American Committee Model (Statue of Liberty)

thingiverse

The first souvenir replicas of the Statue of Liberty made available for purchase in the United States were labeled as "American Committee Models." Crafted in Brooklyn, New York under an agreement with the American Committee, these models had been produced years earlier to raise funds for building the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. It was hoped that the sale of these souvenir replicas would not only help raise funds but also generate a royalty payment after completion to Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the creator of Liberty. While the sales alone were insufficient to cover the costs to complete the pedestal, they proved popular and were sold widely across America. They remain a highly sought-after item for collectors today. I had long desired one but hesitated at the hefty prices commanded by these replicas in auctions like eBay. I was fortunate enough to find one and seize the opportunity to capture photos to recreate it. You can learn more about the history and circumstances of the American Committee Models here: http://goo.gl/1wbwcG I snapped roughly sixty images of this model inside a light tent. The model stood on a turntable, allowing me to swiftly rotate it without handling it excessively. I captured all photos in DNG format, ensuring I could capture maximum detail possible. I then processed the files using Photoshop Elements to refine them before exporting them into Lightroom. In Lightroom, I reviewed my work carefully and exported the images as TIFFs. The resulting folder of TIFF files was used by Photoscan to create this model. I employed the 'High' setting throughout each step. When the model was complete, I exported it as an OBJ file and opened it in Meshmixer. There, I scaled it to match the original size precisely. I then attempted to smooth out some areas with noticeable noise without compromising shape or details. Finally, I exported it as another OBJ file and opened it in Memento to decimate it, shrinking the file size slightly more before exporting it as an STL file to share here. While this model is acceptable, I still have not perfected my technique as crucial fine details such as Liberty's fingers, toes, and other features tend to be poorly modeled. I consider it a user issue rather than a software problem. In the future, I plan to revisit this project with improved resolution in mind.