Introduction: Surfing Pikachu Fountain
One of my favorite images of Pikachu is an illustration of him atop a surfboard in a body of water, a photo that comes from the game Pokemon Yellow. I've never before seen someone incorporate this design into a display that put it together with real water, so I decided to do just that! My design is completely 3D printed and also uses a 3D printed water pump for a 130 DC motor. It can be mounted onto a wall or placed on a shelf and run on an independent battery!
Attachments
Supplies
Step 1: Making the Water Pump
I designed the water pump in Fusion360 and then put it together using hot glue, which also acted as a watertight seal. I then glued tubing to the round openings. The entrance of the pump should have a piece of tube around 25 millimeters long; The exit should have a 100 millimeter long tube attached to it (although it can be trimmed later on).
Attached is a video of the water pump in action (The tubes are a bit longer to test its strength). As you can see, it's quite capable of running a small water fountain!
Step 2: Creating the Models
To make the 8-bit texture of the fountain, I took an image of the rare aquatic Pikachu and then measured the pixel dimensions. I then went into Fusion360 and used the Sketch tool to draw a grid, extruding the shapes that I wanted (the fountain's pixels were 2 millimeters wide while the Pikachu's pixels were 1.5 millimeters wide).
Step 3: Painting
I sanded down the parts before I painted them with acrylic, using 3 - 4 coats to completely cover the surface. I then used transparent gloss to finish the paint and waterproof it.
Step 4: Attaching the Pump to the Fountain
The pump can now be hot glued into the bottom section of the fountain. You can test for watertightness by filling it up.
Step 5: Adding the Middle and Top Sections
Now, take the middle section of the fountain and glue it onto the middle, making sure to line up everything first. There is a cover on top of the middle section. This will:
- Keep water from spilling onto the motor if the fountain is moved around
- Stabilize the middle section
- Hold the battery for the pump
The exit tubing should be glued into the hole on the top of the fountain to keep water from leaking back inside.
After this is done, the top of the fountain can now be glued on. The main structure is complete!
Step 6: The Pikachu
The fountain already looks good, but it needs one more thing: a Pikachu to ride the perpetual waves! The final 2 3d printed parts can be glued onto the middle section.
Step 7: Finish
To make the fountain work, put the battery pack in the empty space behind the fountain and turn it on. Enjoy!
Thank you for reading this Instructable! This is the first original 3D-printed model I have created. It turned out quite well and is currently sitting next to my bed.
Please vote for me in the contest if you enjoyed this Instructable. Thanks!
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