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About
This is my very first project done as my very first time getting back to creating with Blender after being awarded for ranking first in my high school's 3D modeling class, and I'm very proud of it because it's also my first ever time modeling anything organic, and I managed to do it without any sculpting; it's achieved using nothing but triangles. I used to model modern houses and rooms, so lots of cuboids and right angles. This was a different experience and is why I chose to put it here.
The Process
The Initial Plan
I go to quite a number of meets and conventions throughout the year. So even before I started coming up with anything, I had a plan to have something I can be anonymously known for. The initial plan was to 3D model something I can then 3D print that I can discreetly leave in random spots around the convention or meet area. This is a recent project and I've only had three events to do this in as I'm writing this in July 2022, but I have ended up making a few friends because of this. Hilariously one of the AV team members managed to find one and reached out to me about it via my handle I've written on the bottom of the prints; they found the one with a white tip on the tail because of a failed print.
// fox found by AV team
So the idea that I came up with was to model half a fox that can stand on a flat surface like your desk so that it looks like it's snow-diving into it. People also tell me these would make a good fridge magnet, which is something I didn't think about while making these.
The Approach
I had the idea only a week before a huge convention that I wanted these for, so I rushed without having any time to think about anything outside of just getting this done as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, that has made me forget to take progress pictures for the 3D-modeling part, though I did document the 3D-printing process itself.
It took me a full day to hunt down the best pictures of foxes diving into the snow for references. Below are some screenshots from Blender of the finished model along with the two reference images I used.
The End Result
As seen above, that's how the finised model looked like in Blender. The next step was to import these into Ultimaker Cura to be prepared for the 3D-printing.
// imported into Cura
// sliced and ready to be imported into printer
// printing two batches of 26 each, on the Ender 3 Pros if I'm not mistaken
// first batch done, supports not removed yet
// timelapse of removing supports
// first batch done, supports removed
Of course, today's 3D printers aren't flawless. The issues come when a print fails. Fortunately, this one was only because the filament ran out, leaving a clean, flat cut between the part that has already been printed and the part that hasn't. Other fails like when a half-printed model falls over are less salvagable. So to fix this, I just had to print the remaining section, but I used white filament this time to more closely resemble the colors of an actual fox tail.
// failed batch
// printing tail tips in white
// tips finished printing
// foxes with white tail tips
// EXTRAS : the cursed circle
// EXTRAS : 50 foxes ready to be scattered
The Reflection
What I Learned
This quick project gave me a very beautiful opportunity to work under time pressure. I had a clear and immovable and inevitable deadline and I had started with nothing on my board. Ideating how to salvage a failed print also gave my creative mind some exercise, and managing to make an even better product out of a "fail" was very rewarding.
My Next Steps
I ended up also giving these to most of the cool people I talked with in the events on top of leaving them in random spots for strangers to snatch. After having three events to give these foxes a purpose, I managed to note down the things people say when I give them one of these. Some told me to model the other half of the fox to print a full fox, some told me more colors would make these even better.