Finally, my first print! It’s based on a fictional toy called ‘Sparklepus’, a cg prop from my animated short film ‘Happy Box’.
(Okay, this is actually my second but the real first was the FormLabs butterfly clip that came with the printer, so it doesn’t count.) 
The image below is a frame from the movie of the toy for reference.
Printing…
Here’s the print in the finishing process. There are three parts and they came out beautifully! I’m especially amazed that the mane and tail printed without errors because there are all sorts of crazy overhangs in these parts. So far, I’m very impressed with the Form 1.
The first pic is print after it’s ISP bath. Next is the unfinished print assembled–you can still see a few bumps from the support posts. The third pic shows the print after trimming with an Xacto knife and a little sanding. Final pic is a detail of the mane.
Tomorrow I’ll paint Sparklepus and upload a pic of the finished Form 1 model.
BTW, here’s the link for the short film:
G.
Nice & cute. Wait for your painted model
Pretty cool Greenlaw. Makes me very excited about getting my printer. I still have to wait a while since I ordered mine in April. Btw, are you a Lightwaver? I think I’ve seen you on those forums as well. I have been using Lightwave 3d since 1998.
Hi fellow LightWaver! Yes, I’m a longtime user. I was at Rhythm & Hues for the last 12 years in a special unit called ‘The Box’ and we used LightWave on every job that came to us. Prior to R&H, I used it on b-movies and TV productions. These days, my wife and I use LightWave create indie animation productions based on my comics. I actually use a lot of 3D programs these days but LightWave tends to be my workhorse.
Finished painting Sparklepus. Will post pics soon. 
G.
Painted and final beauty shots…
Observations: The original Sparklepus model was not created with 3D printing in mind–it was only meant to look good for 3 shots in our short film ‘Happy Box’. The PerForm software evaluated that it would be fine to print it but the mane concerned me and I decided not to risk it. For this print-friendly version, I only had modify the hair pieces slightly (added for locks, reshaped the ‘roots’ to fully penetrate the ‘skin’) so that the entire model could be printed in three pieces.
Once I got the model into PerForm, printing was and clean up hassle free.
My one issue came during finishing: with the clear resin material, it’s difficult to see how good a job you’re doing. I wonder if finishing will become easier once the gray or a white material becomes available.
Anyway, considering ‘Sparklepus’ is my first 3D print, I’m thrilled with the results. The Form 1 is simply wonderful and amazing!
G.
Technical Notes
Looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing both the pics and the details.
Did you put a primer coat below the colored paint, or was this straight on the resin? And what layer height did you print at?
Thanks!
No primer was needed because the Montana Black paint is designed for opacity. Actually, standard grade ‘hobby’ paints should work fine, but I wanted specific colors that matched the toy in our movie, and I didn’t want to bother mixing my own colors. (I gave away my airbrush kit years ago when I decided to go digital. It’s ironic that a digital devices is bringing me back to ‘analog’ paints now.)
G.
Oh, sorry–I forgot: I used the default 50 microns setting. I might try 100 microns tonight–I suspect might will be fine since there’s not a lot of surface detail to Sparklepus to begin with, and the lower res should reduce print time significantly.
G.
Ugh! I wish we could edit our own posts in these forums so I can fix typos and update some of my information above. FormLabs, when you guys have a moment to relax a little, please improve the forum software. Thanks!
BTW, I noticed that I’ve been mistyping the name of the the Form 1 software as ‘PerForm’. It should be spelled ‘PreForm’ of course.
G.
The paint job looks great! Thanks for putting all the technical details up. I haven’t done any traditional painting in years so I’m going to start practicing painting real soon. I assume you are going to print the other characters next? Looking forward to seeing them as well!