“Props to you” or how to “abandon” 4 months of work in 2 hours
For my senior thesis I really though I had a good plan going on. I wasn’t trying to create this innovative new way of tech or some sort of life changing experience. Nah I’ll leave that to those with million dollar budgets. Me I just have a 3-D printer and all the skills I’ve built up till now. Though while printer cost 850 and some change, the skills’ value is really up to me. I decided those skills should be made to create 3D printed toys. Simple and fun for everyone right? Sometimes you just want to escape the doldrums of adult life and go back to something more simpler. For the entire 1st semester I decided that was what I was going to do for my project, however recently that changed quite suddenly.
Over the winter I wanted to practice my 3-D modeling skills in Fusion 360 so I ended up practicing by using objects from media and movies. First it started with a replica blaster from the star wars universe as a Christmas gift for my brother.
It was accurate as I could make it to be considering my best design at the time was a pair of scissors. I soon moved onto something with a little more in the movement and detail department. Stemming from a joke made with a friend I had decided I wanted to make a life size model of a weapon from one of our favorite shows “RWBY” I mean who could turn down the idea of owning your gunsword?
Not only that it would wholly be my of my own interpretation and design. Of course I’d use references and help from other 3d models, but still going from scissors to that could be said to be quite the jump. So for the last month plus I had been not only doing thesis printing, but also printing for that until eventually during a thesis class I kinda had an epiphany.
Stemming from a comment from a fellow student along the lines that their project was more tuned towards being a branch of a fun hobby got to me. Sure toy design was neat, but at that point it was getting less attention. My side project was getting more attention than the thesis ever did at that point. So why would I split my time apart and halve my efforts. I decided to make an executive choice and make my side project well just my project. Now instead of toys I was making life sized props. It still required all the needed skills I had learned but also with its scale and size it could show off more of an impact. In fact I thought I see how I could design both objects from preexisting media as well as my own head? Something that many would see and recognize and also something different but still as cool. All I want is to make my ideas come to life and as long as I can do that, then it will be fun for me.
