Been reworking the 3D model I had made of General Kala's headdress. What I like to achieve when making a 3D model on computer it to create the correct shape with the least amount of polygons possible. This inevitably leads to fewer glue tabs and reduces the amount of components that will need to be cut out when making it out of paper/card, and all without compromising the original shape and proportions of the design/prop. It also means that you don't have to buy so much paper/card when you make the final model too.
In addition, I used this reworking time as a good excuse to test an unfold plugin that I had stumbled upon for SketchUp. It's pretty cool! Just wish there was an easy way to snap the unfolded shape back onto the blue axis though, took a little while to rotate each part back onto that flat plain again...
I couldn't stop there either... Now I have the nets all flattened out I couldn't resist making a physical maquette of it, because it's one thing to see your model on screen, but quite another experience to have that object in front of you for reals. In my opinion this is the only method to truly test if the shape look physically smooth enough. I'm really pleased with the way this project is, 'shaping up', next step is to get this design scaled up into a wearable size... (and for that, I'll need a willing volunteer)
General Kala's headdress maquette pictured above measures; 25cm x 13cm x 13cm
