{"id":57834,"date":"2025-05-28T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T12:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/?p=57834"},"modified":"2025-05-27T16:11:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T20:11:35","slug":"carlos-reyes-builds-props-armor-and-credibility-with-a-cswp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/2025\/05\/carlos-reyes-builds-props-armor-and-credibility-with-a-cswp.html","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Reyes Builds Props, Armor, and Credibility With a CSWP"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Carlos Reyes, known on YouTube and Instagram as @Carlos3DPrint, has built a large following around his cosplay and prop work, including Iron Man<\/em> armors, a Proton Cannon, a Star Wars<\/em> Mandalorian costume, and a Green Goblin<\/em> flyer on a hoverboard.<\/p>\n

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Scroll through his posts and you\u2019ll find a lot of detailed 3D prints, but you don\u2019t always see the CAD work that holds it all together. Carlos uses SOLIDWORKS for Makers tools, including SOLIDWORKS, xShape and xDesign, to bring his cosplay creations to life.<\/p>\n

Learn how to bring your hobby and DIY ideas to life with\u00a0<\/em>SOLIDWORKS for Makers<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carlos has been using SOLIDWORKS for over a decade, gaining new skills with practice. At 3D<\/strong>EXPERIENCE World 2024, he decided to put his expertise to the test and took the Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional (CSWP) exam<\/a> for three hours with no prep. He passed.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI thought I\u2019d finish early,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the stress hit. Still, I got it.\u201d Having the certification validated what he already knew. It also allowed him to get more involved with the SOLIDWORKS community as someone who understands the tools at a deeper level.<\/p>\n

A Different Kind of Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t planning to take the exam,\u201d Carlos said. \u201cSomeone from the team mentioned it offhand, just kind of, \u2018Hey, why not try it?\u2019 I hadn\u2019t studied. But I thought, okay, I\u2019ve been doing this long enough, I should see where I\u2019m at.\u201d<\/p>\n

It turned out to be harder than expected. \u201cIt\u2019s timed. It\u2019s structured. And you only realize once you’re in it how different it is from day-to-day modeling.\u201d But finishing the CSWP changed things. Shortly after, a reseller in Europe reached out. They\u2019d seen his content, saw his certification, and offered him a part-time role. \u201cNow I do some customer support with them,\u201d Carlos said. \u201cThey were very clear; they liked my work, and the certification showed I could back it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebuilding, Experimenting, Figuring Things Out<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carlos\u2019s work with SOLIDWORKS has always been closely tied to creating things, such as 3D-printed parts and physical models, that need to function and look good while doing so. Lately, he\u2019s been working with Aryan Shastry on some very specific modeling problems, like reverse-engineering a scanned automotive part without high-end equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a cheap scanner, and the result was messy. Most people think you just scan, clean it up, and print. But that only works if your scanner costs ten thousand dollars.\u201d Instead, Carlos built a better model over the scan using surfacing techniques, something he hadn\u2019t used much before. Aryan helped break it down and turned the process into a learning moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are tools in SOLIDWORKS I\u2019ve never touched, even after twelve years. That\u2019s what I\u2019m discovering now, just how much is still in there.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Aryan\u2019s mentorship is informal and has involved working on small projects together, most recently designing a Voronoi lamp in SOLIDWORKS, using a few commands he hadn\u2019t explored before. Even after years of using SOLIDWORKS for his 3D printing project, Carlos is learning new tricks, like 3D printing the lamp\u2019s outer shell without supports.<\/p>\n

Bigger Certification Goals, Without the Countdown Clock<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carlos is also eyeing the Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert (CSWE) exam, but he\u2019s not drawing up a study plan just yet. That exam requires several specialized certifications, including surfacing, sheet metal, and simulation, and he\u2019s working through them one at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no deadline. I\u2019m trying to actually learn this stuff. Not just pass it.\u201d If it takes a couple of years, he\u2019s fine with that. Maybe 2027. Maybe sooner. He\u2019s got plenty of fun projects in the works in the meantime.<\/p>\n

For Anyone Thinking About Taking the Exam<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carlos says he waited too long to get certified. \u201cI was using SOLIDWORKS every day, but I still didn\u2019t feel ready. I had the idea that certification was only for engineers or full-time CAD people. But once I learned you could retake it if you needed to, I figured, why not try?\u201d<\/p>\n

That decision to get his CSWP reshaped how others saw his work and how he sees it, too. \u201cIf you\u2019re already using SOLIDWORKS to make things, you probably know more than you think. Just give it a shot. Don\u2019t wait for perfect timing. You\u2019ll learn something either way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about SOLIDWORKS for Makers<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> 3D modeling, and cloud-based design tools for personal use for just $48\/USD a year.<\/p>\n

Follow Carlos on <\/strong>YouTube<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>Instagram<\/strong><\/a> to see his latest builds and behind-the-scenes projects<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learn more about Carlos\u2019 work:<\/strong><\/p>\n

How CAD and 3D Printing Are Revolutionizing Cosplay with @Carlos3D<\/a><\/p>\n

Building the Green Goblin\u2019s Glider with Carlos 3D and SOLIDWORKS for Makers<\/a><\/p>\n

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Carlos Reyes designs detailed cosplay props and shares the process online as @Carlos3DPrint. After years of self-taught CAD work, he passed the CSWP, proving his skills and opening new doors in the SOLIDWORKS community.<\/p>\n... Continued<\/a>","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":57831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2402,2933,43,563,50,3,26,826,14,3627,18],"tags":[196,5011,5014,4515,5010,147,5013,1900,4738,5000,5012,2175,2912],"class_list":["post-57834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3d-printing","category-3dexperience","category-certification","category-cloud-computing","category-collaboration","category-community","category-customer-stories","category-dassault-systmes","category-design","category-makers","category-solidworks","tag-3d-printing","tag-cad-certification","tag-cad-skills","tag-carlos-reyes","tag-cosplay-props","tag-cswp","tag-personal-cad-projects","tag-reverse-engineering","tag-solidworks-for-makers","tag-solidworks-xdesign-for-makers","tag-surfacing-tools","tag-xdesign","tag-xshape"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57834"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57842,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57834\/revisions\/57842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}