3D Printed Action Figures
Faux2D
Posts: 456
For anyone who's into 3D printing, how does the option of turning any Genesis character into a full-on action figure sound?
I created a joint system which allows for the most realistic articulation possible. This joint setup can be applied to any 3D figure, meaning you can custom-make your own action-figures and 3D print them at home.
I attached some images. It even has moveable eyes. The face I'm using is actually from the Genesis 9 figure. This would allow you to print out any Genesis 9 expressions you want and swap between them on the printed action-figure as needed (same for the hands). So far I only have the base figure but will integrate other assets like clothing, hair, and other accessories.
Let me know what you think! :)
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Comments
Pretty iimpressive!
maybe DAZ can comission you
Articulated Goodness.
Moved to Art Studio since it is showing off your work - Product Suggestions is for in search of/would like to see type threads.
Thanks, I was just starting to look into doing something like this.
Will this be a store product, or will you share tutorials?
Great idea! If you turn it into a product, If you package this joint system as a platform or a framework, something that people can extend and build on top on, it will catch on. No doubt it will gain traction among enthusiasts.
Cheers!
More of a store product but I guess it's in its own category as it's a product specifically designed for 3D printing.
Yes, it's definitely aimed at customization. I want users to be able not only to mix characters together (like you can with Genesis figures) but also be able to create their own characters from scratch.
I print a lot of characters now ithout articulation, if I could add articulation to them I'm not sure when I'd sleep.
Very, very interested.
I realise you are a PA, I meant to print action figures for people using their DAZ Characters
A very intriguing idea.
Can I ask a few things about this?
What printers are required and what print resolution? My experience would suggest that filament printers would require a lot of post work. Are current SLA resins up to much use? I'm trying to ascertain whether these could be robust enough to be toys or more aimed at being posable statues for adults. Also, have you found a minimum/maximum practical size for the models? The knee articulation looks quite clever, but I suspect it would be vulnerable to damage if too small and also have an upper limit on the size (scale effect: cross section area & strength is a squared factor, mass is a cubic factor).
In the past I printed some DS characters on an Anycubic Proton SLA printer, before becoming very allergic to the resin available at the time (2019-20), and have been a bit wary about experimenting further.
Regards,
Richard.
Initially I designed it for FDM printers but filament is terrible for joints (see attached pics). Most thermoplastics, PLA especially, start warping and the joints will become loose even if you don't move them (a phenomenon called "creep"). For this reason I changed to using UV resin exclusively.
UV resin has come a long way since the 2020s. The resin I used is Resione TH-74, which was designed for action figures and it's pretty great but has some downsides. There are a bunch of other alternatives out there but I didn't get the chance to test them all.
As far as a printer goes, any resin printer is fine. The female figure was printed on a 4k printer but 2k works as well though 2k printers have been discontinued for years. Specifically it was printed on an Anycubic 4k printer (not to be confused with the Anycubic 4 printer which is the upgraded version).
The scale is true 1/10. To get an idea, most collector action figures from Marvel or DC are sold as 1/12 but they're actually closer to 1/10-1/11th scale. Import figures from Japan are also sold as 1/12th but they're noticeably smaller in size. There's no real standard in the toy industry but I myself am using the Genesis 9 scale divided by 10.
The figure itself has ~50 points of articulation and I designed it to be a competitor to collectible action figures which aren't really aimed at young kids in the first place. So it can be a toy but the level of poseability is too sophisticated for a small child to manipulate properly. Some figures on the market cost 200$ and they're definitely not child-proof. The advantage of having a 3D printable figure is that even if a kid breaks something, it can easily be replaced for only a few cents.
Thanks for that update on printers and resins.
My work has a filament printer, and at the moment we use ABS as the resin. It's very useful for showing customers new ideas, but even though it's more stable than PLA, it's not useable for any 'real' jobs where a life of 25 years is needed from all materials.
I reckoned my 2k Photon was good enough to do static statues, I'm intrigued to hear the resins are good enough for action figures.
Since Yamato Toys USA disappeared, there appears to be a dearth of decent fantasy statues. Getting the colours on the model (like the attached Luis Royo 'A Touch of Ice' ) is so hard to replicate. Having a range of printable customisable action figures would be really good.
Regards,
Richard
They look good and that would be a great product.