I 3D Printed my House - Realistic Scenery Vol.19

It's amazing how far 3D printing has come in the past few years! So much so that I can 3D print an ultra realistic model of my house!

In Realistic Scenery Vol.19 I use a resin based printer, the Anet N4, to 3D print a highly realistic replica of the house I'm currently living in.
To actually design the house I used a free web based program called TinkerCAD, it's really easy to use and for basic type shapes like a house it does the job perfectly.

Here is the video tutorial on YouTube if you'd like to follow along:

A lot of people ask how  make my models look so realistic and to help answer those questions here are some of my secret tips for making model look realistic...

• First is perspective when taking photos: If you watch the tutorial video you'll notice that when I start carving the foam to create the contours of the scene I make the very front edge slope down. This was intentionally done so that when it was time to take the photos I would get a feeling of being lower to the ground and less likely to have the edge of the diorama being visible in the photo and it gives you a better sense of being part of the scene.
  
  
• Next is color and texture: I always choose colors that look pale or faded, even when selecting the grass and tree materials. I almost always use the fall or late summer colors of grass and when it comes to trees I look for olive colors. The woodlands scenics burnt grass course foam is a good start. Although remember to keep in mind the lighting in which your model will be displayed, I photograph my models outside so even the slightest hint of color stands out quite a lot more compared to having that same model under room lighting.
  
  
• Take your model outside: By taking your model outside to take photos you'll get a very nice sunlight color, it is the sun after all, and something else you'll get is prefect shadows. The effects of the shadows cast by the sun are some of the most realistic effects you can get.
  
  
• Last but not least - placement of shadows: It sounds a little strange with no context but what I mean is orientate your model to control where the shadows fall. As an example I deliberately orientated the model in most of the photos to have a portion of the tree shadow being cast over the roof, it just adds another layer of complexity and adds even more realism.

Those are just some of the techniques I use when taking the photos of the models, obviously there is quite a lot more with regards to equipment but that can be for another blog post.

For those of you who have made it to the end I have a little treat for you in the form of a photo:

bonus photo