Main Image (It changes when you click on the thumbnails)
The finished chess set reference photo of the chess set Rendered image of the chess set Drawing reference for modeling Comparable printed pieces Funny cat attacking the chess set
3D Recreation of "Gelman's Chess Set"
While only 5 exist in gold, I recreated the set in plastic.

Background:

While I was learning 3D modeling in blender I was challenged to create a chess set. I didn't want to create just any chess set, so I set out to find the rarest one I could find.

"Media artist, Alexander Gelman, in collaboration with traditional Japanese artisans has designed an exquisite limited edition series of master chess sets. The sleek and stunning sets are made of lacquer, silver plating and gold leaf — there are only 5 in the world, each is unique and priced up to $55,000." ~ Anakin

The problem with modeling this set is that there are only a few reference photos to use. I could only find 3 photos of the set from different angles. (2 of which are above)


Process:

Thankfully this chess set uses simple geometry. I just traced the photos above, dropped them in blender and then printed them out. Really not that bad of process.