The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

The New Hotness

  • Fireball Island Figures

    A cousin asked if my 3D printer could replace some figures gone missing from their old Fireball Island game board, a classic apparently coming out in a new & improved version.

    Fortunately, solid models exist on Thingiverse:

    Fireball Island figure - Thingiverse 536867
    Fireball Island figure – Thingiverse 536867

    Unfortunately, the left arm requires support, which Slic3r supplies with great exuberance:

    Fireball Island figure - Slic3r support
    Fireball Island figure – Slic3r support

    The vast tower on the figure’s right side (our left) seemed completely unnecessary, not to mention I have no enthusiasm for the peril inherent in chopping away so much plastic, so I replaced it with a simple in-model pillar:

    Figure Support Mods
    Figure Support Mods

    The pillar leans from an adhesion-enhancing lily pad and ends one layer below the left hand, with all dimensions and angles chosen on the fly to make the answer come out right.

    Works like a champ:

    Fireball Island Figures - orange - on platform
    Fireball Island Figures – orange – on platform

    The dark band down the middle comes from the Pixel’s shutter.

    They emerged with some PETG hair, the removal of which I left as an end-user experience.

    I mailed a small box containing figures printed in my (limited!) palette of four colors, some spares Just In Case™, and a few QC rejects showing the necessity of lily pads.

    Game on!

    The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

    // Adding support under Fireball Island figure arm
    import("/mnt/bulkdata/Project Files/Thing-O-Matic/Fireball Island/Fireball Island figure – 100k.stl", convexity=5);
    translate([6.5,-4.0,0]) {
    intersection(){
    translate([-10/2,-10/2,0])
    cube([10,10,11.6],center=false);
    rotate([0,-5.0,0])
    rotate(180/6)
    cylinder(d=4.0,h=30,$fn=6,center=true);
    }
    translate([8/4,0,0])
    rotate(180/6)
    cylinder(d=8,h=0.2,$fn=6);
    }