Pre-assembled mechanical pull chain toy soldier

thingiverse

I always thought that the pull string toy soldier we had on our tree when I was a kid was pretty cool. For this contest, I decided to create a preassembled pull chain toy soldier. The mechanical interactions all print as one print with eleven mechanical joints plus a six segment chain. The only thing needed is to pop on the back plate and the hook. I have also included a pull string version if you don't like the chain. A really poor video of it in action can be found here: http://youtu.be/kHgTXPtbLq0 I made all of the joints loose at 1mm spacing to make it easier to print. Short (about 3-4mm) bridges are used to complete the joints. They are narrow and have enough room to sag that they should be doable for most printers. I created this using tinkercad. I have shared the designs in tinkercad so others can modify them. They are "Pull chain toy soldier" "Pull string toy soldier" "Toy soldier back and hook" and "Pull string ball". I'm working on making a Santa version that I will upload next. Instructions All of the inner joints are functional when they come off the printer if it printed correctly. The inner connecting rods were the only parts that did not want to stay put when I printed it, so I included a version with tiny cheater bars to hold them in place which can easily be cut away after printing. Make sure that all of the joints move freely, straighten out the chain, pop on the back and hook and you're done. I am painting mine with Acrylic paints to bring out the details. I'll add a pic when its done. This print has many little pieces in it. To keep the pieces from coming off without a raft, I use a light misting of aqua net extra super hold on my bed. A light tap with a wood chisel easily knocks them loose.