Custom 3D bust of father and daughter: a family keepsake printed in resin
Some 3D-printing projects are valuable not because they produce a technical part or solve a replacement problem. In this case, the goal was much more personal: to turn the image of a man holding his daughter into a physical bust that could be kept as a memory.
Introduction
Some 3D-printing projects are valuable not because they produce a technical part or solve a replacement problem. In this case, the goal was much more personal: to turn the image of a man holding his daughter into a physical bust that could be kept as a memory.
The result is a combined figure approximately 15 cm tall, manufactured using resin 3D printing. The father is shown holding the girl in his arms, so these are not two independent busts placed together, but a single composition.
A photograph only shows us what a person looks like from one particular viewpoint. A 3D figure, by contrast, has volume and can be viewed from different angles.
This means that an important part of the result depends on the references available. The face is important, but so are elements such as hairstyle, clothing, arm position and, in this case, the relationship between the two people.
That is precisely why, when planning a custom 3D-printing project, having good photographs can be just as important as the printing itself.
We have already discussed this point in another project involving a custom 3D bust from photographs: the machine can reproduce a great deal of detail, but it cannot recover information that is not present in the original references.
Why print a 15 cm bust in resin?
At Vanco Studio, we work with both FDM and resin 3D printing, but we do not choose a technology simply because one is considered better than the other. The choice depends on the object to be manufactured.
In a figure around 15 cm tall, faces, fingers, clothing folds, hair, hat features and small surface changes are all concentrated into a very small space. In this context, resin printing is appropriate because it can reproduce small geometries and surfaces with a level of definition suited to this type of figure.
This does not mean resin is always the best option. A large functional part, workshop tool or certain prototypes may make much more sense in FDM. In fact, the correct choice depends on the use, size, geometry, required strength and expected finish.
In our guide to FDM or resin 3D printing, we explain why it makes sense to choose the technology according to the project rather than simply seeking the highest possible resolution.
Scale determines how much detail can actually be seen
This project highlights an important lesson for anyone wanting to commission a custom figure: digital detail and physical detail are not exactly the same thing.
We can work on a very small element in the 3D model, but then we have to ask how large it will be when the entire figure measures 15 cm. A detail that looks obvious when the model is enlarged on a screen may become a fraction of a millimetre in the finished piece.
For that reason, when preparing a figure for printing, adding detail indiscriminately is not useful. The priority should be the features that will still be recognisable after the model is reduced to its final size.
The face is a good example. The overall shape of the head, nose, lips, eyes and expression need to remain legible at actual scale. The same applies to the girl: because she is considerably smaller within the same composition, her details have even less physical space available.
Two people in one piece make the print more complex
The composition also affects how the model is prepared. In this bust, we have the man’s body, the girl in front, several overlapping arms and areas where geometries are very close to one another.
From a printing perspective, this creates more complex areas than in a conventional bust of a single person. The arms, hands, chin, hat and certain areas of the clothing can create overhangs that need to be studied before the piece is manufactured.
Model orientation is important because it determines where supports appear during printing. It is not enough simply to establish whether a geometry can be printed: you also need to consider where marks will remain when those supports are removed.
On a decorative figure, placing supports on a highly visible area of the face can unnecessarily complicate the finishing process. That is why print preparation is part of the work and should not be treated as an automatic last-minute setting.
A physical keepsake, not simply a 3D figure
In this project, 3D printing is the manufacturing tool, but it is not really the reason for the commission. What needed to be preserved was the scene being represented: a father holding his daughter.
That distinction matters. When we manufacture a custom bust, the goal is not to demonstrate how much detail a printer can produce. The aim is for the technology, scale and preparation to serve the memory represented by the piece.
The final result was a combined resin bust approximately 15 cm tall, in which the pose, clothing, hat and especially the relationship between father and daughter make the scene recognisable as a complete composition.
Custom 3D printing in Girona
From our Vanco Studio workshop in L'Estartit, Girona, we carry out resin and FDM 3D-printing work for technical and creative projects. We work for customers in Girona, the Costa Brava and Catalonia, as well as on projects managed remotely and shipped to the rest of Spain.
If you want to turn photographs into a physical bust or figure, the most useful approach is to send us several good-quality references and indicate the approximate size you are looking for. From there, we can assess the project and determine how best to approach manufacturing.