Logan Latham Project 3 Waffle Construction Vessel

 

Concept

The main inspiration for my vessel was originally a Command Post on Battlefront II. Later the design was combined with some elements of design from the World Series trophy. The vessel would contain various swappable terrains, the main two being water and dessert. After deciding not to use flat disks in a tray as terrains, I chose to use a larger vessel for more of a diorama effect. As a result of this, the walls of the original design were raised. The original design had four sections of varying heights; however, in the final design, more sections were added with increasing elevation.

 

Techniques

I used the polyline tool to make the basic outline of the wall. Then I used revolve to make the flat shape a three dimensional object. Next, I made four rectangular prisms using the box tool and rotated them at 0, 45, 90, 135 degrees and then rotated all of them 45 degrees. Then used the trim tool to cut out holes in the original shape in areas where the wall and the rectangular prism would intersect creating intermediate gaps. Next, I made another rectangular prism with the box tool which was horizontal. I used the rotating tool to create a slight angle. Using it and the trim tool to create the slanted stairstep effect. Then I added a ring with the tube tool that would act as the top of the vessel and a cylinder at the bottom to complete the base.

Materials

In Keyshot, the performance mode used for lighting was basic with self-shadows. The entire structure would be made of wood so I chose materials that would simulate stained wood. I also placed a green glass cylinder inside the vessel to simulate the glass container full of green-blue resin. The environment I selected in the rendered model was a coffee table in a living room.

Unfortunately, even though I submitted my project to the machine shop on Tuesday, the laser printer broke down, and I did not receive my final product (although according to machine shop, I was next in line.) If I had received it, I planned to stain the wood and place the glass containers filled with sand or resin in the center of the vessel. For the water terrain, I placed sand and resin in the bottom of the glass. After drying, I put pebbles and fake plants before filling with resin tinted with green and blue alcohol ink. Once dried, I put UV resin and flocking on top to create the appearance of wet moss. The other glass container was filled with porous rocks and sand, but I created a “fossil” by using a plastic dinosaur skull. I covered the skull with Vaseline and buried in in plaster to dry. Then I chipped away some of the plaster to reveal the skull underneath and painted it to appear more like a rock formation. I did not have a way to seal the top of the dessert glass because my plan was to use a blank from the laser cut wood.

 

Edit: I was able to get back what had managed to get cut and salvaged the majority of the project.

Above is the final