sculpt your characters as detailed 3D models

Welcome to the tutorial Everything You Need to Know to Design and Create Your Own Miniatures, using the latest and most accessible AI technology to create 3D models of your favorite characters starting from a single image and bringing them to life with 3D printing technology. The process is so simple, accessible, and intuitive that it goes beyond anything you ever imagined.

0. Nano Banana

1. Selecting the Correct Image

The first step is to choose the character image you will use to create your miniature.

Let’s assume we’ve chosen the following character image as our reference.

This illustration is rendered in a highly polished, cinematic comic-book style, blending modern superhero aesthetics with epic sci-fi fantasy. It features clean, confident line work, fully saturated high-contrast colors, and smooth digital gradients.

The anatomy is idealized and heroic, with glossy skin and metallic materials enhanced by dramatic, stylized lighting and sharp specular highlights. Neon violet energy effects add a futuristic, cosmic intensity, while the deep-space background provides scale and atmosphere without competing with the central figure.

This illustration style may not be the most suitable option for creating your miniature. While it can still be used to begin the process, making a few targeted adjustments to the image will significantly improve the final results of your mini.

The most intuitive, easy-to-use, and state-of-the-art tool for editing, refining, and transforming images using AI is Nano Banana, which you can access directly through Google’s Gemini application.

To get started, go to https://gemini.google.com (TAP HERE)

and create a free account in just a few seconds using your regular Gmail account.

Once inside Gemini, activate Nano Banana’s image creation and image editing mode to begin refining your character image for optimal miniature results.

Important note: If you are watching this tutorial on your mobile phone and the screenshots shown below—where we indicate the steps you need to follow on your computer—appear too small, you can simply zoom in using your fingers to read the text more clearly and view the screenshots in greater detail.

By uploading the image you want to use to create your miniature into Gemini using Nano Banana, you can change the illustration style to virtually anything you want. This allows you to test different visual styles and quickly see which one works best for miniature creation.

Simply writing a prompt like the one below lets you transform the image into a more miniature-friendly style. While this example focuses on a comic-book look, you can adapt the prompt to any style you prefer.

Example prompt: Transform the illustration into a traditional, high-quality comic-book style with a strong emphasis on inked line work and graphic clarity. Replace the cinematic, hyper-rendered finish with clean, visible contour lines, confident black inking, and subtle cross-hatching to define form and anatomy. Use flatter, more illustrative shading instead of glossy gradients, allowing the line art to carry most of the structure and depth. Maintain vibrant, saturated colors, but simplify transitions to a stylized comic palette. Add dynamic speed lines and graphic motion accents to enhance impact and forward movement. Treat the cosmic background in a painterly yet illustrative comic style—rich in color but less detailed than the foreground—ensuring the character remains the clear focal point. The final result should resemble a modern comic splash page: bold, readable, and graphic, never cinematic or photorealistic.

This would be the result of the requested style transformation:

This illustration style can still be used to create your miniature, but it is not the ideal option. If we want to achieve cleaner, more precise, and more polished results, we should ask Nano Banana to transform the image into a style that is better suited for this process.

A cinematic render–style illustration is far more appropriate for generating optimal miniature results. To do this, we request a style transformation using the following prompt.

Cinematic Render – Style Transformation Prompt: Transform the illustration into a highly polished, cinematic digital illustration style with a refined, premium finish. Render the character with smooth, elegant anatomy and idealized proportions, using soft gradients and glossy highlights to create a sculptural, near-photoreal appearance on skin and costume. Emphasize sleek, armor-like fabric materials with subtle reflections and controlled specular lighting. Position the character in a calm yet powerful forward-floating pose, emerging from a glowing violet energy vortex, with twin beams of luminous purple energy extending cleanly from her clenched fists. Use a dramatic but restrained lighting setup, including gentle rim lighting and soft glow effects to define the silhouette without harsh contrast. The color palette should focus on silvers, violets, and deep space blues, with a richly atmospheric cosmic background of galaxies and nebulae that enhances scale and depth while remaining secondary to the character. The final result should feel cinematic, majestic, and controlled—conveying cosmic power and authority rather than graphic motion or comic stylization.

By requesting this style change, this would be the resulting image, and this style is ideal for starting the process:

2. Selecting the Correct Pose

When choosing a pose for creating a 3D miniature, it’s important to understand that almost any pose can be valid. However, when you are just starting out and don’t yet have much experience with 3D reconstruction and printing, simpler poses are always the best choice.

The example pose shown here can work, but it is slightly complex and somewhat unstable. Poses with dynamic balance, floating elements, bent legs, or asymmetrical weight distribution are harder for AI tools to reconstruct accurately in 3D and more difficult to print successfully.

For beginners, it is strongly recommended to start with:

• Both feet firmly placed on the ground

• A balanced, symmetrical stance

• Arms positioned close to the body

• No extreme motion or exaggerated angles

If your character already exists in a complex or unstable pose, you can solve this by using an AI image tool such as NanoBanana. Create a prompt that keeps the character’s identity fully consistent while simplifying the pose.

For example, you can use a prompt like: “Maintaining full consistency of this character, change the pose to a stable standing position with both feet firmly on the ground. Remove all visual noise such as energy effects, lightning, or glowing elements. Place the character’s hands elegantly at both sides of the body. Make the character stand in an epic, elegant, and balanced posture suitable for 3D printing.”

This approach makes the character much easier to reconstruct in 3D, improves the quality of the generated STL, and significantly increases the chances of a clean, successful print—especially when you are still gaining experience.

After giving this instruction to Nano Banana, this would be the result:

3. Selecting the Correct Background

Choosing the right background is a critical step for successful 3D reconstruction. Ideally, the background should be clean, uniform, and easy to remove, as this greatly improves how accurately AI tools can detect the character’s silhouette and volume.

The best possible background color for this process is a neutral mid-gray. Gray is superior to white, black, or colored backgrounds because it provides:

• Balanced contrast against both light and dark areas of the character

• No color contamination on edges

• Clear separation of the silhouette

• Better depth and contour detection for AI reconstruction

For this workflow, the recommended background is a neutral studio gray, approximately:

• RGB: 190, 190, 190

• Hex: #BEBEBE

This type of gray is the industry standard used in professional 3D scanning, character modeling, and photogrammetry pipelines.

To achieve this, you should instruct an AI image tool such as NanoBanana with a clear and precise prompt.

For example: “Change the background of this character to a clean, uniform neutral studio gray (RGB 190,190,190 / Hex #BEBEBE). Keep the character perfectly consistent in shape, proportions, colors, and details. Remove any gradients, textures, shadows, or environmental elements from the background. The background must be flat, evenly lit, and optimized for 3D reconstruction.”

Once this instruction is applied, the character will appear isolated against a perfect neutral gray background, making it significantly easier to generate an accurate, clean, and high-quality 3D model.

After giving this instruction to NanoBanana, this is the resulting background change, optimized for the next steps of 3D reconstruction and STL creation.

4. Adding the Miniature Base

At this stage, it is important to decide from the very beginning whether the miniature will use an integrated base or a separate base. Making this decision early helps avoid scaling issues, structural problems, and alignment errors later in the 3D printing process.

For beginners, an integrated base is usually the best option. It improves stability, makes the miniature easier to print, and reduces the risk of failed prints caused by weak contact points at the feet.

To add a base, you can instruct an AI image tool such as NanoBanana to generate a role-playing game miniature base that fits the character naturally and supports the pose.

A prompt example could be: “Add a solid, integrated role-playing game miniature base to this character. The base should be circular, stable, and proportional to the character’s scale. Place both feet firmly attached to the base. Design the base with a fantasy-style surface suitable for tabletop miniatures. Keep the character perfectly consistent in shape, proportions, outfit, colors, and details. Ensure the base is clean, symmetrical, and optimized for 3D printing.”

After giving this instruction to NanoBanana, the character will appear standing on a proper miniature base, fully integrated with the model and ready for the next steps in 3D reconstruction and STL generation.

This image shows the result of adding the miniature base, optimized for tabletop games and 3D printing workflows.

5. Obtaining Additional Character Views

One of the most important steps in accurately reconstructing a character in 3D is having multiple views of the same character. While a single front image can work in some cases, it always forces the AI to guess what the character looks like from other angles. The more the AI has to guess, the higher the risk of errors in anatomy, proportions, and volume.

The ideal and most reliable way to reconstruct a character in 3D is to provide several orthogonal views of the same model:

• Front view

• Rear view

• Left side view

• Right side view

These views allow the AI to properly understand:

• The true depth and volume of the body

• The exact shape of the silhouette from all angles

• The real thickness of limbs, torso, and accessories

• How the character connects to the base

By preparing these views before moving to 3D generation, you dramatically increase the accuracy of the final STL and reduce the need for corrections later.

To generate these additional views, you can use an AI image tool such as NanoBanana, always using the same reference image and maintaining full character consistency.

Below are the three prompts you should use to generate the missing views.

Prompt 1 – Rear View (Back View): “Using this image as the sole reference, generate a full-body rear view of the same character, seen completely from behind. Maintain perfect consistency in character identity, body proportions, outfit, hairstyle, colors, base design, and details. Keep the pose stable and neutral, with both feet firmly attached to the base. Do not modify the character in any way. Use the same neutral studio gray background. The result must be clean, centered, and optimized for 3D reconstruction.”

Prompt 2 – Right Side View: “Using this image as the sole reference, generate a full-body right-side view of the same character (character facing left from the viewer’s perspective). Maintain full consistency in identity, proportions, outfit, hairstyle, colors, and base. Keep the pose stable and neutral, with both feet firmly attached to the base. Do not add or remove any elements. Use the same neutral studio gray background. The image must be clean and suitable for accurate 3D reconstruction.”

Prompt 3 – Left Side View: “Using this image as the sole reference, generate a full-body left-side view of the same character (character facing right from the viewer’s perspective). Preserve perfect consistency in character identity, proportions, outfit, hairstyle, colors, and base design. Keep the pose stable and symmetrical, with both feet firmly attached to the base. Do not introduce new elements or effects. Use the same neutral studio gray background. The result must be optimized for 3D reconstruction.”

6. Access and Registration in 3DAIStudio

To begin the 3D reconstruction process, you must first create an account and log in to the 3DAIStudio platform.

Visit the official website:

3DAISTUDIO.COM (TAP HERE)

Once there:

• Create a new user account

• Complete the registration process

• Log in to access the 3D generation tools

Having an active account allows you to upload images, use multi-view reconstruction features, and generate high-quality 3D models ready for STL export.

7. Configuring 3DAIStudio for Maximum Quality

This step is absolutely critical. The quality of your final 3D model depends heavily on which AI model you choose inside 3DAIStudio. Even with perfect images, selecting the wrong model can result in poor geometry, loss of detail, or inaccurate proportions.

Inside 3DAIStudio, you will find several AI models available for 3D generation. While many of them work well for basic use cases, there is one model that clearly stands out as the best option for high-quality character reconstruction.

Our strong recommendation: Hunyuan 3.0 (Multi-view)

For character creation and miniature workflows, the State-of-the-Art model in 3DAIStudio is Hunyuan 3.0 (Multi-view).
This model consistently delivers:

• Superior anatomical accuracy

• Better volume and depth reconstruction

• Cleaner silhouettes from all angles

• More reliable results when using multiple views

If your goal is to obtain a clean, accurate, and printable STL, this is the model you should use without exception.

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How to select the correct model

1. Inside 3DAIStudio, go to the Image to 3D section from the left-hand menu.

2. Once inside Image to 3D, locate the AI Model panel on the right side of the interface.

3. Click on Change next to the AI Model selector.

4. From the available options, select Hunyuan 3.0 (Multi-view).

5. Confirm that the model is marked as State of the Art before proceeding.

This configuration ensures that 3DAIStudio uses its most advanced reconstruction pipeline, specifically optimized for multi-view character input.

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Why this is key

Choosing Hunyuan 3.0 (Multi-view) dramatically reduces:

• Guesswork in unseen areas

• Geometry errors in limbs and torso

• Deformations around joints and base contact points

In short, this single choice can make the difference between an average 3D model and a professional-grade STL ready for printing.

Once this model is selected, you are fully set up to move forward with confidence to the 3D generation step.

8. Uploading Images in Multi-View Mode

Once you have prepared all the required views of your character, the next step is to upload them using Multi-View mode. This is essential for achieving a precise and accurate 3D reconstruction, as it allows the AI to understand the character’s full volume from every angle.

In the Image to 3D section of 3DAIStudio, upload all four views:

• Front view (required)

• Left side view

• Right side view

• Back view

Make sure each image:

• Is correctly assigned to its corresponding view slot

• Matches perfectly in scale, pose, and proportions

• Uses the same neutral gray background

Once all four views are uploaded and confirmed (4/4 views completed), the character is fully prepared for 3D generation.

At this point, simply click the “Generate 3D Model” button.

3DAIStudio will now begin processing the images and reconstructing the character into a complete 3D model. The generation process typically takes a few minutes and results in a high-quality 3D mesh ready for review and STL export.

9. Generation and Evaluation of the STL File

Once the 3D generation process is complete, 3DAIStudio will present you with a reconstructed 3D model based on the images you provided. This is a crucial checkpoint in the workflow, where you must carefully evaluate the quality of the generated model before moving forward.

At this stage, rotate and inspect the model from all angles and assess the following:

• Overall anatomy and proportions

• Accuracy of the pose and stance

• Continuity between body parts and the base

• Clarity of details (face, hands, hair, clothing, feet)

• Presence of distortions, holes, or artifacts

After reviewing the model, you should decide one of the following:

• The model is correct
  The proportions, geometry, and details are accurate. You can proceed to download the STL and continue to the printing workflow.

• The model must be regenerated
  If there are major anatomical errors, missing volumes, or severe distortions, it is better to repeat the generation process—often by improving the input images or adjusting the AI settings.

• The model requires additional adjustments
  Minor issues can be corrected later using 3D editing or sculpting tools before final printing.

Taking the time to properly evaluate the STL at this stage saves hours of correction work later and ensures a cleaner, more reliable 3D print.

11. Downloading the Final STL File

Once you have reviewed the generated 3D model and confirmed that it is correct, the next step is to download the final STL file.

In the 3D viewer inside 3DAIStudio, locate the “Download 3D Model” button and select the STL format. This will export the model as a standard STL file, ready to be used in any slicing software.

Before moving on, make sure that:

• The model looks correct from all angles

• The base and character are properly connected

• There are no visible errors or distortions

After downloading, you now have a valid STL file, ready for slicing and 3D printing in the next steps of the workflow.