I'm working on Voltron's face and its placement within the head vehicle. I can't make the head as human-like as the Matchbox toy's head, in part because I'm not an expert at modeling organic objects, but also because the extra depth required of a more human-like head would require the vehicle to be taller in order to continue to accommodate the action figure of pilot Jeff. The top of Jeff's head, with helmet, is right under Voltron's chin! (Jeff sits facing forward in the vehicle, meaning that in Voltron mode, Jeff sits facing upward.)
^ I have no plans to produce this Voltron toy for sale, but I do plan to use Shapeways to 3D-print them.
given the size of your parts, might I recommend going w/ an ABS printer like the Replicator 2? You won't get the fine detail that you would with shapeways parts but it's not as needed at this size. plus you can then sand and carve into the parts once printed if needed for that fine detail. here's a site that acts like a yellow pages of folks with printers willing to "rent out" time on the printer to folks. I imagine that there must be one close to where you live and willing to print out the parts much cheaper than something of similar size would run you on Shapeways. 3D printing services in your neighborhood | makexyz.com
I'm going to try this application tonight. Voltron's face has been too crazily complicated to model by pushing vertices around one by one in Blender...especially for this non-artist. Sigh.
Brushes aside cobwebs... Vehicle Team Voltron's face is complete, thanks to the talented Ariel Lemon, who made it on commission. (I'm not skilled enough of a 3D artist at this point to make something as "curvy" as a human-like face.) Here is the face "embedded" in the head vehicle mesh, which is still under construction: Returning to the head vehicle, I will soon be adding "grooves" at the back of the vehicle -- that is, at the base of Voltron's head -- so that the vehicle can connect to the upper torso vehicle. Before I add the grooves, I'll begin to model the twin hatches that conceal Voltron's face. Whereas the Matchbox vehicle's face panels open roughly 50 degrees, in my version the panels will open about 35 to 40 degrees. Doing this will facilitate the design of the pilot compartment hatch.
I've been working on the designs of the head vehicle's twin face hatches, plus the pilot compartment hatch.
Very cool! I was always disappointed I never saw more than little teases of the vehicle Voltron. I don't think it ever aired in my region. I thought it looked pretty cool from what little I saw (I'm not even sure I know where I saw it--maybe some sci-fi magazine? Perhaps a commercial or two?)
Wow, this is the first time I noticed this project, and all I have to say is that it is epic! Please keep up the good work.
I just ordered a Shapeways 3D print of the entire head vehicle. The model is comprised of 15 parts. I also began to model the vehicle that forms Voltron's upper torso. It looks like a 1950s toaster now, but it won't for long.
My first 3D print of the entire head vehicle has arrived! The 15 parts fit together very well. Part of the back of the seat didn't print correctly, and eventually I'll fix that, but overall I'm very happy with the result. Here are some photos!
