So for my chess set I decided I would do a crystal design, given my fascination with crystals. I have a huge collection of odd crystal bits and I figured I would make each piece a different shape.
I made the pawn a cube/octahedral inspired shape, sort of short and stubby to make it seem a little more mundane.
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Source: PhysicsOpenLab [http://physicsopenlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/pirite.jpg] |
The Rook is a hexagonal cylinder, something like a natural Beryl.
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Source: Geology.com [https://geology.com/minerals/photos/beryl-emerald-irocks.jpg] | | |
The Bishop is a smooth cylinder, again inspired by some Beryl formations. If you can't tell, I find beryls very attractive in their natural form.
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Source: Collection Arkane [https://collectionarkane.com/beryl/707-beryl-aquamarine-variety.html] |
Meanwhile, the Knight I decided to make more angular, as an homage to the hunched over horse-head of the original knight design. I chose a form of quartz as the inspiration. The Queen is also quartz based, a clean spire, which is the iconic crystal form.
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Source: Mineral Miners [https://www.mineralminers.com/html/quartz_crystals.stm] |
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The king, meanwhile, is not a particular crystal shape. I felt like the king, befitting its importance, is the only one which will have a 'worked' crystal shape. The king alone is a cut stone which gives it an immediate unique appearance.
The above is the initial model. I additionally made adjusted the shapes, adding mild faceting to all the pieces for a bit more visual diversity. I also implemented the 'gimmick' of the set: the interior is hollow. This way bits of candy or whatnot can be put inside the pieces, to give players a little incentive to take pieces.
The printing process, however, was a right mess. It failed multiple times, and all I have for show are the bases. I'm still not sure what went wrong - I made sure to have the models be repaired, and checked over before I printed.
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