Tiny Fold-Up Soccer Ball

I came up with this idea because I had made fold-up dice out of paper, but I had never thought to 3d print one that could actually withstand being thrown. I decided to use the shape of a soccer ball because I had seen this kind of ball shape and design done with spherical magnets, and I was familiar with the design of it, but also because this kind of thing hadn't really ever been done at such a small scale and be successful. This is part of the Patterns Contest, because The ball shape required specific intricate shapes placed in the right spot or it wouldn't assemble at all, at least not into a ball.

You are going to need a 3d printer, and filament. Any filament works, for instance, I used PLA and it bounced more than any other PLA bouncy ball had ever worked. You will need a decently sized printer bed, because due to its size when laying flat, it doesn't fold into that big of a ball. The print would have to be scaled up as much as possible to work the best. The smaller it is, the more rough the connections are, and the harder it is to assemble.

The first step is to scale this model on the computer and print it. Your model is going to need to be as big as it can get, because bigger is better. No printer will print it to the size of an actual soccer ball, so the closest we can get is the size of your print bed. the model should NOT be scaled on the z axis, because the print needs to stay thin enough to fold.

Once your model has been printed, snap each stud onto its corresponding location, presumably with the studs facing outwards, like the title image shows. Snap each part in as the above image suggests

Once every piece has been pushed into its proper position, you can test out the ball. it bounces better on hard ground, but has a higher chance of breaking, so I suggest having used a strong filament, but its fine, because mine lasted a long time. Only after a long time did it start to crack from repeated bouncing. Overall, this is the end of your build. I hope you enjoy.