3D Printing Project

Spiny Shell (Courtesy: vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net)

Front View of Spiny Shell (Courtesy: Matthew Chang)

Side Profile of Spiny Shell (Courtesy: Matthew Chang)

Of all the projects assigned throughout the semester, the 3D printing project was the most rewarding. With the guideline specified as a cute weapon, my inspiration came from the spiny shell from the Mario video game series. The spiny shell is represented in the first photo while, the second and third are the 3D printed version. It is not the most detailed replica, but considering it was my first time using a 3D printer, it came out well. I was particularly satisfied with the final project, and surprised at how sharp the spikes turned out to be. The program I used to create the model was Tinkercad. It was very user friendly, with many features, community made objects, as well as detailed tutorials. 

Overall, it took 20 hours to design and finish this project then was sent to the staff at The Hive in downtown Tampa for printing. 3D printing has become much more popular in the last few years as the cost of acquiring a printer has become more affordable. With popularity comes more creative projects like this, new ideas, as well as solutions to specific problems. Having the knowledge to use 3D printing interface and the ability to print items will surely be vital in the near future. If given another opportunity or have free time to create more 3D objects I would gladly take that opportunity.