A Lifelong Passion Meets a Modern Obstacle
For Chad Hunter (3DMinisByChad), the world of tabletop RPGs has always been about more than just rolling dice—it’s about world-building. His journey began at age nine with HeroQuest. Enamored by the game but unable to afford the expansion packs, Chad’s creativity was born out of necessity.
“I carved tables out of wood and made figures out of anything I could,” Chad recalls. From playdough models to whittling wood, he was determined to bring the characters in his imagination to the physical table.
However, as he transitioned into adult 3D printing, he hit a familiar wall: the technical barrier. While he had the ideas, executing them digitally was a struggle. Learning Blender from scratch proved to be an exhausting bottleneck.
"I watched a lot of tutorials on how to use Blender. I learned a lot, but it was so time-consuming to start from scratch. Before Meshy, I had the ideas of what I wanted to make, but getting the details I really wanted was next to impossible."
Chad Hunter
3d printing artist
The Solution: Discovering Meshy for Easy 3D Creation
The turning point came during a family bonding moment. Chad was designing a custom "Swamp Quest" for his son and thought it would be awesome to have unique character cards of their own. He wondered if it might be possible to create his own custom assets using AI-generated images. He tried finding pre-made assets, but they rarely matched his specific vision.
"I was finding pieces online that I could buy and print but the customization wasn't there. I've used some slicing and modeling websites but it still took so much time to finish a single figure."
Chad Hunter
3d printing artist
What he wanted were some specific models that could truly represented his story, not just generic assets. That thought led to a Google search, which brought Meshy to him.
"A Google search later and boom, I found the mother load—a website that makes 3D models from my ideas. I was hooked... I couldn't believe it even existed. I was mesmerized by day one."
Chad Hunter
3d printing artist
How Meshy Accelerated the Mini-Making Process
Integrating Meshy into his pipeline allowed Chad to shift his focus from technical topology to pure creativity. His new workflow eliminates hours of manual modeling:
- Generate high-quality reference images using AI prompts to visualize the exact concept
- Transform 2D concepts into high-fidelity 3D models using Meshy, capturing intricate details instantly
- Refine models in Blender only for minor cleanups or specific tweaks, rather than building from scratch
- Slice and print the final assets, moving from digital file to physical object in record time
With Meshy, he can have a new design of his own characters in 28mm or 32mm from idea to in his hand in less than a single day, which is amazing.
From Minis to Masterpieces
The impact on Chad’s output has been profound. The release of Meshy 6 was a game-changer, providing a level of detail that "completely blew him away" and removed the need for heavy manual modifications.
This technological leap empowered him to scale up his ambitions significantly. He is no longer just making single figures for a quick quest, he is building elaborate worlds. Fuelled by this new inspiration, he has even begun creating dioramas for friends and relatives. Chad describes the shift as a journey from just having a new figure for a quest to making huge centerpieces that he now displays in his living room with pride.
A prime example is his standout creation, the Dragonblade Sentinel. This massive, intricate piece perfectly illustrates the shift from simple minis to complex showstoppers.
His latest dioramas beautifully capture dynamic poses and intricate textures—like the weathering on arche or the folds in a character's clothes—that previously would have taken weeks to model by hand.
Conclusion: Meshy as a Catalyst for Limitless Imagination
Chad’s story is a testament to how AI tools are democratizing 3D creation. It’s not about replacing the artist; it’s about removing the barriers that stop human creativity from becoming reality. For Chad, Meshy has bridged the gap between the image in his mind and the model on his table.
For other hobbyists, creators or 3D printing enthusiasts who feel limited by their modeling skills, Chad believes the potential is endless. He invites every player to experience the joy of bringing a character that truly represents them to the table, reminding us that with the right tools, "the literal sky is the limit" for the stories we can tell.
