Concept
When the project was assigned, I decided to make some type
of terrain. Since I opted to make a pond, I determined that resin would be
ideal to represent the water. The inspiration for my pond design came from my
research of images of different real ponds and existing models of ponds. After
the base idea for my pond, I expounded the concept to include foliage more
foreign in color and shape than one would find in nature.
Techniques
The model was originally built in Maya. Initially a plane
was used to essentially make the bottom shape of the pond by grabbing the vertex
to move the outer layer into the shape. I extruded the outer edge of the
plane and scaled it flat. I used extrude curve to make the 3D
boxing model with an indention in one side which was not uniform like the other
sides. I merged vertex to create a seamless model. The rectangular shaped
box maintained one corner as 90 degrees with the intent to set it on a shelf.
The other two sides were tapered off to allow the terrain to flow like water. An
indention was added to the bottom for the light source below the pond. I
exported the Maya file to Rhino and serial sliced the design using contour.
The layers were created and the design was mapped out for cutting at the
machine shop. A smooth model was made to use in Keyshot.
Materials
In Keyshot, I tried to use grass, but it was similar to real
grass and compared to the size of my model, it towered over it. Then I decided
to use a fabric that simulated several fibers which, on the scale I am working,
looked similar to blades of grass.
First, I glued the top half of my wooden cutouts together.
Then I used a mixture of plaster and glue to cover them. Next, I painted the
plaster with a mixture of glue and paint and then while wet I covered it with
dirt that I dug and sifted to obtain a finer consistency appropriate to the
scale of the model. After letting it sit and dry for a while, I painted the
dirt inside of the pond area with UV resin. This was to prevent the dirt from
floating into the resin when poured and stop air bubbles from escaping into the
resin. I superglued a silicone mold to under the pond area in the upper half of
the model and thoroughly sealed it with plaster around the edges of the mold.
The original intent was to remove the mold, but I decided to leave it under the
pond because the frosted bottom gave the appearance of a murky depth. Next, I
mixed up resin and added different blues and greens to achieve the shade I
desired before pouring. I formed the bottom layers of the wood and attached
them to the top portion of the model with superglue and dowels. Then added
plaster over this to ensure it was seamless with the top. A mixture glue,
paint, and dirt covered the plaster. Model glue was sprayed in sections and
then green flocking was sprinkled over the glue to mimic grass. To simulate
strange or alien like plants, I used plastic aquarium plants that were
separated and re-assembled in new design clusters. A strand of LED lights were
added underneath the pond for illumination.
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