How to Make an Articulated 3d Print

Hi! I'm Eamon. I am a 6th grader from the suburbs of chicago. I have always loved articulated 3d prints. The way that they flow so smoothly while it is just solid pieces of plastic is amazing. There are so many amazing 3d models out there of articulated snakes, dragons, lizards, and much more. I was inspired by these to create my own articulated 3d model in Tinkercad. I will be making an articulated "cyborg snake". I will show each individual step, so you can follow along. I hope you enjoy!

All you need for this is any type of CAD (I used Tinkercad) and a 3d printer to print your file.

If you look at any articulated 3d print, you will notice that each of the peices is cylindrical and has a slope to it. To create this effect, I first got a cone and made it have 64 sides. Next, I made it very tall, (about 150 mm is good) then I used a hole to get rid of most of the top. This causes it to be a cylinder with a slight slope all the way around. Lastly, I used another hole to get rid of a bit of the side. This will be the bottom of the body. I have attached an image showing the shapes and holes that I used to create the body.

In this step you will be adding the hook. This is one of the parts that causes the model to actually be able to move. First, get a tube from the basic shapes section. Make it have the max amount of sides, and then make the diameter about the same as the smaller side of the body. Use a hole to cut it in half, and then attach it to the smaller side of the body. Make sure that it is centered. A picture is attached to show what to do.

In this step you will be adding the axle. This is the other component that causes the model to be able to move. To make this, you are going to need to make a hole in the back of the body. I grouped a cylinder and a cube together to make it. Make sure that it is longer and wider than the hook. The first picture is of the hole in the back of the body. Next, you are going to make the actual axle. Get a cylinder, maximize the amount of sides, and then make sure it is able to fit in the hook with room to spare. The second picture is depicting this. The last step is to just move the axle over to the hole. Try to make it as close to the back of the body as possible. You can see this step in the second to last picture. Now, copy the whole body and put the two pieces together. Make sure that there is room for it to move. The last picture is showing this. Now, the axle is finished!

If you want your model to be as articulated as possible, you are going to need to round out the edges of the side with the axle. That way, there are no pieces that are blocking the body from fully articulating. To do this, I got a cube and then put holes in it so that it is rounded. The first image shows this. Then, I turned it into a hole and used it to round out all the edges. The other three images show what I did to round the edges out. Now, your model will be much more articulated.

This is the part where you really get to add character to your model. You can decorate however you like, but since I am doing a "cyborg snake" I thought that it would be cool to add plates to the outside of it to make it look more robotic. I have attached an image of what I did, but feel free to do whatever you like! Some Ideas are scales, spikes, arms/legs, imprints, or even hair.

In this step you are going to be making the tail/back of your model. If you are going to make a tail, then you can follow along with what I did. If you are not going to make a tail, then you can make your own. Just make sure to follow along with the last three steps. To make the tail, first you are going to get a cone, maximize the amount of sides, make it double the height it was before, and finally make one of the dimensions slightly less than the other. Then, you are going to cut off part of the side to make a flat surface. This is shown in the first picture. Next, you are going to add the decorations. You can do whatever you want, but to fit with the cyborg theme I added more plates onto it. Once you finish decorating, you are going to add the axle. You are going to do the same thing as in step three, you are going to get the same size hole and axle. This is shown in the third and fourth steps. Lastly, you are going to check to make sure that it fits on the model. This is shown in the last picture. Now, you have created the tail!

Alright. This is the second to final step. It is also the longest and hardest step. For this step, you are going to create the head for your model. First, you are going to get a cone, cut off the top, cut it in half, then make it taller and thinner. All of this is shown in the first three pictures. Then, you are going to lay it down on the round side. This is shown in the fourth picture. Then, you are going to copy and paste it, flip it over, and then put it on top of the other part of the mouth. This is shown in the fifth picture. Then, to create the other part of the head, you are going to get a cylinder, put some bevel on it, and then attach it to the mouth pieces. This is shown in the sixth picture. If there are small pieces of the mouth sticking out of the cylinder like in mine, then you can use a hole to cut them off. This is shown in the seventh picture. You can make eyes however you like, but I used holes to create mine. This is shown in the eighth picture. Then, you can add any decorations to it that you like. I just added more plates onto mine to go along with the cyborg theme. Next, check the size compared to the rest of the model to make sure it looks good. This is shown in the tenth picture. The next step is to create the hook. You are going to get the same hook from the regular pieces, but then you are going to add on some rectangles to make it longer. This is shown in the 11th and twelfth pictures. Lastly, you are going to attach the hook to the head. Attach it so that the actual hook is at the end of the body. Then, you are going to attach the head to the rest of the model. This is shown in the 13th and 14th pictures. Now the whole body is finished! You can see my finished model in the last picture.

This is the final step! You are so close to having your own articulated 3d print! First, you are going to export your file in Tinkercad. Press the "export" button, and then choose .Stl or .Obj. Whichever one you use. I use .Stl, so that is what I am using for this. This is shown in the first picture. Import your model into the slicer of your choice. I use Ultimaker Cura. There is still room on my print bed for my model, so I made my model slightly bigger. This is shown in the second and third images. Now, choose your settings. I recommend 50-100 percent infill, rafts ON, and supports OFF. You can also use a brim instead of a raft. Now, slice your model. You can see that mine will take almost 7 hours and it will take about 18 meters of filament. This is shown in the fourth image. You can also look at your model in x-ray mode to see inside of it. I used this to ensure that nothing was fused together. This is shown in the fifth image. Now, your model is ready to print! I printed my model on an Ender-3 and with white PLA. After it finished printing, I colored it in with sharpies.