Eldest grandson was gifted a 3D printer. It’s a small toy-ish thing he uses mostly for printing those popular action figures.
Anyway I’m going to try putting some of my own stuff through it and see how it comes out. Going to use this topic to chart progress but it’ll be sporadic as I don’t have much time for Blender modelling at the moment.
Wasn’t planning on making any more dinosaur skulls but it’s something I’m familiar with so I’ve sculpted this Triceratops skull.
It’s based on specimen USNM 2100, a more mature individual that the one I made for Shapeways a few years back. A 3D scan of the fossil of this skull is free to download from the Smithsonian website. My version is re-sculpted to resemble a non-fossil appearance.
Used the 3D printer to make a replacement stand for my Beasts of the Mesozoic Deinonychus action figure. It came with a nice transparent stand but it was starting to crack where the stalk joins the base. This is the first time I’ve used slicing software (in this case, Cura 3D) and it’s interesting stuff.
Got the Trike skull into Cura. The yellow skull frame in the animated Gif shows the raw polygon import, the rest shows it sliced for FDM with traversal though the print layers. On this draft setting with 0.2mm layer height It’s giving me an print time estimate of 4hrs 52mins!
Also made a stand for it, very similar to the one for the Deinonychus figure except the ‘stalk’ on this one inserts into a rectangular hole under the braincase.
The layer lines are quite noticeable, but then it is draft quality. Seeing the 3D print I’m not keen on the way they run vertically but pointing up was the best way to minimise the size of the supports. Also you can see there’s small holes on both sides of the frill where it was too thin to resolve correctly. Worst of all was the jaw, Like my old Shapeways prints I made it with a pinch-to-fit so it holds its position under tension as it’s articulated. Well with it printed vertically it just broke between layers at the narrowest part when I pinched it. Was just going to glue it in fixed position when it dawned on me I could try changing the angle. So I re-set-up the jaw flat to the build plate with the filament extrusion direction running along it’s long axis and that worked fine. Much stronger in the pinch direction and there’s decent springiness.
Anyway this is just a prototype, much to change/figure out. I’m now getting seriously tempted to get a 3D printer for myself. In the meantime I’m going to make another Tyrannosaurus skull, after that I’ll improve this Trike to make a better print.
The picture is one of my reference images that I took before I finished cleaning up. In case, I notice a problem, I can look back and see whether it was there, before, or if it’s a new problem.
The human model is based from a MakeHuman model that I generated then added a few details to.
The jet exhausts aren’t a tight fit and could be improved. Or maybe just find a different way to attach them other than screw thread. Obviously it’s not safe for younger children.
Very similar to this one I did almost exactly 8 years ago,
Well I’d expect it to be similar seeing as it’s the same species . The difference this time is it’s based on a single specimen, in this case USNM 555000 currently mounted in the Smithsonian.
Reckon that’s the sculpt done. Just pondering how I’m going to get this to work. There’s the skull roof and then a lower level comprising of palette bones and strengtheners/muscles attachment points.
This is a pretty unfriendly form for FDM printing where overhangs have to be supported and left as is would require supports in the cavity space between decks. Impossible to cut out the supports without breakage. I think I’ll try cutting out the lower section and making it a separate part to glue back in after support removal.
The lower jaw shouldn’t be too bad to print, it’s mostly finding an angle for the build plate that minimises supports. As with the Triceratops I want to add jaw articulation hinges and a fitting for a stand.
You’re right and it’s something I should consider in the future. At the moment I’m still just dipping my toes into 3D printing and I really like the convenience and easy use of FDM. I’m currently weighing up options for buying a printer for myself.
Mouth articulation hinges with stiffener bars on lower jaw.
Sleeve for stand stalk to sit in.
Cut out lower cranium section with added connection tabs.
Probably a bit dodgy at 1/20th scale but lets see how this comes out.
Revised the stand a bit from the Triceratops version. Dropped the rounded corners for simple fillet. The square section stalk on the Trike version was a bit bendy so I’ve changed it to a thicker chamfered triangle section.
Got it to work after some effort but it’s a little messy.
The first cranium was printed right way up, looked fine but couldn’t really get the supports out. Re-printing upside-down was better due to requiring less inner support but the top of skull is pretty mangled where I’ve chewed the supports off with flush cutters. It doesn’t show the T. rex skull structure properly, particularly the paired tops of the lacrimal bones.
Anyway imperfect though it is, this is the version I went with, the ‘lower deck’ internal section fitted OK but the lower jaw needed one of the tensioning bars removed.
Other than the engineering issues there’s also lumps in the layers and other filament artifacts because the grandsons aren’t looking after the printer too well and not protecting their filament stock from moisture. That’s alright they’re only bairns and I should really get one of these contraptions for myself.
It’ll look a bit better if I clean it up but really it’s just a prototype. I’ve got a few ideas to make it better but would likely benefit from a re-sculpt.
I’ll probably come back to dinosaur skulls at some point but my boredom threshold is kicking in so it’s time to have a go at something else.
. The difference this time is it’s based on a single specimen, in this case USNM 555000 currently mounted in the Smithsonian.
