#165 Taiko Ninja
An experiment in generating a 54mm figure with Tripo3D AI and printing it on a relatively high-resolution FDM printer (the Bambu Lab P1S). I asked for a Taiko player but what I got was more like a martial arts street fighter.. hence the name: Taiko Ninja! Conclusion? The AI 3D model generation tools are good if given recognisable IP or detailed photographs, but sub-par with pure text prompts; the latest FDM printers are great for gaming figures and ornaments, but still not up to the standards expected in scale modeling.
Notes
This project is the result of some experimentation with AI 3D model generation that I have been doing. The figure used here was generated with Tripo3D from a 2D image generated by ChatGPT. See LCK#421 Tripo3D for more details on the model generation process.
Note: after doing a reverse image search, the results are suspiciously close to Ryu from Street Fighter and Sega Virtua Fighter Akira Yuki. I suspect strong hints in the training data…so the AI stole it!
I asked for a Taiko player but what I got was more like a martial arts street fighter.. hence the name: Taiko Ninja!
3D Model Generation
The initial image was generated with ChatGPT:
And the 3D model was generated with the latest Tripo3D v3.1 model:
Build Log
I exported the STL for printing, scaled it to 54mm, and printed it on a Bambu Lab P1S at the library:
After some cleanup:
I’ve done some sanding and primed it with Mr Surfacer 500 to try and reduce the layer lines. It is not perfect, but then again my mission was to find out how good a result one could get with AI and an FDM printer…
Painting
I laid down the base colours by hand with a range of Mr Hobby Aqueous colours.
And then hit it with H20 flat clear before moving on to Vallejo Model Color for the final touches:
Final Gallery
Finished with Vallejo Model Color and posed on a temporary stand:
Conclusion
Let’s review the 2 key questions I had…
Can AI generate good 3D models?
- A qualified yes
- I’ve used Tripo3D here, but my latest tests with Meshy give similar results
- 3D models generated from photographs, or line drawings similar to recognisable IP, yield very high quality 3D models
- but model generation from text prompts is still highly prone to hallucination, and random, impossible results
Are the latest FDM printers (like the Bambu Lab P1S) good enough for printing scale model figures?
- close but no cigar
- at 54mm (the scale I used for this test), the layer lines are quite apparent, but can be knocked back with a bit of sanding and priming
- perhaps good for gaming figures, but not up the the standards expected in scale modeling
- so, resin printers are still the gold standard