The main aspect of 3D modeling is that it gives you freedom. It loosens your work and releases your imagination and fantasies. You can do whatever you like – model, sculpt, shape, combine, whatever, even go beyond the natural realm of things and way beyond reality.

The following guidelines will help you in utilizing your time properly while modeling 3D objects, as well as be time and cost effective.

1. Don’t neglect surfaces

You must keep the fact in mind that walls of the 3D model you are preparing should be thick enough. While printing in 3D it is mandatory that the model which will be printed must not be less than 0.5mm in thickness. 1mm is the safest bet. Therefore, drawing on solid bodies is preferable to surfaces.

2. Shut the face of your model

Whether the faces of your models are open or not does play a part. For the purpose of a model to be waterproof, the faces must be shut closed. If there are open faces left after modeling, make sure that you close them. It will be very difficult to print them in 3D otherwise.

3. Separate edges

You must be careful of the fact that 3D models do not have edges which they are sharing with other neighboring models. It will be better to incorporate a 0.1mm or more gap between separate bodies to distinguish them.

4. Correct normals

Each and every surface of a designed model should have the normals pointed in the correct directions. If somehow the normals of the 3D model you prepared are inverted then it will be impossible for the 3D printers to distinguish between the outside and inside of the mesh.

5. Hollow the models

What hollowing does is saves a ton of money. Filling the insides of a model with costly material is indeed a pointless endeavor. The ultimate differences in price will be quite striking.

6. Scale it down if you can

Scaling the model down will also help reduce the printing price of the model in 3D. This is mainly because the increase in price of printing is way more than the increase in size of the model. Cutting down the size of the model to half will reduce the price of printing by at least 8 times.

7. Keep within the limits

All 3D printers consist of a limitation in the size of the output you can print. In case the model designed has to be bigger than the build volume, then divide it into lesser individual components.

8. Leave a gap, always

In the case you are designing a 3D model which has moving parts, it must be kept in mind that a gap needs to be maintained between them. The gap should be at least 0.5mm, so as to prevent two objects from sticking and to provide unobstructed movement.

9. Keep it stable

In the jargon of the 3D modeling and printing world, there is a term called “thin arm syndrome”. It must be kept in mind that thin arms are not to be left behind, which do not look like they can possibly support the weight at the end. Especially in the cases of scaling down models, make sure that the arms are strong and look capable of carrying the weight.

10. Model the characters accurately

Attention to detail must be paid while modeling printable 3D models. Even the little things matter. The arms and legs should be of the perfect shape and size. The surface details should be supported on minimum one side of another surface. Try to keep the fingers together too, as they are thin and likely to break.

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