Mar.19, 2014
Aaron Thomas has spent the past six months developing a 3D printed 10" action figure consisting of 400 independent parts. Each part was printed separately and assembled by hand. His creation is named "Ronin" and it has over 50 articulated joints and LED electronics, making it a fully posable figurine.
"Each component had to lock together with several others in order to achieve the complex machine like look of the robot. In addition consideration had to be made to the nature of the printed plastic and rubber. Each piece had to be re-tooled to support the weight of the design and complement the overall toy articulation." Thomas said.
"Once the pieces were printed, each was sanded by hand, then finished with surface putty, polished by hand, assembled, painted and lacquered before the final decals were applied."
Evolution of Ronin over the months.
Thomas used an Ultimaker personal 3D printer to make his design reality. He bought his Ultimaker 3D printer a year ago but was not sure about what the extent of its capabilities and the capability of the FDM print process. After 6 months of learning, tweaking, redesigning and lots of printing he realized 3D printing is more for prototyping. "Indeed the process of making the Ronin by hand with the Ultimaker is a very time consuming and frankly not the best option for mass production." Thomas said.
After the project has been completed, Thomas thought of an idea that he could produce the Ronin and future figures for interested individuals and collectors. But it will be done through overseas manufacturing, not 3D printing.
"Indeed the whole joy of making something like the Ronin, is to share it with people who like the design and would like to see more of it and concepts like it in the future." Thomas said.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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ahy, ahy
Nate wrote at 2/19/2016 12:48:48 AM:
How can I print this
ChillyWilly wrote at 11/9/2015 12:50:24 AM:
Could you make me a custom 6 inch figure with all the articulation?
Ben wrote at 1/6/2015 12:23:30 PM:
Amazing ! you must share this design i would gladly pay for it!
dweiums wrote at 6/27/2014 2:47:07 PM:
Awesome! Congrats on the fruit of a lot of hard work.
Sem wrote at 3/30/2014 7:10:28 AM:
amazing!! congratulations!
Quincy of 3DKitbash.com wrote at 3/25/2014 6:10:33 AM:
Wow! This is amazing work! ...It's wild that it's still only 10" tall. Such great detail and balance.
Priyanka Shyam wrote at 3/21/2014 11:19:25 AM:
This is so cool! So proud of you, Aaron :)
3dbleh wrote at 3/20/2014 6:56:13 PM:
This thing is a work of art! @CornGolem No sharing? What...is he obligated? Nope.
Yuri wrote at 3/19/2014 7:35:52 PM:
Complimenti è un action figure strafiga
CornGolem wrote at 3/19/2014 5:22:46 PM:
No sharing ?
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