Fire Lily 022

Here are the final images and video of this project. I learned many things in the process of creating this piece. While I had done a lot of the steps to create a model like this separately, I had never combined all my skills to create a project from start to finish.

I am grateful for this contest for the opportunity and motivation to participate in a project like this. From the creators of the contest, Gaahleri and Kaleido Colorworks, to the friends that encouraged me to enter (Jubo Vanve), to the lovely creators that I met here and provided emotional support all the way, I really appreciate you all. 

This project is based on an original fantasy story. This is one of the main characters, a witch, that travels with her companions on a quest. In this “slice of life” concept, I portrayed her in a moment of rest and wonder. This story, and its characters, have dominated most of my art since I came up with it. Every time I redraw (her) I add more details to both the art and the story. Which is a challenge into itself because the style changes a bit and that creates some of its own obstacles. With this piece, I wanted to add more details to enhance the print, so a lot of the research shown on the moodboards for this project was new. While I hope to refine it in future iterations, I am happy to have a physical representation of her at this time.

Technical aspect of the piece:

• Modeled in Zbrush and Maya
• Sliced in Chitubox
• Resin (figure and parts of base) Printed with Anycubic M7 Max
• FDM Prints (tree stump and “wood” base with Bambu Labs x1C
• Painted with GHAD-39 0.35mm and various brushes
• Paints, Kaleido primer and Vallejo colors, Liquitex Acrylics, Copic Inks
• Dry brush with Pastels
• Shot with an Iphone and Edited with Premiere

If you are interested to see more updates, and other projects, please follow me on my socials:

https://www.instagram.com/firelily022/

https://www.facebook.com/FireLily022

Thanks again to all! 

This is just a teaser but it’s done, so I just wanted to share that fact. I’m gonna do a video and work on a pretty presentation over the next few days but I just wanted to share with you all. Best of luck on the final few days and I’ll see you all at the finish line.

Who would have thought that testing 2 slightly different models would cause problems at the end? I was 95% done with the figure, and the base had been varnished and ready to go, when I decided to test the fit. That's when I realized she couldn't sit in the perfectly placed area designated for her. 

Looking back, I realized I had tested the fit with a slightly different model, and while I tested the individual parts, I never tested the whole thing before gluing it together... I know, noob move. 

After spending a good few hours sanding and making a hole to rearrange the model, I am now waiting for the filler to dry so I can repair the area. Guess I will be using the extra time to fix this unexpected obstacle.

I am still trying to be done by tomorrow with the figure (maybe not the presentation) Real Life is calling and I have to get back to all the things I put on hold to work on this.

Slowly but *crossing fingers* surely, the pieces are starting to come together. I used my GHAD-39 with the Turbo Mini to start laying down some primer on the "dirt floor" part of the base.

After, I applied more color primers, but then I realized that I needed to fill in the gap between the stump and the base itself as I had to give myself a lot of space for the stump to actually fit. It would not fall in properly in other versions of the model I tested. So with this reprint I made sure there was more clearance. Unfortunately, this lead to unsightly gaps that needed to be filled with Epoxy sculpting putty. I'm using a new brand, so I'm hoping it cures by tomorrow.

Quick Little process video of how I painted the base. It was a slow week of printing and reprinting (because some parts exploded after the fact) and post processing. If you notice, the new base is actually assembled and ready to be primed. It was way too hot by the time I finished processing it, so I couldn't paint today. I'm hoping to prime all the printed pieces tomorrow as I wait for the other ones to be done.

I am happy to share that I got some test prints done! There are some major things that still need to be fixed, and I am hoping that in the reprint they can be addressed. If not, filler will be my friend. Thanks to all the people that have been so supportive in the last couple of weeks! I really appreciate it and I cannot wait to see everyone's final entries!

After losing most of the week on a trip (it was a nice trip, so it wasn’t a total loss in that sense), I came home ready to sand down and assemble the pieces I had managed to print before I left. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the way I prepared it and even if all the sanding, it still wouldn't fit. So I will probably reprint wile I still try to get the character out of the digital world. Wish me luck, because I really, really need it!

Not as ahead as I was hoping to be by the end of this week. I had a bunch of setbacks in both the base and the figure. The one that hurts the most is the figure since I was hoping to be able to start prepping for priming by next weekend. Alas, it was not in the stars. And next week, I will be un able to use my computer or print until Thursday which means I will be again, super behind.

As I was putting the final touches on the model (so many final touches...) I started printing the base to make sure I had the correct measurements. As I am a visual person, I prefer to see it in RL because apparently I cannot envision measurements all that well.

It all started with a test of the wood filament, after 2 fails or was it 3? I turned to regular PLA because I still had to make sure that I had the correct size (as the rest of the model would more or less balance on that). As you can see, I decided that 1.5", 37 mm, was too thick for the base and went down to 20mm. The difference was night and day, and I just made the final adjustment on that so I can print the final base with the wood modifier.

While I love the look of the wood PLA (I didn't even get to test the sanding and staining of it) I will have to shelve the material for a different project. I can't keep fighting time.

So onward with the rest of the project.

While I am trying to get stuff to actually print, I will share my tale of the many failures at another time, I decided to take a step back and prepare for the next stage.

I was hoping that cleaning and reorganizing would give me the motivation that is flagging as the deadline looms and I cannot seem to get anything out of the digital world.

I will do some more tests thought the night, and if they do not work, I may have to scrape some of my original ideas (I'm looking at you Wood PLA) and continue on one way or another.

Wish me luck!