Hi, following my previous exhaust system build, this time I'm sharing the process of making a figure using a 3D printer. Honestly, the main reason I bought a 3D printer was because I wanted to make my own merch for the mascot of the center I run. I'm somewhat confident in mechanical design, but when it comes to artistic stuff like character design, I'm a total 'poop-hand,' so I've always had to outsource it. But thanks to the advancement of AI, even a design noob like me could get some help and try making a figure myself. Enough talk, I'll show you the final result first.

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As you can see, a pretty decent mascot figure was born. This is the result of me touching up what the AI designed and modeled before printing.

1. Commissioning the design to AI: To overcome the design barrier, I first used the power of an image generation AI tool (Nano Banana Pro). I gave it detailed prompts based on the existing center logo, mascot photos, and the style of figure I wanted.

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After countless revisions and regenerations, I finally got an image I liked. Based on this image, I generated additional images from various angles like the front, side, and back.

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2. Converting 2D image to 3D model: If you put a generated image straight into a 3D modeling AI, it's hard for it to recognize properly because of perspective or textures. So I went through a pre-processing step using AI tools to convert it into a simple and clear solid shape.

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I uploaded the prepared image to a 3D modeling AI (Tencent Hunyuan) and requested it to generate a 3D model.

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The results were surprising, but there were parts that needed fixing, like the wrong number of fingers or blurry boundaries on the clothing.

3. First print, frustration, and model editing: First, I picked the model I liked best and tried printing it as a single piece in Bambu Studio.

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I originally planned to sand and paint it, but after trying it myself, I realized how painfully difficult PLA post-processing is. I decided it was too inefficient for mass-producing merch, so I chose to edit the model to minimize post-processing. Even though it's hard since I'm not a pro, I self-taught myself 'Blender' (a free 3D tool) for 2-3 days, parting (splitting) the model by color and hiding the messy parts on the inside.

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4. Final print and completion: This time, I swapped to a 0.2mm nozzle to boost the quality.

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As expected, the layer lines are barely visible, and all the surfaces with poor print quality were hidden in the joints or the interior. I just had to assemble it with superglue without any extra post-processing, and it was done. Since I'm a non-major in my 40s with stiff hands and a stiff brain, I didn't include all the 'shoveling' I did over a week—endless printing and tolerance adjustments—but seeing the final result is so satisfying. Pros might find it amateurish, but I'm personally very happy with it. I've been handing them out to customers, and the ladies say they're super cute, so I'm really satisfied. Thanks for reading this long post.