Using Blender, Meshmixer, and Thingiverse for Designing the Purple Heart Award

In a prior post, I noted that my design process for the Purple Heart Award involves three key programs: Blender, Meshmixer, and Thingiverse. In this post, I will go into more detail about how I used these programs specifically for this project.

Finding Resources on Thingiverse

First, I went to Thingiverse because I thought I might be able to find some of the pieces I needed for the award design. As someone who doesn’t have the artistic gene, I gladly take any help I can get. And I was right! I was able to find the heart, a leaf, a star, and a full bust of George Washington’s head on Thingiverse. I downloaded the STL files, which I can now use in Blender.

Importing and Modifying Files in Blender

In Blender, I imported all of the files except for the bust of George Washington. I had to further modify that file before using it. After importing the files, I needed to convert them into meshes so that I could modify, move, or duplicate them as needed. To do this, I selected the files and went to the top menu, clicked on “Object,” and then went to the bottom where it said “Convert.” From the drop-down menu that appeared, I selected “Mesh.” Now, I could put the pieces where they needed to be and set up the bases of the award.

A few tasks remained to be completed in Blender. I needed to add the coat of arms, ribbon, and the piece to connect them, along with George Washington’s bust. However, I had to modify the bust first to fit my needs. To do this, I added and changed the Blender meshes of a cube, cylinder, and torus. Then, I imported George Washington’s bust into Meshmixer.

Modifying the Bust in Meshmixer

Meshmixer initially looked scary to me when I first saw my husband use it. The more I use it, the more I like it. It is pretty simple and easy to navigate. Going back to the topic at hand, the original bust file was of the whole head and a thin base. I first made a plane cut across the bottom to get rid of the base. It took a few tries to figure out that in order to see both pieces after cutting, I needed to separate the shells.

After separating the shells, I was able to remove the base, leaving only the head. The challenge then was to capture the correct profile of George Washington’s head, as the file I was working from depicted him with a slight turn. I made another plane cut, rotated and moved the plane to where I wanted to make the cut, and then performed the cut. After separating the shells again, I deleted the half I no longer needed.

Having completed the modifications, I was ready to export the bust and then re-import it into Blender. Exporting from Meshmixer results in OBJ files, which are compatible for editing in various programs.

Finalizing the Design in Blender

Back in Blender, I converted the imported bust to a mesh and made the necessary modifications to fit it properly on the front of the award. Blender is a versatile program that can read many file formats and is easy to use.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, I really like using Blender, Meshmixer, and Thingiverse for this project. With just a little bit of use, they are easy to learn and navigate. These programs accept a wide variety of formats to work with, making them versatile tools for designers. And the best part is that they are free for anyone to use.

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