Easily customisable moveable figure

This is a snap together, easy to print and customise moveable figure. A lot of time has gone into the design of the snap together joints and print orientation to make these files as easy to customise and print as possible. The goal of this model is to provide a solid base of plain figure parts to inspire the customisation and creation of amazing new variants from all of you talented makers. The body is the main area for customisation and has been design to print in an orientation to allow manual filament swaps for high impact multicoloured objects for everyone. I have included some example .3mfs for customisation ideas and to show how modifiers can be use to create your own designs.

I have included two sizes of files, full scale and half scale. Full scale figures will end up being around 159mm in height and the half scale versions around 80mm in height.

I intend to build from this base figure in the future with accessories and alternate parts so please stay tuned for that going forwards. Check out the first variation (skeleton) here. In the meantime all of the heads from my bobbleheads model will fit the full scale figures. 

Print instructions:

All files have been printed and tested using various brands and colours of PLA/PLA+ on my Prusa Mk4, Prusa Mk3S with MMU2S and my frankenstein 180x180mm bed slinger with the following settings:

• Nozzle size 0.4mm
• Layer height 0.2mm
• 2 perimeters

I haven't found any other setting to affect the fit and function of the assemblies however for the head it is beneficial to observe where the seam placement will end up in the slice preview. the head to neck fit is dependent on your extrusion multiplier calibration. The default settings for both of my Prusa's provide the desired fit.

When it comes to setting up the print in the slicer you have a few options. If you have a multi material printer, congratulations it's easy, just import the files together and set each part to the colour you desire and off you go. If you only have a single extruder machine then there are a few options.

Option 1 (this is what I do) this will only work if your printer has an automated filament load and unload sequence (M600)

First setup your printer in the slicer to have multiple extruders and the single extruder multi material check box is ticked. I then set the single extruder MM setup options to the following.

Then add the following to the tool change G-code in the custom G-code section.

You may not need the second line but I found it stopped blobs building up on the wipe tower for my MK4. Now you can just upload the files like you would with a multi material printer and begin printing with manual filament swaps.

Option 2

The second option is to setup your print files in the same manner that many people do for the patterned Stealthburner covers on Vorons. This involves slicing the files as separate G-codes and then splicing them together or printing them one after another. Please note if taking this approach that Z hop will need to be enabled and set to a value of 0.6mm or more to clear the already printed parts. You will also have to modify your start and end G-codes to prevent heaters and motors turning of and to stop the machine from homing or performing bed mesh or tilt compensations.

Update 23rd October 2023: Increase to radius between front of leg up right and round section to reduce overhang angle and improve printability.

Update 8th December 2023: Increased thickness in mounting area of arms and subsequently arm pins to improve layer adhesion strength. Reduced slot gap on hands so that it isn't visible when assembled. Thank you very much to @BrettSilva_480717 for pointing this out. I have also now simplified the naming of the files.

Update 18th December 2023: I had been having a few instances of the legs being knocked over during printing  and found that I had missed some bad overhangs on the inside geometry that would cause curling up and the risk of nozzle crashes. I have now fixed this and uploaded the new leg and whole figure files to match.

Assembly instructions:

Body support removal - remove the support piece from the body as shown below.

Arm assembly - take an arm pin and insert it into the arm as shown. Rotate the arm pin clockwise until it won't move any more (the hard stop is 90 degrees but it may stop sooner depending on print tolerances and that is fine). Repeat for the second arm. Next insert one of the hands into an arm as shown. Again repeat for the second arm.

Attaching the arms - snap each of the arms into the body ensuring correct orientation.

Hips support removal - remove the support pieces from the hips as shown below.

Legs to hips assembly - snap each of the legs onto the hips ensuring correct orientation (make sure that the flat edge of the hips centre is at the back of the legs).

Hips to body assembly - attach the hips and legs to the body ensuring that the legs face the front of the body.

Head to body assembly - slide the bottom of the head down the neck and then attach the top of the head. The assembly is now complete!