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[jerry7171]

Another 3D print. I used more of the sapphire blue PLA+ filament from Mad Maker Filament. When printed just right, it can evoke a deep blue kind of glass.

I created an incomplete 3D model of a Romanesque/Medieval church sculpture of the Crucifixion with Mary and Saint John standing at the feet of Jesus. The original limestone sculpture is on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

The model was created via photogrammetry. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to photograph the top of the heads and the architectural remnants behind the figures. Hence, the incomplete state of the model.

I shared the model at Sketchfab: https://sketchfab.com/mode…/f7c513850dab4470a2faa6d1f304cbbb

A long while later, I was surprised and delighted to see the same model at Scan the World. It had been cleaned up and the holes plugged so it could be 3D printed!

https://www.myminifactory.com/…/3d-print-medieval-crucifix-…

I couldn't resist printing it. I settled on a height of about 225mm. As that is a bit more than my printer can fit, I used Lu Ban to chop the model apart with pegs and holes to guide the alignment and assembly of the two pieces.

The two halves took nearly 36 hours to finish. I forgot I used the finest details print setting in Cura, hence the long stretch of time.

I took the two halves and cleaned off the supports and excess plastic hairs resulting from dialing the plastic melt point up too high. I washed the pieces off and glued them. I think it turned out well.

It is a kind of modern-ish, almost funky deep blue sculpture now. It has an unusual geometric glow when a strong light shines behind it. The support-grid inside the model causes intersecting geometric blue shapes to appear.

Now that I'm beginning to get a good sense of how to control the printer, work with the variances in different filaments and have great software to manipulate models with, my hobby is beginning to result in better things than before.

[jerry7171]

I recently began reading a book titled “Chasing Aphrodite.” It describes the murky business of illegal excavations, the smuggling of antiquities and the laundering of those artifacts before being purchased by collectors and museums.

One of the main subjects is a large marble and limestone goddess supposedly found near the ancient city of Morgantina in Sicily. She was found, taken apart and smuggled to Switzerland where she was stored for a period of time. She was eventually sold to the Getty Museum.

People at the Getty Museum had been concerned about the lack of established history (provenance). People strongly suspected the goddess was a hot artifact that had been looted but the museum chose to purchase her. She became a star attraction at the museum.

Italy began laying claim to the goddess and the fortuitous recovery of photographs and documentation supported the claim. She was eventually returned. Today the goddess hold court in a small museum in the town of Aidone, near ancient Morgantina.

The lack of context, or the information that could have been gained if the statue had been thoroughly documented by legal archaeology has led to more questions than answers. At first she was thought to be Aphrodite. Now there are theories that she could be Hera, Demeter or Persephone.

While reading about all this, I was delighted to find a 3D model had been shared at Sketchfab. I downloaded it and decided to print it. Photographs of things like statues are great, but as a resource nothing can surpass having an actual 3D item to look at or touch.

Years ago I saw a beautiful interpretation of the Winged Victory (Nike of Samothrace) by Yves Klein and made with the company Lalique. The deep blue translucent material used made an impression on me. I decided that same kind of deep, translucent blue would be perfect for a model I was going to print.

I also decided to make the model larger as it has so much fine detail. I settled on 400mm, which is about twice the print size of my printer. I used a great bit of software called Lu Ban to take the model and cut it apart into smaller blocks with pegs and holes to align and assemble the model parts.

The resulting six model blocks were then sliced in Cura and printed with Sapphire PLA+ from Mad Maker filament. It took about 4-5 days to print everything using a very fine custom setting. The model took about 500gm of filament. Assembly time was about 30-45 minutes including gluing.

The resulting model is gorgeous! I keep finding new little details and delight in carrying the model around looking at it in different places to watch the dance of light and shadows on it. The sapphire blue shimmers. Most of all, it has helped me to appreciate the beauty and virtuosity of the original. I probably can see some parts of the statue better with my printed copy than I would seeing it in person since visitors have to be kept at a safe distance from the goddess.

I wonder what the sculptor would think of how his goddess is esteemed now? She has transformed from a literal sacred goddess into a secular goddess but is no less important. In many ways, she’s become more valuable today than she was when she was still worshipped.

All this thanks to the book, Sketchfab and Lu Ban and my printer. These are things that weren’t possible that long ago. 

[jerry7171]

(via Goddess from Morgantina - Download Free 3D model by Global Digital Heritage (@GlobalDigitalHeritage) - Sketchfab)

I'd heard about this goddess and the furor she was at the center of years ago. Apparently she was clandestinely recovered and smuggled from the site of Morgantina. She eventually found a home at the Getty Museum. Questions about how she'd turned up and been acquired began to dog the museum and Italy demanded her return. She finally returned close to Morgantina to a purpose-made museum in Aidone.

This model is incredible as it not only recreates the spatial qualities of the original, but has the texture of the stone. It is easy to see how the head, arm and foot were created from a different stone than the body.

Now I'm reading a book that extensively touches on this particular goddess and being able to look at details here and there on this model really make things easier to understand and appreciate.

This is why I'm such a strong advocate for the free dissemination of 3D models of all things ancient. They made a valuable resource to students and teachers when they are researching things. Who knows? Maybe someone will notice something that has been overlooked before that can help add information to whatever they happen to be researching or just enjoying?

[jerry7171]

(via 3D Printable Moai, or mo‘ai by Marchal Geoffrey ) When I was a kid, I devoured old National Geographic magazines. They took me to places I’d never heard of, like Easter Island. This was back in the 1970s, when the supernatural was coming into its own in entertainment with an emphasis on ghosts and UFOs. “In Search of...” was a popular show and had mood-music and shots to stimulate my imagination. The admittedly outlandish half-theories being presented made the show all the more irresistible. I came to think in my childish ignorance that the mo’ai of Easter Island were prehistoric, like their distant cousin the Great Sphinx. They had watched people and things of inconsequence pass by in the blink of an eye as eternity moved on. I sometimes miss the silly innocence I had and the sense of awe and wonder. One of the things the little kid in me always wanted was to have my very own little museum. Nothing sweeping or logical. It would have been a random bric-a-brac affair, but it was meant for me. Today, all these decades later, I can start making that little museum for the kid in me.

[jerry7171]

There is a 6ft / 1.83m limestone monument at Mount Pleasant Cemetery here in Sioux Falls, SD. I took photographs of it from every angle. At home I recreated it via photogrammetry, cleaned up the resulting model and printed it.

Happily it turned out beautifully.

I used Mad Maker PLA+ in terra-cotta. I printed it on my Creality Ender-2. It stands 180mm tall.

[jerry7171]

A humorous poke at the fight between absolute gun rights versus absolute disarmament. (I personally support some people having guns, but not all. Would we want our crazy relative toting a shotgun and aiming it at imaginary enemies)? Anyway, enjoy this tongue-in-cheek moment.

[jerry7171]

A self portrait taken in my buddy's #HondaCRX @ #McDonald's. #Pentax #gay #bear #selfportrait (at McDonald's at 2416 W 12Th St)

[jerry7171]

#Cat lovers know they can get insistent early in the morning but this is the first time I've been nipped in my butt! #ouch

[jerry7171]

Shadow calmly regarded me from his kitty tree as I tried out a Pentax with a pancake lens. #tabby #cat #feline

[jerry7171]

Another great day comes to a #sleepy end for Shadow & Peyton. #cat #dog #tabby #blacklab

[jerry7171]

And this is why I need to put my food away when I step away for a second. #cat #humor #feline

[jerry7171]

I'm invisible! You can't see me! Shadow waits to jump out at the next #cat or person to pass by. #footstool #stepstool #feline

[jerry7171]

This is my typical #bed situation. I'm usually on my side resting crookedly in the middle. I'm such a #crazycatguy. #cats #feline #tortie #shorthair

[jerry7171]

Love is having Bailey #purring loudly as she drifts back to #sleep in my arm. #cat #feline #love

[jerry7171]

Look who already has a head start on me for sleep. #cat #feline #sleeping

[jerry7171]

I have old books that I hesitate to handle or read very often due to their increasing fragility and age. A little bit of me dies at the thought of destroying *any* book to scan it on a standard document scanner but I wasn't having very good luck hand-holding my iPhone or Nikon to shoot photos of each page due to handshake, light blow-outs or shadows. Then there is the issue of some books that have great binding and spines that still make them curl and curve. This little #DIY project for #bookscanning looks perfect. I can use anything from around the house plus it doesn't cost a thing beyond a little time and some cardboard. Time to grab my utility knife and get started!

[jerry7171]

My new #Hubsan X4 #drone #quadcopter came from #Amazon yesterday. Sure it's a toy with a camera but I can't wait to learn how to fly it and use the photos it can shoot to help me do more #3Dmodeling & #photogrametry. Oh, and to get my increasingly lethargic #cats to run and lose weight. 😼