The Ultimate Ronin

By on March 14th, 2014 in Design

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While some may 3D print their own doorstops or coathooks, others use their 3D printer to produce incredible objects. 

Aaron Thomas is one of those people. He’s taken the past six months to develop a very complex 3D print made of over 400 individual parts. The “Ronin” has over 50 articulated joints, making it one of the most posable figurines we’ve yet seen. He combined an idea with an Ultimaker personal 3D printer to make an idea reality.  

Thomas says: 

The Ronin evolved from the Unknown mecha project which I completed back in 2011. When I bought my Ultimaker 3D printer a year ago I was very unsure about what the extent of its capabilities and indeed the capability of the FDM print process. However after 6 months of learning, tweaking, redesigning and lots of printing, I am proud to present the first 3D printed, fully posable 10″ Action Figure with more than 50 Points of Articulation, and LED electronics.

The project was iterative, as Thomas had to continually redesign parts to accommodate weight and movement, eventually resulting in the final Ronin. 

After completing the figurine, Thomas realized he could sell copies of it to collectors. However, producing mass quantities is best done using traditional manufacturing, not a personal 3D printer. 

They’re best for prototyping. Which is exactly what happened here. 

You might have a personal 3D printer like an Ultimaker, too. What are you prototyping? 

Via Damaged Design