this yet myself, but as for your size question, I think the size of a little desk toy might be fun!
Someone said about 5 inches in class, so I think I’ll do that.
I notice the detail on the wheels/treads. I think they look really good. What orientation do you plan on printing it in? In my opinion, I think that the idea is amazing and super fun.
I did a test print and doing it on its side means there is only supports on one side that is easy to pull out.
Your tank design is really striking, and the 1 captures the thomas font well. I think for size the two coolest options would be to reference a tank from toy soldier sets or make it sized to fit into a thomas the tank engine toy set.
The test size I made at 5 inches long worked out well. It is a bit larger than either of those suggestions but does make it more imposing.
Your tank is really well done and reminds me of the plastic army men I used to play with when I was a kid. I think you should aim for the size of roughly an I phone 5 as these are smaller than current phones but around the foot print of other toy tanks I have seen. I also think it might be cool if you go in with a darker or lighter blue after you print it and make some camouflage detailing to the tank. What orientation do you plan on using to print this? Do you think there will be a lot of supports in the treads?
I was hoping for a blue that matched Thomas’s original look. As for the supports, printing it as is leads to a lot of supports in the treads that are impossible to remove. However, printing it on the side only creates supports on one side that are very easy to remove.
I appreciate all the details on the tank, yet it is still simple and sleek. I like how the wheels are modeled. I think a small desk decoration would be fun.
I completely agree with you.
Do you plan to paint it or depending on the color it comes out are you planning on leaving it as is?
I only plan to paint it only if I don’t print it in blue.