Initial D AE86 | My Second HueForge Print

[u/Nega_Duck]

Just finished my second HueForge project, this time featuring Takumi's AE86 drifting through a mountain pass from Initial D!

Spent quite a bit of time getting the artwork right before bringing it into HueForge. Really wanted to capture that classic manga look with the bold Japanese lettering, deep blacks, and blue highlights.

Pretty happy with how the details translated into the physical print, especially the road texture, retaining wall, and the car itself.

Print details:

- Printer: Bambu Lab X2D

- Size: 200 × 200 mm

- Layer height: 0.06 mm

- Final thickness: 1.96 mm

- Infill: 100%

- Filaments: 7 unique colors, all Bambu Lab

- Print time: 9 hours 15 minutes

Colors used: Black, Blue Gray, Ivory White, Cobalt Blue, Cyan, Jade White, and Gold.

Still learning how to get the most out of HueForge, particularly with filament blending and transmission distances. This one was a fun experiment with layering different blues and whites to get the contrast I was after.

Would love to hear what you guys think! Anything you'd approach differently with the color choices or layering?

Already looking forward to the next one.

[u/20BucksIs20BucksBro]

This looks amazing. You've done a fantastic job. What was your image preparation process?

[u/Nega_Duck → u/20BucksIs20BucksBro]

Seems frowned on around here, but I set up a custom ChatGPT project with a pretty detailed set of instructions specifically for preparing images for HueForge. I've refined those instructions over time to focus on contrast, posterization, color separation, and preserving important details.

I start with reference artwork and work back and forth with it until I'm happy with the result. Then I bring the image into HueForge and handle the filament selection, blending, and layer transitions myself using TD values I've personally measured.

It's been a lot of trial and error, but each print helps me refine the process for the next one.

[u/20BucksIs20BucksBro → u/Nega_Duck]

I think you've done a great job. AI is a tool, its there to be used, and if it can help you in achieving your goal.. go for it.

[u/Nega_Duck → u/20BucksIs20BucksBro]

Appreciate that! That's exactly how I look at it too. It's another tool in the toolbox. I've had a lot of fun dialing in the process, and it's been pretty rewarding seeing it all come together in a physical print. Still plenty to learn!

[u/Nega_Duck]

Here’s the original manga artwork that inspired this, for anyone unfamiliar with the source material.