Russian toy designer creates complex and awesome robot toys on his Ultimaker 2 3D printer

Dec 22, 2014 | By Simon

Like most people who find themselves sketching and creating awesome robots and sci-fi inspired 3D models, Sergey Kolesnik, a 3D modeler from the small town of Labytnangy, Russia, was inspired by sci-fi films of the 1970s and 80s including Star Wars, Short Circuit, Robocop and The Terminator.

After first jumping into 3D graphics in 1996, Kolesnik eventually developed a love for Autodesk's 3DS Max modeling software a few years later and has declared in an email to 3Ders that "3D graphics have become a huge part of my life."

After several years of working as a freelance 3D artist working on everything from games to commercial projects, his focus jumped from digital 3D content to creating physical 3D printable robotic toys.

His love for 3D printing started when he was invited by a Moscow company to develop robotic toys for a project they were working on. In the process, Kolsenik rekindled his interest in science fiction movies and robots and decided that he wanted to continue designing physical robot toys full-time. However, being far away from Moscow meant that having access to a 3D printer was difficult and he wasn't prepared to pay for his own desktop 3D printer. Eventually, he purchased an Ultimaker 2 in 2013 and has since been creating some of the best 3D printed toy robots that we've ever seen.

Fueled by the ease of being able to sketch, model and fabricate his own toys, Kolsenik has been focused on designing multiple toy collections now that he has a full-fledged design and production studio in his own home. Among the collections he has been working on include Robot Beetles and Bugs, Robots inspired by countries and a kid-friendly series that focuses on silly aliens.

For the 3D prints, Kolsenik approaches each design so that it is strategically-built up vertically and able to be printed without support material, which ultimately creates a higher quality finished product. Because the final designs have moving parts, it can take up to 4 days to create a single robot toy. The final prints are printed using PLA, which allows Kolesnik to get as much detail in his prints as he can off of his Ultimaker 2.

While 3D printing has proven to be a successful method of manufacturing thus far for Kolesnik, he dreams of being able to sell enough of his designs to one day be able to afford to have his designs produced through the higher-quality (albeit more expensive) injection molding process. Currently, he plans on selling his existing 3D printed robots for between $50 and $100 with the option of limited edition autographed copies.

With the majority of his work is inspired by the complex toy model designs seen in Japan, Kolsenik's next goal for his robot toy designs is to start gaining attention with Japanese toy collectors and even start incorporating more advanced electronic components into his 3D printed designs. As amazing has his 3D prints are, it will only be a matter of time before he is!

You can stay updated by heading over to Sergey's website, where he states that he is also open for doing custom 3D modeling and prints, too!