Garden Railway Forum

I havent yet.
There is a Meshy plug-in that is supposed to allow direct import from Meshy into Blender, but I couldn't get it to connect yesterday when I tried it and i haven't had a chance to re-visit the install yet.

StuartJ wrote: Mon Sep 29, 2025 12:24 pmNot working women, but does this help for Victorian passengers and staff/crew?

A bit assistance from Gemini and Photoshop passed into Meshy got this model waiting to download.
Maybe a bit too much like King Charles facially though

Paul_in_Ricky wrote: Mon Sep 29, 2025 3:20 pm
Maybe a bit too much like King Charles facially though

I didn't notice that until I read your comment... but you're right!!

Paul_in_Ricky wrote: Mon Sep 29, 2025 2:37 pm Has anyone yet tried the option to rig their model and repose it in Blender yet ?

Paul,
I've had a go by downloading a Meshy stl and then importing it to Blender, then followed the procedure I outlined before to rig it. It both works and doesn't work!

The actual procedure works, however I haven't produced any models where the arms/hands are not touching the body at some point. Because of that moving the arms for example also moves a distorted body at the point that they touch.
I think that the only way to do is to create a Gemini figure with arms in the A or T shape, then go through the steps to import to Blender, then rig it and pose as needed.

philipy wrote: Mon Sep 29, 2025 7:58 pm import to Blender, then rig it and pose as needed.

I wasn't clear enough, but I was really asking about the option for Meshy to rig the figure and export it complete with a skeleton ready rigged in a .glb file.
Not sure whether that would be worth the small cost compared to doing it manually in Blender.

Thinking about it, I'm sure you're correct that the figure would need it's limbs separated from the body for that to work as we might hope.
Maybe something to be considered when creating the the prompt image if you think some reposing might be of benefit later in the process.

A wee bit off-topic, or at least a thread drift, but something just occurred to me.
One of the most difficult things when drawing a loco for 3D printing is to get the tapers on the bottom of domes and chimneys.
I have no idea how to write the prompt, given the complex geometry involved, but it might be possible to get Gemini to draw it accurately and then Meshy to 3D it? The major prob that I see is that Gemini works in 2D, so it might be better to put it straight into Meshy to do the whole thing, but I have no idea if that would work either? Any thoughts anyone?

Which version of Gemini are most people using I have access to
Gemini 2.0 Flash
Gemini 2.5 Flash
Gemini 2.5 Pro
Do you get the stl written by it the put it into meshy.
Still can't get my head around what is being done

GAP wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 11:42 am Which version of Gemini are most people using I have access to
Gemini 2.0 Flash
Gemini 2.5 Flash
Gemini 2.5 Pro
Do you get the stl written by it the put it into meshy.
Still can't get my head around what is being done

Gemini 2.5 Flash is what I am using.

We are using Gemini to create a 2D image that can be saved as a .jpg or .png file.

The image file is then uploaded to Meshy.ai to create a 3D model based on that image that can then be downloaded as an .stl file to print on a 3D printer.

Philipy’s post at the bottom of page 3 in this topic is the most complete description of the process.

philipy wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 11:02 am One of the most difficult things when drawing a loco for 3D printing is to get the tapers on the bottom of domes and chimneys.
I have no idea how to write the prompt, given the complex geometry involved, but it might be possible to get Gemini to draw it accurately and then Meshy to 3D it? The major prob that I see is that Gemini works in 2D, so it might be better to put it straight into Meshy to do the whole thing, but I have no idea if that would work either? Any thoughts anyone?

I haven't tried Meshy yet, so my thoughts are not well-informed, but I'd have thought this kind of precise mathematical drawing is exactly what Gemini, Meshy and other "AI" tools would be bad at. Ironically given all the sci-fi over the years about how when "AI" comes along it will be expert at logic and reason, never slapdash or inaccurate, and unable to lie, the current generative AI tools are pretty much the opposite.

I know you're not into OpenSCAD but you can always just enter the numbers into the piece of code I wrote to generate flares for domes and chimneys.

You may well be correct Simon, as I said it was just a thought that came to me. I haven't tried your Openscad for this use, although for the loco wheel it worked well. I have no need for it atm, was just thinking out loud. My B & M loco has been on the stocks for almost a year now and is actually not that far off, once I'm able to get down to it, so any other project is waaay in the future!

StuartJ wrote: Mon Sep 29, 2025 12:24 pm

Trevor Thompson wrote: Sun Sep 28, 2025 9:51 am I am still looking for appropriate photos - and there are not many victorian photos with working women in them!

Not working women, but does this help for Victorian passengers and staff/crew?

It does help - thanks for posting..

Good as it is for generic type pictures of figures, I've been a bit disappointed with the way that Meshy distorts photos of real people. However, by accident it has just nearly blown my mind!

I came across a picture on Alamy of a girl operating a Victorian cotton mill. Thinking of Trevor wanting female workers, i downloaded the picture and roughly edited her out and bunged it into Gemini. For some reason, it deleted most of the background but left part of the loom in. Not expecting anything usable, I loaded it into Meshy anyway, and Wow!

I wasn't expecting anything usable, but merely some garbage to edit out. i doubt it would print well though, because there is just too much that is too small to support. It does potentially open up possibilities though. F'rinstance, how about a signal man and all of his levers, printed as one unit?

That looks a good figure (if you cut the unprintable mess off).
Did you run the original image though Gemini to improve it as well as the erasures ?

Errr... sorry. I must have been asleep when I wrote that post.
I didn't use Gemini, I just put the picture straight into Meshy and pressed generate. Meshy also added a 3d version of the watermark "Alamy" so I put it into Meshmixer and deleted that bit.

Another link for photos. Not sure how many are useful, and I suspect that a number of them may be Spanish not UK.
https://www.vintag.es/2019/12/victorian ... women.html

Impressive model from such an apparently poor image.

philipy wrote: Sat Oct 04, 2025 12:28 pmMeshy also added a 3d version of the watermark "Alamy"

I wonder how long it will be before they detect copyright information and refuse to process it ?

"Make hay while the sun shines"!

There area few interesting piccies here:
https://historicengland.org.uk/research ... -in-stone/
I just scrolled down the mill picture and there are loads of pictures further down
https://www.alamy.com/victorian-photogr ... archtype=0

I am amazed at how it manages to infer (or should it be extrapolate?) how the rear of the figure would appear.

Rik

Looking forwarded to seeing Phil’s fully fitted out 16mm/ft cotton mill! Only another few hundred operators to generate Phil