Owl coated with metal

[garylmast]

I modeled this owl in ZBrush and decided to do a double sided cut with the new V9 Aspire feature. It definitely made things easier. However, the first time around, because I feathered the wings to nothing, when I machined it, the edges blew out. After giving both top and bottom sides of the wings a few millimeters base, the second time around it went pretty good.

Then I saw an advertisement about spraying real metal coatings, I thought this would be the perfect model to try it on. Although the cost of the coating and special cup gun and other equipment was quite expensive, I am well pleased with the outcome. Since it's real metal, I'm thinking about spraying water on it and letting it sit to get a rust effect. It has a 24-inch wing span and is 15-inches tall.



Gary

[MTSO]

Gary, that is stunning!. I haven't upgraded yet but if that's what you can do in V9 I'm there.
The metal spray looks awesome.

regards

Brian

[dwilli9013]

Wow that looks awesome. Can you provide the name of the metal finish you used? Thanks for sharing.

[garylmast]

Thanks guys for the compliment. I bought the supplies from a company called Metalier Coatings, based out New Zealand, but has a U.S. Distributer in Indiana. ( https://usa.metaliercoatings.com ). The metal finishes are Aluminium, Brass, Bronze, Copper, Iron, Gunmetal Bronze (the one I used) and Gold. The smallest kit, which consisted of a pound of metal, the resin and catalyst, thinner and freight cost about $250. It took half the kit to spray my project. You also need a cup gun with a 2.3mm tip, I got from Northern Tool and digital scales and metal strainer I got from Amazon. Then a gallon of Acetone for cleaning and a lot of fine sandpaper and steel wool and a good arm for all the sanding you will do after it cures. The company will give you videos and a manual that has all the mixing ratios after you purchase.

Although it was a little costly, and this was my first attempt, I think it is indistinguishable to any bronze casting I've seen and something I can do instead of sending it to a foundry.

Gary

[MTSO]

HAHA........Finally a product that comes from my country and not yours!. Best of all they are just 10 minutes away from where I live.....bonus.
I must look them up as the product look great.
Gary, do you have any pictures of you machining the owl as it looks pretty complex?.

regards

Brian

[dealguy11]

Really like this carving. Did you carve the legs and talons separately?

[garylmast]

I did two side machining on all the parts. I separated the different parts in ZBrush and saved them as individual stl files. Because of the length of my mills, I sliced the body of the owl. The same problem I had with the thickness of the part with the wings, I had problems machining the claws, so I cheated and 3D printed them. Running tiny mills without breaking them with my 5-hp spindle is a challenge, so 3D printing comes in handy.

The two-sided feature in Aspire made this a fairly simple project. Looking online, I found other suppliers for powdered metal and resin for a fraction of the cost, so now I know the ratios to mix it and have the necessary equipment, I will be doing more models like this. I'm really thrilled how this one turned out.

Gary

[dwilli9013]

I'm really thrilled how this one turned out.

As well you should be..... Some pretty astounding work.

[highpockets]

Beautiful work. I like the idea of the metal coating, may have to give that a try.

I also like the marrying of two 3D machining.

Thanks for sharing.

[mtylerfl]

FWIW - I will be doing presentations on Metal Coating, Marbleizing, and Resin Inlay at the Vectric User Group in Vegas!

(Cool job on the Eagle, Gary!)

[Kru82]

http://www.badking.com.au/site/shop/animals/bat-owl/

[garylmast]

http://www.badking.com.au/site/shop/ani ... s/bat-owl/

This is a great site and where I got the Owl and is a good source for ZBrush components and Tutorials. I then bought it into ZBrush to slice it into desired parts and do some other modeling. When I was first got ZBrush I purchased their 12-part Primate Tutorial, which helped me intensely in the learning process of the software.

I went back to see how I first posted this thread and see that it was misleading that I created this model, instead of the modeling process I did do in ZBrush. For that I'm sorry. However, from Badking's tutorials and other videos I have on ZBrush, it's something easy to create in ZBrush. Again, I'm sorry for any misconceptions.

Gary

[LittleGreyMan]

This is typically an example of what can be achieved with a "simple" 3 axis CNC and a combination of several techniques (machining, 3d printing).

We used the same method more than once for industrial orders, which I can unfortunately not publish.

One can even produce parts that are not that easy to machine with a 5 axis CNC, and generally at a much higher price.

Of course, we cannot produce a mechanical steel part like this. We have to cut the model, produce different parts and re-assemble them. But for mockups, molds, decorative parts,, … it's often a very competitive solution.

Unfortunately, for most customers this kind of parts require 5 axis and they won't ask for a quotation.

Pretty good job.

[scottart]

Fascinating. So I am guessing that the legs were two sided machine jobs done separately than attached?

I am also adding Z brush to my tool box, but is a much longer learning curve than Aspire. Glad to hear that the new two side Aspire carving tools helped, as I have big plans for them..

thanks for posting. great model by the way..

[scottart]

see you in Vegas