💰 Cash and Prize Giveaway 4 Days Left To Enter + The Making Of Steemy The Steemwhale 🐋

krystle (69)in #competition • 7 years ago

As some of you may have seen I recently did a post announcing my first ever cash and prize giveaway, in this post I also introduced you all to Steemy the Steemwhale - and he is on offer to one lucky person that enters the giveaway!

Whilst Steemies creation was decided by the community, it was my decision to offer him up to anyone who truly wanted Steemy to be a part of their life.

I figured it was the least I could do, given that the only reason I even have a 3D pen was because o f the support that both @ausbitbank and I have received - without out all of you there is no way any of this would be possible.

Because I didn't want to just reward one person, I also thought it would be nice to offer some cash prizes as well - just to help spread the love and appreciation around.

So there are also 3 seperate cash prizes up for grabs:

1 X $100
1 X $50
1 X $25

There are only four days left for your chance to welcome Steemy the Steemwhale into your home and life, or just win some cash - so head over and enter now for your chance to win!

I also thought since I'm new to this I would try and show the creative (or not so creative depending on your view) process, what steps I took and what things I learned along the way.

At first as you may be able to tell Steemy was intended to be much smaller than the end result, I knew I would make him larger than this - but the final result is massive in comparison.

I decided to start the tail as a separate piece, so that I could trace a basic outline on paper and then build it up from there.

Next came joining the two pieces together into one larger piece, now is when I realised I had really underestimated the ratio between the body and the tail.

Here I wanted to reinforce the joint between the tail and the body, then I started to build up the body to give it a thicker wider shape ready to support the rest of the coming structure.

Next I started to build the curved edge at the base of the whale, I specifically wanted to make to edge gradually as I built up the structure to ensure a natural looking shape.

Then I started widen and reinforce the tail, continuing the join between the two halves - but giving it a more solid feel.

I then started to build up the front section in layers, you can start to see the general shape coming together - it is actually quiet hard to build up layers on themselves like this, lots of fiddly work to ensure the sides don't collapse.

Now the front is much higher and I realise I haven't started to slope the head section back yet, this gets increasingly more difficult, though it is made easier given that you can pick it up and work around the object.

As it got more difficult to build up the sides I decided to reinforce the structure, especially now the sides were starting to join at the center.

From this point I just started to build the cap as I envisioned a 3D printer may attempt, I believe it worked great Steemy as he was now fondly referred to - was starting to take shape and he was extremely strong.

I only now realise that I have to join the two sides along the back and that given his larger size I should reinforce the join between the body and the tail - I did this by creating a separate layer and then fusing it to Steemy inside, to help build up the area.

Again given Steemies growing size, his tail was no longer in proportion to his body - so now I had to extend the length of his tail.

To extend the length of his tail I had to create it out of nothing, so I attached a strand of PLA and then layered it a few times - next I had to hold the hot plastic in my hand to get the general shape I wanted to build up on.

Then came joining the different branches of the tail so it too could become a solid, then I had to build it up so it would match the density of the body.

When I was certain the tail was back on track, I noticed I had gone to large with the tail and now the body looked wrong - the beautiful thing with 3D pens, is that if you make a mistake you can just build over it.

So now I desperately attempted to alter the front to match, this time without overcompensating for my previous shortcomings

Then I had to fill in the new shell i had built for the body, plus ensuring that the two layers now joined together evenly without any clear joins showing they were separate parts.

Being sure that the body not only matched top to tail, but also side to side was a task - you have to build up the layers slowly to ensure you don't over do it in any one place.

While making him I wanted to be sure that not only was the base nice and flat without any excessive wobbling, but also that the tail was framed in such a way it could support Steemy even if he was laying upside down.

So here he is the finished product, also lovingly referred to as Steemy the Steemwhale.

Here's a top down view and you can see Steemies blowhole, but what I am really happy with is the final shape of the tail - as you can see it didn't always look that good.

Here you can see just how big Steemy really is my hand is sitting right next to him and he is a big boy, the bridge of his tail fits nicely in my hand - when you pick him up you can really feel all the weight behind him.

I used over 2 X 250g rolls of Pla and then some to complete Steemy, part is due to error -but for the most part I honestly just wanted him to be sturdy and stand up to the test of time.

I think given how new at this I am Steemy has turned out amazingly well, his proportions are much better now and his shape in general has improved dramatically.

So here he is Steemy the Steemwhale in all his glory, completed and ready to find his new forever home.

There have been a number of amazing responses already as to why people want to win Steemy and why he should go to stay with them - but the decision hasn't been made just yet, so there's still time to enter.

So if you like Steemy and think he would be happy living with you, head on over to my giveaway and enter now - and you can enter as many times as you like!

I spent countless hours trying to perfect Steemy and I have grown rather fond of him, in truth I will be rather sad to see him go - but what better way to ensure Steemy leads a happy life, but to send him out into the world and become a part of someone's life.