by ArcAiN6

Modeled from my real life measurements, this was designed as a positive for for a mold for making a toy for when my partner goes out of town.

I'm not going to sugar coat it here, there is a LOT of work that needs done to this model. When printed out, it will be highly faceted, and there's not much more than the general shape and dimensions. The positive will only be as good as you make it with creative work done after the printing is done.

Steps i used to get to the point you see in the photo
1) Created, cut, and printed the model pieces
2) Filed, and dry fit pieces using alignment pins
3) Glued pieces together
(bottom half first, then top half together, then top half to bottom half)
4) LOTS of sanding, filing, and generally getting all of the facets smoothed out.
5) Coated the entire thing in wood filler putty
(Next time, i will used auto body putty, because wood filler doesn't stick very well, and kept falling apart like a drying sand-castle)
6) Smoothed out the wood filler by wearing nitrile gloves, and wetting them, then rubbing over the entire surface.. ahem
7) added veins with a small hobby hot-glue gun, and repeating the steps above, blended them into the rest of the model with wood filler putty, and some more wet glove action... (this is really sounding bad... )
8) put in a few very thing coats of latex paint to seal things a bit
9) smoothed out the air bubbles the painting left (used a brush)
10) compeletely sealed mold with 10 very light coats of hard spray paint.. i say hard, because matte, and dull finish paints tend to flake, and chip easily, whereas gloss paint, when applied in thin layers seems to be much stronger..
11) wet sanded the entire thing to get a glossy smooth finish everywhere, and applied 2 more very very thin layers of the same gloss spray paint.

Notes:

I hind-sight, i would reccomend auto-body filler instead of wood putty, skip the latex paint part (was more trouble than it was worth) and would have wet-sanded the entire pieces after every 2 thin coats of gloss spray paint. just to keep everything smooth ,and uniform..

Judging by the photos, you can see what a bit of work, and creative thinking can get you.

As always, i hope you guys enjoy the design.
If you want to tip me, please do so... I kind of have a pervy habbit to support :p