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3D printed action figure


Hauke

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Hello everyone!

 

I hope this qualifies as a custom figure. I recently got into 3D printing and I was wondering how far I could take the functionality of my models. This is my first attempt at a figure with proper "action figure" articulation. It worked out pretty well. It basically works like a snap together model kit. It has about 30 points of articulation. I had to do some sandpapering in order to make everything fit together but that is something one should expect when 3D printing. The figure holds firmly together and all the joints have a nice range of motion. The seam lines are a little bit big but I believe that has more to do with the resolution of my printer then the 3D file. The figure is about 7 inches tall. It has a couple of swapable hands and the weapons can be stored on the back of the figure.

The figure is called Dan Generiko and he is a hero in an apocalyptic world where genetically enhanced humans wage war against humans who have given up their natural bodies for robotic ones. Dan protects the ordinary humans who are caught in the middle of the fighting of the two factions.

 

- Hauke

 

construction_3d_printed__action_figure__by_hauke3000-d65l1qn.jpg

 

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Thanks guys! This figure was just done to see how far I can go with 3D printing. I have no plans to mass release him at this point. I am thinking of maybe offering him on one of these 3D printing sites but the stuff there tends to be expensive so he might end up beeing too expensive to sell.

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Yeah, that looks too cool and would be awesome as a print at home kit, but I'm not sure through shapeways or what not, it'd probably be close to $200, lol... Still, I'm loving stuff like this and can't wait to see where the whole 3D printer thing goes. With places like Staples selling some of the smaller models now, I'm hoping they get bigger and bigger(and cheaper and cheaper, lol).

 

 

 

Any painted pics? I'd love to see one painted, what about a 4" guy? Any way to scale it to 4" too?

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Any painted pics? I'd love to see one painted, what about a 4" guy? Any way to scale it to 4" too?

 

Thanks! The surface of the figure is still quite rough. That is why I did not paint it. Right now it looks better unpainted. I have some leftover parts from test prints I might paint just to see how it looks. At 4" the joints would come out too brittle and unprecise to still work. It would have to be printed on a very precise and expensive printer to work at that scale.

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this is so cool. 3D printing will change the action figure world/market. there's going to be a totally new wave of customizers or designers. toy sculpters and customizers will be out of a job unless they learn and invest in this technology :(

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this is so cool. 3D printing will change the action figure world/market. there's going to be a totally new wave of customizers or designers. toy sculpters and customizers will be out of a job unless they learn and invest in this technology :(

 

Thanks. I believe there will always be room for traditional sculpting and painting. But sculptors/ customizers who will learn this new technology will have an amazing new tool at their disposal.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have updated my 3D printed action figure. I thought the design of the first version was a little bit plain. Now the figure wears a more interesting armor and also has a second helmeted head. This also makes him look more futuristic then the previous version. Since the first figure was never able to hold his rifle too well I gave the new version two small guns instead. Those fit pretty well and allow a lot of poses. They also fit into the new backpack.

 

 

3d_printed_action_figure_2_0_by_hauke3000-d681dmq.jpg

 

Here is the updated construction rendering of the 3D printed action figure. It can now move the head up and down as well as to the sides. The abs can move right and left now in addition to being able to tilt to the side. The feet can also tilt to the sides now allowing for some nicer poses. The new joints bring the total points of articulation to 34. I did not do any sanding on the joints this time. Therefore this figure has much tighter joints. It can even balance on one leg.

 

construction_3d_printed_action_figure_2_0_by_hauke3000-d681dxb.jpg

 

I did not want the parts of the old figure go to waste. So I made a new head for the old body to make a new character. Now Dan Generiko has somebody to fight with. :-) I made one new accessory for this figure: A hand holding the ripped off head of a cyborg drone. This adds a sci-fi element to the character and also shows that he is an evil guy.

 

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Here are the two 3D printed action figures in action. Once they were brothers in arms but when Spike-Head turned evil and started enslaving helpless dwellers of the wasteland Dan Generiko had to stop him. They still wear partial outfits of the unit they served in together. At least that is my cheap explanation why the use a lot of the same parts. :-)

 

3d_printed_action_figures_fighting_by_hauke3000-d681ef1.jpg

 

- Hauke

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Love the second figure even more. Any chance of a side by side with another 6" scaled figure? About how long does one figure take to make? My friend and I were just talking about 3D printers today and it reminded me of this custom.

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Love the second figure even more. Any chance of a side by side with another 6" scaled figure? About how long does one figure take to make? My friend and I were just talking about 3D printers today and it reminded me of this custom.

 

Thanks Joe! The printing time is about 40 hours. But I have to spread the printing over a couple of days since my printer is not big enough to print all the parts at once. Designing the original figure took a couple of weeks until I got all the joints just right. The second one went a little bit faster since I had the first as a template. But I still had to try out the new joints, weapons and other stuff which took up time as well.

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In the year 2000, it would be nice to know that a collector could just print out the figs they want or don't want, or just make their own. One could purchase programs from any Toy Manufacturer worldwide & print off the figs in the privacy of their moms basement.........but seriously Hauke those are F-ing kooool. Kudos to you. Cliche If you had told me in 2nd grade you could print off your own action figs by the time I was old.....I woulda probably believed you, cause I knew for sure we would have flying cars by now......the future isn't all bad I guess haha....22566-049.gif

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In the year 2000, it would be nice to know that a collector could just print out the figs they want or don't want, or just make their own. One could purchase programs from any Toy Manufacturer worldwide & print off the figs in the privacy of their moms basement.........but seriously Hauke those are F-ing kooool. Kudos to you. Cliche If you had told me in 2nd grade you could print off your own action figs by the time I was old.....I woulda probably believed you, cause I knew for sure we would have flying cars by now......the future isn't all bad I guess haha....22566-049.gif

 

:D :D Thanks!

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Can you explain how 3D printing works?

 

Basically you have to design an object on your computer with a 3D modeling program. The data of that model then gets send to the 3D printer. The printer adds very thin layers of plastic on top of each other to create the object. Here is an article that explains it in detail: http://www.3dprinter...-is-3d-printing

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  • 2 weeks later...

Very nice, great work!

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Thanks Brothershane!

 

Since many people wanted to see what a painted figure looks like. So I went ahead and painted one. Unfortunately once painted the build lines are much more visible on the figure. I had to put on quite a thick layer of paint to get rid of them. I may print the figure on a better printer one day and give it another paint job.

The joints all still work as does the storage of the weapons. Although there is some paint scrapping once you remove the weapons a couple of times.

 

3d_printed_action_figure_painted_by_hauke3000-d69zn9m.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

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This is my latest attempt at a female action figure body.This female android was actually my first idea for a super articulated figure. But after some thinking I decided to start with a more muscular male character first since it would be easier to put the joints into a body that would not be so thin. I turned out to be right. The female figure works nice as well but is a lot less sturdy then the male figure. I actually had to glue some parts together to ensure stability while the male buck simply snaps together without any gluing. I also gave her less articulation in the hands since the joints would have turned out too small and fragile. However I gave her enhanced neck articulation and an additional joint in the ABS. She can now tilt her head to the side and can tilt the torso to the side even more. I since then made those additional joints for the male buck as well.

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7dc160db8dd6ebb9106a4ac14b022cff-d6gavw2.jpg

 

This is the painted version of the 3D printed female android figure. As with the previous action hero, the rough surface does not allow a super smooth paintjob. Still she looks kinda cool. I actually prefer the creepy human head with the painted version since it adds a little bit of bright colors to the figure.

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  • 2 months later...

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3d_printed_generic_male_action_figure_body_b_by_hauke3000-d6oslc1.jpg

 

This is a project I did for a client. He wanted a proof of concept for an articulated male action figure body type that can be used for customizing. The figure is 8 inch tall and it is the first figure I did that uses ball joints for the head, ankles and wrists.

The pins to hold the elbows and knees together are also a first. Because of them I do not need to separate the forearms and lower legs which left very visible seams on my previous figures. It is also the first time I did articulated toes.

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