Nov 13, 2015 | By Kira
Miguel Quintero is a creative spirit with a colorful résumé. He’s been a dancer, a flying trapeze artist, a guitarist, and, though he won’t claim to be a singer, has also done vocals for musical tracks. Now, he can add skilled 3D designer and, potentially, architect to the list.
Quintero bought a ROBO 3D R1 +Plus 3D printer five months ago, around the same time he had started self-teaching himself CAD design. Though not a trained architect by any means, after playing around with a few ideas, he accepted a challenge from a friend in building development: If he could design and 3D print a viable, well-planned apartment building sample, she would hire him to help develop the real thing. Quintero accepted, and the result is quite impressive.
The multi-story, scale model building he came up with was entirely 3D printed using the ROBO 3D printer. It features several corner balconies, a rooftop terrace (complete with 3D printed palm trees) and even a parking garage with tiny 3D printed cars. It looks just like the multi-million dollar condos sprouting up in major cities across the world— in fact, he’s hoping that it will become one. “I would love to live in a building like this, so I said, I’m gonna build one,” said Quintero.
“I’m not an architect, I’m just somebody who can appreciate art and I try to express myself through whatever tools that I can use,” said Quintero.
His 3D software of choice is AutoCAD’s 123D Design. “It’s a free program, it’s a powerful CAD design…you do have to play with it a little but, but YouTube is your friend,” said the artist, who said that he taught himself almost everything he knows and used the video hosting site as a main resource.
When it came time to 3D print the final product, he printed all the pieces separately on his R1 +Plus and then plastic-welded them together. In total, it took him roughly 10 weeks to complete, and used about $300 worth of materials (10 spools of PLA).
According to Quintero, when he was looking for his first 3D printer to purchase, the ROBO 3D was the one that stood out. “They gave me the auto bed leveling, they gave me the heated bed, the whole package for the best price,” he said, although he did add that he made several upgrades to the machine himself. “The 3D printer definitely helped me change—I would say add—to my artistry, in that it gave me a new tool, it gave me a different way to express whatever I was envisioning.”
As for his developer friend? Apparently, she loved the 3D printed scale model he pitched. “I’m pretty much getting the job because of that. It’s opening up a whole new business for me.”
Quintero’s story is just one example of how the increasing ‘plug and play’ capabilities of desktop 3D printers and free 3D modeling software can help artists 3D print their way to entirely new careers, business ventures, and passion projects. We’re both curious and excited to see how this might inspire other makers to shake things up and unleash their 3D printing creativity.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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