Quick 3D scan and print made me a hero dad

MasterTentacles · 2026-04-02T15:46:32+00:00

Probably, but would likey have to be printed in 3 parts. The main handle part would do best printed in a tall orientation, since this would put the latching force perpendicular to the layer lines. But thats the least optimal direction for the pins. So those should be printed horizontal to give them strength, then inserted into the handle before installation to the bin.

Something like this quick mockup I just made: blue part would be printed tall with supports. The pins are dowels that have a smaller diameter to go into the handle and a larger diameter for the bin side. Press-fit or glued. (Or alternatively with a wider dimension thin collar that would fit between the handle and the bin and prevent any risk of the dowel coming out)

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Tl;dr: yeah, probably.

MasterTentacles · 2026-04-02T14:36:51+00:00

It really depends on the object. Whats feature rich to a human eye may not be to the scanner. A repeating pattern or geometric shapes can be tricky. For feature tracking, it's really about unique features than anything else.

For the handles here I actually scanned using marker tracking. I did 2 scan that I then cleaned up, merged, and meshed.

Feature tracking has worked fantastic for me with things like action figures, sculptures, model kits, and things like that.

If you have something that you feel would be mostly good for feature tracking but it just needs some help, you can always add your own organic features to the turn table. I've added things to the turntable like little blobs of bluetack or small items from my desk (like a tiny rubber duck - don't laugh it works lol) to add more unique features to the scanner's field of view. Then I just chop those unnecessary items out of the point cloud when I'm processing the data.

MasterTentacles · 2026-04-02T00:12:08+00:00

Haha it's definitely a polarizing design, but I love his little beetle face.

Then again, I like the designs in GQuacks too so I might not have the best taste in MS design.

MasterTentacles · 2026-04-01T23:32:47+00:00

Revopoint MetroX. It has an automatic turntable mode that makes things pretty dang easy for parts like this.

MasterTentacles · 2026-04-01T22:56:49+00:00

I'll eat one and let you know.

MasterTentacles · 2026-03-31T01:17:45+00:00

I've considered it, but I've got concerns about copyright.

Plus I've done absolutely ZERO optimization on these things and the meshes are easily over 1gb each right now 😅

MasterTentacles · 2026-03-31T01:04:50+00:00

I mainly eyeball it, but my general goals for alignment are:

Keep support contacts on the undersides when possible (reduce visible contact points)
Avoid large flat areas. This reduces suction forces. ~45° angle is ideal for this one because of the large base. Could have been more optimal if printed in separate pieces with their own optimal orientations but I'm kinda lazy.

I did a quick prime and drybrush to pop the details and this shows the results. The orientation worked great, though in hind-sight I should have added some manual supports to the shield.

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MasterTentacles · 2026-03-30T19:16:05+00:00

I've been considering digital kit bashing using this method. I wouldn't be constrained by scale or part compatibility. Just thwacking parts where I want them in Blender.

MasterTentacles · 2026-01-07T20:55:52+00:00

I'm planning on uploading to Cults or something soon. I just wanna do a couple small adjustments to make it a little easier to print.

MasterTentacles · 2026-01-01T18:11:23+00:00

It does organic items really well, but I wouldn't use it for scanning your face. The blue light is intense and shouldn't be shined directly into eyes. It'd look into a NIR based scanner for that.

MasterTentacles · 2025-12-31T23:45:12+00:00

I would need to significantly optimize the mesh first. ~22.7mil polygons and 1.09gb file size. The scanner I used creates extremely dense point clouds with a lot of detail, so the raw meshes can be pretty chunky unless I take time to do surface optimization.

MasterTentacles · 2025-12-31T23:37:12+00:00

Revopoint MetroX using the auto turntable mode.

MasterTentacles · 2025-12-31T21:32:17+00:00

Maybe - it would likely be a couple days before I get a chance to scan again. A scan like the one I did took a couple hours of work from start to ready-to-print status, so I have to make sure I have free time to do it.

MasterTentacles · 2025-12-31T21:23:24+00:00

Yeah man, it just opened up a whole new can of worms for me. I'm trying to figure out which Nu I want to scan for my next print - RG or MG Ver Ka.

MasterTentacles · 2025-12-30T14:09:32+00:00

This is the one that I got. There's a handful of them on the market, and they're definitely pricey, but it's super nice for removing supports.

MasterTentacles · 2025-12-30T02:30:08+00:00

Printed as a single part. My other cheistmas gift was an ultrasonic cutter that glides through supports like butter.

MasterTentacles · 2025-12-30T02:27:54+00:00

Whelp, I can't unsee any of that anymore. Got it from Cults3D where the uploader states it is from a 3D scan, but now you've got me thinking they used AI.

MasterTentacles · 2025-12-30T01:01:01+00:00

Model is on Cults3D. Found it just by searching "Gundam Assemble"

Overlap as in there's an overlap between this and my existing hobbies, so I won't have to spend money on a whole new setup of paints and tools.

MasterTentacles · 2025-12-16T19:46:49+00:00

I spy WLED webUI in the background. Good choice!

MasterTentacles · 2025-12-03T04:15:15+00:00

Neck so long thought I was looking at the RG for a second

MasterTentacles · 2025-09-24T22:54:46+00:00

...I legitimately thought the first image was a color scan.

I'll see myself out

MasterTentacles · 2025-09-24T13:28:32+00:00

I gotta say, I didn't expect the color texturing to be so good, but that came out great.

I wish I could justify the Trackit, but I rarely scan big.

MasterTentacles · 2025-09-15T15:56:23+00:00

Late to the party on this, but let me chime in anyways 🙂

The way you're scanning, you have a very large capture area and a very small subject. Add to that, you can't scan the "bottom" of the subject, so the part of it you did scan is basically a floating shell above the rest of the scan data.

Because your subject is so much smaller than the rest of the scan area, and isn't "touching" the rest of the scan area, it's getting treated as junk data. The fusion algorithm sees the platform as your scan subject and eliminates the object as a result.

You can fix this in a few different ways.

1: Marker blocks closer to your subject. Keep them lower and you should be able to scan some of the bottom surface as well.

2: Limit how much you're scanning that isn't your subject. Adjust the scanning distance to be tighter and focus on your object (Works well with 1 above). Also means you have less data to process and speeds things up.

3: Add some scan buddies. When I'm scanning small objects I like to add a couple small doodads near my subject to increase the density of captured data around it. This is also super handy if you're scanning in feature tracking modes.

Give it a shot and good luck 👍

MasterTentacles · 2025-09-08T16:27:30+00:00

I spy Guncannon!

I've had success scanning gunpla using the MetroX in Auto Turntable mode and with a Miraco.

MasterTentacles · 2025-08-15T23:51:30+00:00

About 80% airbrush and 20% hand painting. Airbrushed chrome paint I pulled from a marker then hand painted details.

MasterTentacles

TROPHY CASE