Creating a 3D character from scratch in a 3D application such as Blender can often be a frustrating and difficult task. A thorough knowledge of anatomy, scale and proportions are necessary to not only create convincing-looking 3D humans but also to create believable creatures and characters of any description.
The solution to making this task easier, especially for those new to the world of 3D modeling and Sculpting is to download and make use of a base mesh, basically, a model that you can use as the base to build your own creation on top of.
There are many talented modelers and sculptors out there who have generously made their own base meshes available as a free download, varying greatly in detail and versatility these base models can provide the beginner 3D artist with the perfect springboard from which to unleash their creativity and create convincing looking characters for games, 3D illustration, comics and a myriad of other potential applications.
The Graphic Assembly has ventured out onto the World Wide Web to find the best Free 3D Character models and base meshes to use in Blender, ZBrush or your personal 3D software of choice.
Male and Female Base Bodies - Blenda and Blendo
created for Blender by Royal Skies
Meet Blenda and Blendo the male and female base bodies created specifically for the free open-source 3D modelling software Blender.
This stunning couple was created by YouTube Blender tutor and game designer Royal Skies for his own personal projects and creations, who has very genourously made these male and female base meshes available to the Blender community absolutely for free.
Blenda the female base mesh is the most detailed of the two figures and is fully rigged, weight painted and ready to go, with 148 total bones, 22 correction bones, 49 correction drivers, 59 mesh correctional shape keys, 59 shape key drivers, 49 poses and 4 organised libraries with hair physics, jiggle physics and colour cordinated, custom deigned, easy to see bone shapes for both the left and right side of the body.
Blendo the male model while lacking Blendas detail, is still fully rigged and is the ideal base model for Blender 3D artists to build upon.
Stylized Male Hero Base
free 3D male character
Originally designed for ZBrush this Stylised Male Hero Base model also comes in .obj format so can be imported into any 3D modelling software of your choosing, including Blender.
The perfect start for your next superhero, comic book style character.
Stylized Female Base Mesh
free stylised female character
Another ZBrush creation by the talented Rodesqa, comes this stylised female base mesh, which will act as the springboard for all your female character modelling needs.
Also available as an obj file and totally free to download on CubeBrush, so what are you waiting for? Download it while it’s still free.
Realistic Female Mesh
free detailed female character
If you require a base mesh with a higher level of detail, then this free athletic looking female base mesh is hard to beat.
No textures or materials are included and this detailed female character is not rigged but she is anatomically correct and will provide an excellent base mesh for your next female character.
Anime Realistic Male
free detailed male character
The Anime Realistic Male Base Mesh is also anatomically correct and highly detailed consisting of 8,790 polygons and 319,542 vertices.
The download also includes brow, beard and hair curves, all in .obj format for your convenience. The perfect starting point for your next male character.
Anatomy Male Ecorche
by Dmitry Fedorov on ArtStation
This stunning 3D male figure which reveals the muscles laying beneath the skin (ecorche) is the perfect 3D anatomy reference for both 2D and 3D traditional or digital artists everywhere.
In order to sculpt or model a convincing three-dimensional character, being able to see the underlying musculature is of enormous value and this highly detailed free male ecorche model by talented Russian artist Dmitry Fedorov is a must-have addition to everyone’s 3D character model library.
Available as a free download in .obj format, this stunning figure can be easily imported into any 3D application including Blender and from there can be used as a highly detailed base mesh for sculpting or modelling.
TMNT Character Blockout
created for Blender by GZR-Art on Gumroad
This amazing and free stylised Teenage Mutant Ninja blockout figure, features Leonardo in all his glory complete with samurai swords and is the perfect TMNT base model for any fan of the comic book heroic turtles, or anyone learning how to create sophisticated cartoon characters for comic books, games or movies.
The free download is available as a .blend file, a .fbx file or a .obj file. with the BLEND file having the advantage of consisting of seperate objects for each body part allowing for easy posing and animation within Blender.
Cartoon Cat Character Model
free cat base mesh
If you are learning how to create 3D cartoon characters from scratch, then you will realise what a complicated and difficult process it can be.
Give yourself a head start by downloading this amazing 3D cartoon cat character model which will give you amazing insight into how characters are created within Blender.
Cartoon Horse Base Mesh
free horse character base mesh
Even stylised cartoon like characters still need to follow simple rules of proportion and anatomy to look convincing.
This incrdible 3D cartoon base mesh will allow you to easily build your own cartoon horse inside Blender without having to worry too much about these important details, as all the hard work has already been done for you.
You may also be interested in ...
3D Anatomy Pose Reference for Artists
Some of the links below are affiliate links, If you buy from a link, we may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to
Free 3D Models for Blender
Blender is an awesome application for creating free 3D models and scenes but occasionally instead of creating everything in your compositions from scratch, most 3D
Learn Blender 2.8 – 2.9 Online
Learn Blender Online blender beginner to advanced Blender is a totally free, open-source software project, initially released in 1998 the software quickly built up a
