Project Timespan
One day in August 2020
Inspiration
They say that Rome was not built in a day. Well, this project was conceived, designed, and completed in one day! Sometimes it just do be like that.
On the awesome website 3D printing website myminifactory.com, there is a category called Scan The World, where users use 3D scanning technologies on sculptural artifacts around the world, from world-famous works such as Michelangelo’s David or the Winged Victory of Samothrace to works most people have never seen or heard of before.
Photogrammetry is the science of making measurements of real-world objects and features from images. I’ve long-wanted to make a self-portrait using this technique, and one random summer day I stumbled upon an app that allowed for scanning of one’s head at the price of $0.99 per scan. Not wrong!
Project Overview
As this project itself was so brief from start to finish, I’ll keep the post simple and short as well. All I needed was a photogrammetry program, a 3D processing program, and a 3D printing program.
FaceApp - Photogrammetry
The app I downloaded was called FaceApp – super easy to use: simply place your face in front of the camera into the oval and follow the instructions.
I gotta say, the resulting front profile shot looks straight from a prison lineup – not the most flattering 3D scan, but it’ll do!
Meshlab - 3D Processing
I primarily used Meshlab for the 3D processing. This is an open-source software program that is simple and straightforward to pick up and use. I found a 3D file of a bust of a Roman man, and all I did was crop the head off and attach my own in its place. Of course, a head transplant has never been successfully completed before in the annals of medicine, but I think in this case it went smoothly.
MakerBot Print - 3D Printing
I have access to a MakerBot Replicator 5th Generation through the school library. It does the job adequately, if not amazingly. When I went to collect the finished print, I saw that there was a seam line due to slippage of the extruder nozzle right at the level of my forehead. To the best of my ability, I filed and sanded down the line, but on close examination one can still appreciate the remnant scar of a circumferential craniotomy.
The final piece measures some 5.5″ in height, including the base. Technically, I could have swung the print on its side and gone all the way up to ~9.9″ on the long axis, which would mean a volume almost five times that of the actual printed bust, but I felt foolish enough as is printing the self-portrait.
Lessons Learned & Improvements
Photogrammetry is an awesome process, and I think I’ll try to make use of it more in future projects. There wasn’t really anything that went awry throughout the process of completing this project. I have considered as a spinoff idea to make a mold of the model and cast it in colored concrete to use as a paperweight or even a lawn decoration in the garden. It would be funny to have my entire family (and Sisi) as little concrete statues in a backyard Zen garden.
While the resolution from the app wasn’t amazing, it might also be a cool project to add some color to the final resulting print. After all, the statues from antiquity were all painted – the pure white marble is but a false façade remnant as time has eroded the pigments covering the outer layer of these statues.
Reflection
Oh, what a narcissist I am to conceive and carry out such a project! Well, if I used the Augustus of Prima Porta statue as the bust, then perhaps, but since I chose a bust of a random Roman man, cut me some slack!