OK. First off, I know nothing about the ins and outs of models, past the aircraft carrier I put together at 15 and more recently, my kids Hot Wheels, etc. But I think I'm quite good with various art projects and this looked like the right group to pose this question.
I've been thinking for quite a while about making a physical model of a particular building, or a portion thereof, for an arts competition. I want it to be something unique and have it stand out over and above the rest of the entries. I'm interested in having it be in 3d (maybe a shadow box). But I'm at a loss as to how exactly to go from photos to a physical model, and do it without sophisticated hardware/software (i.e., 3D cad, CNC, & who knows what else?). I'm also looking for an unusual medium to do it in (toothpicks are out ;-) ). But that's beside the point.
Today, I had a new thought. I have no idea if this is even possible: Is there a way that I can take a series of photos of an object from several small angles (like a stereo picture would do with 2 images to give it depth), and filter, do color separation, merge, etc. to give me some 3D depth to the object (kind of like two color 3D glasses)? These could then be printed out and used to 'layer' depth to the model.
The model does not have to match the original exactly. In fact, if it had a certain amount of distortion or 'roughness' to it, it may even give it some 'modern art' character and make it more interesting. I'm not out to make an exact scale model of the original; That's already been done.
I hope all this makes sense.
If you know of any info that may be helpful, I would appreciate some direction.
Thanks leon