After discovering HueForge, a software enabling multicolor 3D printing, and gaining access to the PRL’s new Bambu Labs printers, I designed these masks to explore the new capabilities afforded by these technologies. I used DALL-E to generate the initial shapes, refined them in Adobe Illustrator, created an STL using HueForge, and then printed them flat using 10 colors of filament. Finally, using a 3D-printed scan of my face as a die, I heat-formed them into a custom 3D mask.
HueForge leverages the translucency of PLA to turn a 2D image into a 2.5D STL that can be printed in full color. After spending a few weeks mastering the software, I challenged myself to design something 3D using the flat STL. Reading a book on Greek myths at the time, I was inspired by the question “What would a wood or water nymph wear to a masquerade ball?”
I used DALL-E to form the initial images. Then, I hopped into Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop to edit the images into the mask shapes I had envisioned, while fixing issues that would prevent clean printing. Finally, I used HueForge to test hundreds of filament color ratios until I achieved a smoothly blended STL that felt both realistic and whimsical.
I took a 3D scan of my face and 3D printed both a punch and die using a heat resistant filament. After each mask was printed flat, I used a heat gun to soften the PLA before forming it into shape using the die. Finally, I attached elastic to the sides and the masks were ready to wear!
