I've never really done any work with 3D modelling software before, but I read something about 123d catch the other day, and decided to make a model of my brother for his birthday. The problem is that I don't know how to hollow out the bust; I downloaded Maya and breated a hollow pedestal-like object for the head to stand on, but I don't know how to A. integrate the head with the disc on the bottom of the pedestal and B. make a hole in the bottom of the head object of exactly the right dimensions so that it can fit with the hollow cylinder in the pedestal. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated
First of all, what is the size the model is supposed to be? When I open it in Meshlab, I convert it to an .stl file, When I open the .stl file in Netfabb. The size it states is 2.54 X 3.56 X 3.2 all in mm. This needs scaling to the correct size, don't worry it is easy in Netfabb. If it is supposed to be inches just scale by 25.4. Also in Netfabb you can check and repair your model. In Blender you can add a modifier to solidify the model to give it 'thickness'. Don't forget to check the materials minimum thickness for each material. https://www.shapeways.com/materials Get yourself copies of these three programs. They are all free. There are a lot of tutorials explaining exactly what you require. https://meshlab.sourceforge.net/ https://www.netfabb.com/basic.php https://www.blender.org/
Maybe this will help you to understand. I have deleted the base to show you what is required. The wall thickness is approx 1mm. Open the file in Netfabb.