3D Printing Insights: Turning X-Men's Mojo Into a Printable 3D Sculpt

For over a decade, my job has mainly been about preparing other artists' designs for 3D printing or sending them to factories so they can be made into products.

I started working on this statue of Mojo about a year ago (it's always good to have side projects) and had some ideas about how I wanted to build it. But I always had to put it on hold to do work that paid the bills. Still, I really wanted to get back to it. I decided to take some time off, I was able to bring this model to completion. Moving without restrictions, it took about a week and a half to focus on this project alone, and it came together rather quickly!

I first saw Mojo way back in a Wolverine comic (Wolverine #52), drawn by Marc Silvestri. His design and personality were fascinating. He was created by Arthur Adams, and other artists I enjoy had their time drawing him and fleshing out his universe. Many have drawn him in ways that inspired my own ideas about otherworldly designs. In the tradition of artists putting their unique stamp on the character, I wanted to try to make a statue doing the same. 

When I have to make sculptures, whether they look like living things or machine parts, I want to spend time looking closely at references and really understand how the final piece needs to work. Sometimes you have to make changes. For example, I made Mojo's legs a bit thicker so they wouldn't bend or break easily after being printed.

Another example of this is making the cables into bundles. This made them much easier to print while also improving the silhouette of the model immensely. To bring the statue to life, I also made two faces so that people can choose at least one expression for Mojo's hideous visage. It is just too much fun for me.

I spent time thinking about these details, not just as the artist sculpting it, but also as the person who would have to 3D print it and paint it later. Without considering how the head or arms are attached, it might be impossible to get a paintbrush into the small spaces!

By making the arms separate pieces, there are more options for laying out the parts on the print bed. Imagine if a thin finger broke! If the arms weren't separate, you might have to reprint the whole big body piece again. Making parts separate helps fix problems easily, and reprints are cheaper this way, too. 

In the end, I wanted to share how much I love creating things and show you all the thought and effort that goes into making something like this.

I want to thank Steven Masrour for creating the exploded animation and rendering for the turntables. He is a wonderfully talented artist who helped make this look really sexy. 

As well as Derek Jackson, who printed and photographed this for his channel, and Lychee Slicer. His photos give so much tangibility to the work.

Eric Askue, Digital Artist & 3D Printing Enthusiast