Creating the Chameleon Sculpture
Tags: 3d Modeling, Graphic Design, Laser Cutting, 3D Printing, Digital Fabrication

CC BY-NC-ND, Chameleon Sculpture (2021), Iridescent Vinyl on Acrylic.

Digital Fabrication focused on using technology as a creative tool. The course stressed using sketching, 2D vector-based softwares like Illustrator, 3D modeling software to bring our ideas to life. We spent a lot of time in the Makerspace utilizing their software, 3D printers, and laser cutters for various projects.

As the semester progressed, we began to learn more about the various tools in the makerspace and how we can use them in our creative process. Our midterm focused on using the laser cutter to create a sculpture. We were allowed to use any material we wanted as long as it was machine-safe, but it had to be 12x12x12” in size, or similar in volume. Using the laser cutter meant working in Cinema4D and Slicer for Fusion 360, softwares I had never heard of until the project brief.

The project brief we were given consisted of some basic keywords to help with our research in our conceptualization phase. The search results of phrases like “Laser cut sculpture”, “laser cut designs, and “interlocking forms” helped to illustrate the many possibilities I had for a project like this.

I was so unfamiliar with using the laser cutter and nervous about using the new software that I didn’t know where to begin, and I had a hard time finding inspiration. It wasn’t until class one day in the makerspace, when I saw a laser cut sculpture of an elephant on a shelf next to the makerspace. It was constructed out of acrylic sheets that interlocked with each other to create the 3 dimensional form, and it inspired the rest of my project.

The idea of creating a sculpture using interlocking forms was fascinating to me, and the elephant idea encouraged me to stay with an animal theme. So naturally, my muse had to be my favorite animal, a chameleon. There are many different types of chameleons, but most people usually know the Panther Chameleon or the Veiled Chameleon.

(Left) CC BY-SA, Charles J. Sharp, Panther Chameleon, male, Montagne d’amber, Madasgascar (Right) CC BY-SA, Anonymous, Photo of a Yemen Chameleon / Veiled Chameleon in the Berlin Zoo

These species of chameleons, specifically the males, are the ones that change color based on excitement, stress levels, or a need to camouflage. I chose to base my designs off of the Veiled Chameleon because their longer tails and the casque on the tops of the males heads gives them a more recognizable shape to draw from.

In order to make an interlocking model, I first needed to use Cinema 4D to create a 3D model of my desired shape. Cinema4D is a professional 3D modeling software, and the full version was free for me as a student. So I was super lucky to have access to such an amazing tool. The only problem was I had no experience using it, and I was attempting to sculpt a complicated shape. I was worried I bit off more than I could chew.

My professor had Cinema4D tutorials he recorded and uploaded to Youtube during remote learning in 2020, and he also advised me on how to tackle such a complex project. With his guidance and a lot of patience, I broke the chameleon down into parts and tackled them one at a time: tail, legs, body, and head.

The tail was pretty easy and took me the least amount of time because I simply drew a swirl shape, and added volume to it. The legs and feet were in a similar situation. I created two and then duplicated for the other side, mirroring them so that it appeared as though the chameleon was walking.

The body and the head each took 3–4 hours to do. I used multiple reference images in top down and side views to make sure it was appropriate in each dimension. The head was also difficult, specifically the dimension for the casque at the top and its eyes. Fortunately, Cinema4D has a symmetry feature, so my work on one side was mirrored on the other. This definitely helped but sculpting these complex shapes while learning new software had its challenges.

Once every component was sculpted individually, I put them all together and made necessary adjustments for anatomy and connected all of the pieces into one solid model. I was now ready to use Slicer for Fusion 360 to convert my three dimensional model into a series of interlocking planes.

But I quickly ran into an issue. Because I staggered the legs of the 3D model, the software notified me that there was no way for all of the planes to connect by themselves. Additional supports in between segments of the leg would be needed in order for the sculpture to be free standing. I thought that the additional structures between the leg segments would take away from the desired effect, so I returned back to my original 3D model and straightened the legs on both sides.

I didn’t realize while sculpting that staggering the legs, although making the composition look more dynamic and lifelike, would cause a structural issue down the road. While I was disappointed, it was a valuable lesson about how these softwares work and the trial-and-error process that lives within the world of digital fabrication.

CC BY-NC-N, D3D Chameleon Model

After restructuring the legs, I brought the revised model back into Slicer for Fusion 360, and the model was converted with no problem. I experimented with the amount of horizontal and vertical slices and every version converted perfectly and was able to stand freely. I chose a version with more spaces between slices because I wanted to play with negative space, and I was very pleased that the revised model had no structural issues.

CC BY-NC-ND, Multiple Angles of the Sliced Model

While converting the model into slices, I made sure to enable a setting that would also engrave each piece with a number and a letter, so I would know which pieces fit into each other for a faster assembly. Slicer for Fusion 360 also automatically generates a step-by-step guide of every piece coming together which made assembling everything much easier, especially because there were over 40 pieces on the finished model.

I used spare wood from the Makerspace to craft the first prototype of the chameleon. I wanted to create a test version as a way to troubleshoot any more structural issues before moving to the real thing. The laser cutter took about 20 minutes to cut and engrave all the pieces, and assembly took just under an hour. I was really happy with the prototype. Because I made the tail extend below the feet, it needed to stand on a ledge or elevated surface for the best display but the shape was instantly recognizable and there were no structural issues so I was ready to begin the final sculpture.

CC BY-NC-ND, Wooden Prototype of Chameleon Sculpture (2021)

I opted to use acrylic sheets for the final sculpture because it had a more polished look that wood, but I had a hard time getting the amount that I needed. I wanted this chameleon to have color, but colored acrylic sheets were much smaller than what I needed, and I wouldn’t be able to fit the biggest pieces on one sheet. I ended up purchasing two sheets of clear acrylic and figured that the transparent mirror effect would still look interesting.

I was talking about this material issue with a friend of mine who owns a 3D printer, and he mentioned that I could use vinyl to color the acrylic. He told me that any brand of adhesive vinyl would be able to cling to the acrylic without a problem, and for the size of my model it would be fairly inexpensive. So special thanks to my friend Alex for that tip.

I ended up purchasing two sheets of clear acrylic and one roll of iridescent blue vinyl for the final sculpture. I dedicated an entire day to assemble the final project because I knew it was going to be an intense process. The acrylic was slightly thicker and denser than the wood, so it took about 30 minutes for the laser cutter to cut and engrave all of my acrylic pieces, slightly longer than it took for the wood. Once I had the pieces cut, I covered all of them with the iridescent vinyl.

Covering every piece with vinyl took about 4 hours because I covered both sides, and I was careful to cut around all of the ridges of each piece. I also had to place them in a certain order so I wouldn’t get confused during assembly, because the vinyl covered the engravings I used to assemble the wooden model.

I made sure to position the pieces in a specific order after I covered all of them so I knew what order to assemble the chameleon in, and because I had assembled it once before, I didn’t have any issues putting it together. It did take another 2–3 hours because double checked every piece before I put them together and glued them for extra stability, but there were no major roadblocks during that process.

I was extremely happy with how the vinyl worked out, and was even happier that the sculpture could actually change colors like the real animal. But displaying it was a challenge. Because the tail hung below the rest of the body, the sculpture had to be displayed on a ledge, which then opened up the risk of it falling and breaking.

CC BY-NC-ND, Chameleon (2021) Changing Colors

I wanted the display to be just as thoughtful and interesting as the sculpture itself. I thought back to how I lost some of the chameleon’s character when I had to change its legs, but maybe an immersive method of displaying the work could bring some character back.

There’s a website called SketchFab that has pre-made 3D models you can download, most of them are free. I found a model of a tree branch that with slight modification, would be able to hold the chameleon while allowing the tail to hang off of the edge. I added horizontal indents across the branch to hold the feet, and a rectangular base with holes in the top and bottom so that it could be mounted to the wall. It was a very large print and took a lot of time, but the techs in the Makerspace were so nice and incredibly helpful through that process because I wasn’t familiar with 3D printing either.

The only filament the Makerspace had enough of to use for this print was yellow, and at the time I was determined to sand and paint it another color once I was done. I wasn’t sure if I wanted the branch to be brown like an actual tree branch, or maybe white, or blue to kind of match the chameleon. But once the branch was done and I put the chameleon on it, I ended up falling in love with the color. The bright yellow reflected off the chameleon’s surface almost as though it was changing to the color of the branch it was standing on. I forgot about changing the branch at all and left it as is.

CC BY-NC-ND, Finished Chameleon Sculpture

The branch-shaped mount attached to the wall perfectly and held the sculpture with no issues. Although the mount wasn’t the main part of the project, creating it added a new element of character to the chameleon and brought it to a new level. The mount and sculpture complimented each other really nicely and worked great.

I couldn’t have been happier with how the chameleon worked out. The shape looked great and I couldn’t believe how amazing the vinyl looked in different types of light. Learning how to use and work with the abilities and limitations of different software and machinery was a challenge, and it was definitely frustrating at times. But I learned so much through the creative process for this design and I really enjoyed making this piece.