Turning Daz 3D models into 3D Printable and hand painted figures.

IceDragonArt

Way cool!  What kind of paint (besides the airbrush paint) are you using?  Is it an acrylic based paint or oil?  And does the model get final clear coat sprayed or painted on?

XtraDimensional

BeeMKay said:

@GamePrint thank you! The models look fantastic in any case.

@Cake One The bust option sure is interesting, but I don't know how you could do it in DS. You'd probably have to export the character to a modelling software, or something like that. Of course, then you'd need a sort of marble colour painting... And a dragon looks always cool. It's in their nature. ;-)

For a bust, you could use the geometry editor to hide all facets below a certain point and then export that as obj and then reimport. I'm fairly sure the GamePrint software would know where to close the model to make it watertight. 
 

GamePrint said:

Hanabi

That's very impressive! Clearly, you've been doing this for a while.

Any tips you would give someone new to Painting?

Only about a decade, but most of my progress has been since April. I'm leaps and bounds better than I was this time last year. 

The most important bits of advice I can give are these:

Practice! I know that sounds trite, but the more you do it, the better you will be. It's like learning a new musical instrument. You may even be really fair at it when you first pick it up, but you will get better and better as your muscle memory comes in! On that note, the practice needs to be challenging. Pick an aspect of painting (edge highlighting, glazing, wet blending, etc), and challenge yourself to do better and better at it with each model until you're fairly satisfied, then work on a new technique! 

Watch & learn! There are a number of really great painters, both on Youtube and on Twitch.tv to watch. Not toot my own horn, but I stream my mini painting on Twitch, and I will happily throw out the names of Next Level Painting, Slowfuse Gaming, Key Lime Prime, Spikeybits, Mallius, Vanilla Paints, Electric Eve, Shadowclaimer, PhanceeUnicorn, and FlikstRR. I know I'm missing a bunch. There's a whole community and it's VERY inviting and warm. Most of the Twitch creative group will happily give you constructive criticism, and many of them have a Community Works In Progress time built into their stream. Most will happily demonstrate their favorite techniques live upon request, too!

Quality Materials! Put away the Apple Barrel paints and pick up a few paints speficially made for model painting. Try different lines. Everyone likes different paint for different reasons, and you won't know what you like until you try them! A few of my personal standby paints are Reaper Master Series Paints in Pure Black, Scale 75 metallics, and the Citadel Air paints (these work with a brush, too!). Vallejo makes great paints, and so does Army Painter. Don't go whole-hog and buy all the paints in one line until you've tried at least a few, or you'll end up like me (with a host of Reaper Master Series Paints in metallics that I will literally never use again), lol. And brushes! Use synthetic brushes with metallic paints or anything not water-based. But for nonmetallic acrylics, definitely splurge for a Kolinsky sable brush (I like the Windsor & Newton Series 7, size 1. Regular Series 7, NOT the miniature. Tip size is the same, but the longer bristles of the regular give you a larger paint reservoir), and the brush soap to keep it in good condition. It works out to paying less in the long run! Just be sure to keep the paint out of the ferrule and store it sideways when not painting. 

And the one literally everyone will tell you: Thin your paints! A bit of water or medium will go a long way to a smooth application and keep your detail crisp! Multiple thin coats is far better than a single thick one to obtain opaque coverage. Try using a wet palette. I like pipettes to keep a supply of little drops of water all ready to go.

GamePrint

Mostly acrylic, or vinyl or vinyl-acrylic, or oil based.

 

@GamePrint thank you! The models look fantastic in any case.

Hanabi said:

BeeMKay said:

@Cake One The bust option sure is interesting, but I don't know how you could do it in DS. You'd probably have to export the character to a modelling software, or something like that. Of course, then you'd need a sort of marble colour painting... And a dragon looks always cool. It's in their nature. ;-)

For a bust, you could use the geometry editor to hide all facets below a certain point and then export that as obj and then reimport. I'm fairly sure the GamePrint software would know where to close the model to make it watertight. 
 

GamePrint said:

Hanabi

That's very impressive! Clearly, you've been doing this for a while.

Any tips you would give someone new to Painting?

Only about a decade, but most of my progress has been since April. I'm leaps and bounds better than I was this time last year. 

The most important bits of advice I can give are these:

Practice! I know that sounds trite, but the more you do it, the better you will be. It's like learning a new musical instrument. You may even be really fair at it when you first pick it up, but you will get better and better as your muscle memory comes in! On that note, the practice needs to be challenging. Pick an aspect of painting (edge highlighting, glazing, wet blending, etc), and challenge yourself to do better and better at it with each model until you're fairly satisfied, then work on a new technique! 

Watch & learn! There are a number of really great painters, both on Youtube and on Twitch.tv to watch. Not toot my own horn, but I stream my mini painting on Twitch, and I will happily throw out the names of Next Level Painting, Slowfuse Gaming, Key Lime Prime, Spikeybits, Mallius, Vanilla Paints, Electric Eve, Shadowclaimer, PhanceeUnicorn, and FlikstRR. I know I'm missing a bunch. There's a whole community and it's VERY inviting and warm. Most of the Twitch creative group will happily give you constructive criticism, and many of them have a Community Works In Progress time built into their stream. Most will happily demonstrate their favorite techniques live upon request, too!

Quality Materials! Put away the Apple Barrel paints and pick up a few paints speficially made for model painting. Try different lines. Everyone likes different paint for different reasons, and you won't know what you like until you try them! A few of my personal standby paints are Reaper Master Series Paints in Pure Black, Scale 75 metallics, and the Citadel Air paints (these work with a brush, too!). Vallejo makes great paints, and so does Army Painter. Don't go whole-hog and buy all the paints in one line until you've tried at least a few, or you'll end up like me (with a host of Reaper Master Series Paints in metallics that I will literally never use again), lol. And brushes! Use synthetic brushes with metallic paints or anything not water-based. But for nonmetallic acrylics, definitely splurge for a Kolinsky sable brush (I like the Windsor & Newton Series 7, size 1. Regular Series 7, NOT the miniature. Tip size is the same, but the longer bristles of the regular give you a larger paint reservoir), and the brush soap to keep it in good condition. It works out to paying less in the long run! Just be sure to keep the paint out of the ferrule and store it sideways when not painting. 

And the one literally everyone will tell you: Thin your paints! A bit of water or medium will go a long way to a smooth application and keep your detail crisp! Multiple thin coats is far better than a single thick one to obtain opaque coverage. Try using a wet palette. I like pipettes to keep a supply of little drops of water all ready to go.

 

IceDragonArt said:

Way cool!  What kind of paint (besides the airbrush paint) are you using?  Is it an acrylic based paint or oil?  And does the model get final clear coat sprayed or painted on?

 

GamePrint

We use a mix of paints, but usually acrylic, or vinyl acrylic, and sometimes oil based.

It all depends on what we are painting, and if you want me to recommend, something let me see what you plan on painting.

Finally yes we never leave any model unprotected! We usually spray it with a clear varnish, and Satin as it gives the most beautiful finish. 

Also sometimes we glossy or matte varnishes or a hybrid of both for a particular effect.

IceDragonArt said:

Way cool!  What kind of paint (besides the airbrush paint) are you using?  Is it an acrylic based paint or oil?  And does the model get final clear coat sprayed or painted on?

 

GamePrint

Final day! Packaging and shipping!

 

Inspecting the model closely before packaging and shipping. Our artists could do so final touches here, and coat the model with a special layer of protection. 

GamePrint

Final day! Packaging and shipping!

 

Since our figures are not standard or mass manufactured, we have to protect them, and carefully place them inside each box before shipping them. Every model requires individual approach, and in this case, our packaging team chose this kind of packaging:

IceDragonArt

Seriously that's got to be the dream job lol.  I know its painstakingly detailed work but wow, just so cool!

GamePrint

Packaging:
We have to make the packaging for each model!

 

shaneseymourstudio

So awesome that you guys take the time to show this side. The work looks incredible! I am going to have to get something printed soon!

GamePrint

Thank you! We hope to get your model printed and hand painted.

 

shaneseymourstudio said:

So awesome that you guys take the time to show this side. The work looks incredible! I am going to have to get something printed soon!

 

GamePrint

Final Day, Delivery!

Here are the final delivered models, we enjoyed working on this model so much that we decided to make it in two sizes.

Thanks, Cake One for this beautiful model.

We should be launching another behind the screens model soon! 

FirstBastion

Seeing all the steps involved, the meticulous attention to details,   and the fact that each piece is a hand painted work of art,  makes the prices very reasonable. 

GamePrint

Thank you, it's tough documenting the process of bringing a model to life. There are so many hidden steps, that would make this post very longspun to read.

Hopefully one day we can do a time-lapse video, and have that appear to show how much love and effort is put into each model!

Thanks again,

FirstBastion said:

Seeing all the steps involved, the meticulous attention to details,   and the fact that each piece is a hand painted work of art,  makes the prices very reasonable. 

 

GamePrint

Hello everyone, 

Check out the unboxing of this model, and WIP of the hand painting process. For the full story check the thread below.

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/211311/my-first-gameprint-order-with-images-of-progress-it-s-arrived#latest
 

 

GamePrint

Painting can be a type of meditation. All you need is a good playlist and a small cosy studio.

nonesuch00

That looks bigger than a foot!

GamePrint

Its one of our biggest models!

nonesuch00 said:

That looks bigger than a foot!

 

frank0314

GamePrint said:

Day 5, notice the base color of the wings are yellow, and we add different layers of paint to give it the effect we are looking for!

 

Those really look fantastic.

GamePrint

Thanks Frank0314

frank0314 said:

GamePrint said:

Day 5, notice the base color of the wings are yellow, and we add different layers of paint to give it the effect we are looking for!

 

Those really look fantastic.

 

Serene Night

Very cool to watch this evolve. Thanks for posting these images. I may not ever be able to afford a print, but I do sure like watching them come together.

GamePrint

Hey Serene Night

Thank you very mucy, and we will keep the work in progress coming!

Keep a look out for our promotions! We have a $99 special on single color/primed finishes along with Free shipping!

 

Serene Night said:

Very cool to watch this evolve. Thanks for posting these images. I may not ever be able to afford a print, but I do sure like watching them come together.

 

GamePrint

 

We are starting a new series of a figure in the making.

The model used in this example is already 3D printed and focuses primarily on the painting and detailing part of the process.

The model was created by GGartist and produced by the GAMEPRINT team. It took four days to bring this model to life.

Day 1 Clean up, everyone hates doing it but someone's got to.

The hardest part comes after the 3D print. We have to clean each part of the model manually. Removing unneeded support structures at the connection points. This part requires a strong eye and a slow and precise hand movement. The parts are usually printed individually and assembled at a later stage. Support structures can be a problematic to both priming, detailing, and fusing parts together. If we miss a bump, it could add an irregular bump to the model or make fusing two parts impossible.

 

 

SimonJM

GamePrint said:

 

We are starting a new series of a figure in the making.

The model used in this example is already 3D printed and focuses primarily on the painting and detailing part of the process.

The model was created by GGartist and produced by the GAMEPRINT team. It took four days to bring this model to life.

Day 1 Clean up, everyone hates doing it but someone's got to.

The hardest part comes after the 3D print. We have to clean each part of the model manually. Removing unneeded support structures at the connection points. This part requires a strong eye and a slow and precise hand movement. The parts are usually printed individually and assembled at a later stage. Support structures can be a problematic to both priming, detailing, and fusing parts together. If we miss a bump, it could add an irregular bump to the model or make fusing two parts impossible.

 

You could almost start a 'guess the part' contest - I'd guess a boot or an arm piece. 

GamePrint

Here's the artists renders that he shared with us!

The hair and the tattoo are going to be a good challenge for us!

 

SimonJM said:

GamePrint said:

We are starting a new series of a figure in the making.

The model used in this example is already 3D printed and focuses primarily on the painting and detailing part of the process.

The model was created by GGartist and produced by the GAMEPRINT team. It took four days to bring this model to life.

Day 1 Clean up, everyone hates doing it but someone's got to.

The hardest part comes after the 3D print. We have to clean each part of the model manually. Removing unneeded support structures at the connection points. This part requires a strong eye and a slow and precise hand movement. The parts are usually printed individually and assembled at a later stage. Support structures can be a problematic to both priming, detailing, and fusing parts together. If we miss a bump, it could add an irregular bump to the model or make fusing two parts impossible.

 

You could almost start a 'guess the part' contest - I'd guess a boot or an arm piece. 

 

GamePrint

Actually its her leg!

SimonJM said:

GamePrint said:

We are starting a new series of a figure in the making.

The model used in this example is already 3D printed and focuses primarily on the painting and detailing part of the process.

The model was created by GGartist and produced by the GAMEPRINT team. It took four days to bring this model to life.

Day 1 Clean up, everyone hates doing it but someone's got to.

The hardest part comes after the 3D print. We have to clean each part of the model manually. Removing unneeded support structures at the connection points. This part requires a strong eye and a slow and precise hand movement. The parts are usually printed individually and assembled at a later stage. Support structures can be a problematic to both priming, detailing, and fusing parts together. If we miss a bump, it could add an irregular bump to the model or make fusing two parts impossible.

 

You could almost start a 'guess the part' contest - I'd guess a boot or an arm piece. 

 

SimonJM

GamePrint said:

Actually its her leg!

SimonJM said:

GamePrint said:

We are starting a new series of a figure in the making.

The model used in this example is already 3D printed and focuses primarily on the painting and detailing part of the process.

The model was created by GGartist and produced by the GAMEPRINT team. It took four days to bring this model to life.

Day 1 Clean up, everyone hates doing it but someone's got to.

The hardest part comes after the 3D print. We have to clean each part of the model manually. Removing unneeded support structures at the connection points. This part requires a strong eye and a slow and precise hand movement. The parts are usually printed individually and assembled at a later stage. Support structures can be a problematic to both priming, detailing, and fusing parts together. If we miss a bump, it could add an irregular bump to the model or make fusing two parts impossible.

 

You could almost start a 'guess the part' contest - I'd guess a boot or an arm piece. 

 

Yeah, I'm always rubbish at that sort of thing!  Right 'geographical area' at least, which is better than my usual attempts 

GamePrint

Here's a more detailed picture of her leg

SimonJM said:

GamePrint said:

Actually its her leg!

SimonJM said:

GamePrint said:

We are starting a new series of a figure in the making.

The model used in this example is already 3D printed and focuses primarily on the painting and detailing part of the process.

The model was created by GGartist and produced by the GAMEPRINT team. It took four days to bring this model to life.

Day 1 Clean up, everyone hates doing it but someone's got to.

The hardest part comes after the 3D print. We have to clean each part of the model manually. Removing unneeded support structures at the connection points. This part requires a strong eye and a slow and precise hand movement. The parts are usually printed individually and assembled at a later stage. Support structures can be a problematic to both priming, detailing, and fusing parts together. If we miss a bump, it could add an irregular bump to the model or make fusing two parts impossible.

 

You could almost start a 'guess the part' contest - I'd guess a boot or an arm piece. 

 

Yeah, I'm always rubbish at that sort of thing!  Right 'geographical area' at least, which is better than my usual attempts 

 

GamePrint

Day 1: Clean up! We've removed and cleaned up all support structures. We are preparing the model for priming.

Thank you Ggartist for letting us use your model as an example!

 

 

Notice the model has rough edges that should be cleaned and sanded down to create a smooth surface. 

Notice that all support structures were removed,  and you can see where the legs of the model connect to the hip.

Look at the fan of the model; we accidentally break one of the spokes. We've managed to fix that at a later stage!

 

Hair is one of the hardest parts of the 3D print. It contains lots of overlapping which could lead to intersecting meshes and that usually confuses the slicer and printer. We've developed a priority technology that manages these intersections and rebuilds your model meesh in a way the slicer and 3D printer will understand.

"Slicer a software that converts your model into A G-code which is the format your 3D printer will understand"

 

nonesuch00

looks super!

IceDragonArt

That's going to be gorgeous when its done!  I may never be able to afford it either but out of curiosity, how much would just the base model be, cleaned and put together but not primed or painted?