[WIP] Benisuzume Posable Figure (Knights of Sidonia / Sidonia no Kishi)

thingiverse

**This is a work-in-progress.** Some files may be wrong for now as I have lots of versions of STLs and I don't remember which ones I used... sorry... - The backpack is somewhat designed but not yet finished so I have not uploaded it. I am also working on smaller and stronger joints/hinges. No ETA. I plan on reworking assembly to be more like Gunpla for other mecha designs. - The one 123D Design file has every part that I have printed so far. You can use that to edit part dimensions or change connectors. Note that the 123D file is **before** I edited the part in Meshmixer to get the lumpy look, so that is why all of those pieces are nice and sharp. **What you need to assemble this:** Print one of everything, except for: - Print 2 x newcalf.stl - Print 6 x ballpeg.stl - Print 8 x socketpeg.stl - Print 2 x elbow1peg1hole.stl - Print 2 x Hinge (1) thin.stl I would suggest you print the joint stuff separately and print extras because they are highly likely to fail and break - especially the sockets. I glued everything together with hot glue. ----- Bit of background: Benisuzume ("Crimson Hawk Moth") is essentially an alien reproduction of human-made mechas from "Knights of Sidonia". While the mechas are geometrically sharp and clean, Benisuzume (and her sisters) are very organic and look like they were sculpted from lumps of meat. In-universe, they are distinctly unsettling for various reasons. I think there were prototypes for a Figma of this character, but sales of the normal mechas (look up 'Tsugumori' and 'Type 18 Garde') were pretty bad, so Benisuzume would probably have done even worse. So I set out to try to design and print at least a moderately posable "figure" as a fun challenge. Designing joints for the figure was the first problem. It just takes a lot of trial-and-error to get right (and still isn't quite good enough tbh). Added onto the resolution limitations of my printer, the joints ended being pretty big. This basically defines the minimum size of the figure to be about 20 cm, or 1:100 scale (the Figmas are about 1:144, or about 14.5 cm). I made ball joints, single hinge, and double hinge joints. Test runs with the joints were fine, but after switching spools of filament (same maker, same time, supposedly same material, different color), the ball joint sockets are just... bad. Second problem was sculpting the frame. I did basic geometry in 123D Design, which is pretty good for jamming together basic shapes. Benisuzume though is spiky and rounded and pockmarked, so I then used Meshmixer to do a lot of editing and attempt to recreate that meaty texture.