You might try a sculpting class at your local community college. It'll get you some basic skills, resources to use, and be inexpensive. Talk to the teacher at some point in class about what you'd like to do. If more of your ideas run this way you'll have a good start.
My prototypes usually start out on engineering paper, get a few quick 3D CAD drawings, then get made up in polymer clay as a form for a mold for shell casting. The 3D step is new, and hasn't eliminated the clay stage, where I still catch problems and see new opportunities that the computer doesn't bring out for me.
So I'll make a solid item out of polymer clay, then press that into more clay to make a negative mold. Then I make a shell casting by putting mold release on the negative form, pouring in some liquid acrylic, and wobbling the mold in my hand to let the acrylic build up a shell over the whole surface. There are other ways I use, too, but this is a favorite quick and dirty method.
There are books on plastic casting that teach the basics, but there's nothing like hands on in a class with an instructor, even if all you're doing in the class is learning the basic sculpting skills and tools.
If you are programmer you will appreciate the process if you see it as geometry. Design is a bit a religious thing. he he.
1. Shape determines fabrication & material: Flat objects (including faceted, folded) can be best prototyped using paper/boards/sheets. Simply curved objects (cones, cylinders) aka single curvature surfacing & developables can be also done using paper. Complex forms aka double curvature requires either complex fab such as rapid prototyping, molding, pressing etc or rationalization (eg take a sphere cut it in layers, cut out flat sheets, glue, sand ie downgrade to previous option).
2. Drawing: You can use either a mesh 3d editor: sketchup, blender, or NURBS / subdivision surfacing: rhino, solidworks, maya (download demo where available). This is only for the intuitive part of making the form. Even though simpler I would suggest avoiding 2d apps as they tend to be tough ie misleading for physical objects (fine for plans and pcbs)
3. Fun: code it! You need OpenGL + you favorite language. Generate a polyhedral model, flatten it send to printer, assemble. Or just write out an STL file (super simple text format) and send it to a 3d printer (by far the easiest method for noobs). If you want cheep use z-corp powder puff machines (ceramic-ish), if you want an actually functional prototype use SLS (plastic)
4. Find a product designer or architect (the building kind) and work together =)
My prototypes usually start out on engineering paper, get a few quick 3D CAD drawings, then get made up in polymer clay as a form for a mold for shell casting. The 3D step is new, and hasn't eliminated the clay stage, where I still catch problems and see new opportunities that the computer doesn't bring out for me.
So I'll make a solid item out of polymer clay, then press that into more clay to make a negative mold. Then I make a shell casting by putting mold release on the negative form, pouring in some liquid acrylic, and wobbling the mold in my hand to let the acrylic build up a shell over the whole surface. There are other ways I use, too, but this is a favorite quick and dirty method.
There are books on plastic casting that teach the basics, but there's nothing like hands on in a class with an instructor, even if all you're doing in the class is learning the basic sculpting skills and tools.