Truly Customizable 3D Printed Iron Man Figure!!

Hello guys!

So I found a creator (or a group idk) named OpenFigure3D who had exactly the thing I wanted from a long time, a part-by-part model of Iron Man! The great thing about these kinds of models is that they can be customized. Get some custom color combos and interchangeable parts (even from their other models!). These models can be really useful for creating Stop-Motions and Cosplay! You can even print a life-size version.

The model is new and there isn't any tutorial on it. So I wanted to create one to make it slightly easier for other people making it. Hope you like it!

Supplies

Here's what you'll need:

• 3D Printer and filament (you can go crazy with the colors!)

• Basic 3D printing knowledge (slicers and all)

• Sandpaper, cutter (for cleaning the parts)

• Tape or any kind of thin sheets (for loose joints)

• Download the STL files from here

Step 1: Printing and Cleaning

I use Simplify3D as my primary slicer but the things I am gonna tell you will be applicable to other slicers too.

Recommended settings for slicer:

• Layer height should be 0.12 or finer (best results with 0.2mm nozzle but 0.4mm nozzle will do just fine)

• In s3d process settings, under the advanced tab, set external thin wall type to "allow single extrusion walls" (for other slicers, whatever setting is the equivalent of it)

• Supports are needed for all parts

Orientations:

Orientations of the parts are very important as they directly affect the printing time, weight, and quality of the print. I am providing you with the X,Y,Z rotation values of each part to get the best results. Enter the values, drop model to bed, edit supports if you need to and you're ready to print. Now you can print all at once or batch-wise, as you feel like.

The parts that need a mirrored (along Y-axis) counterpart are: shoulder, biceps (both red and gold), forearm, hand (open/fist), hip_half, thigh (both red and gold), knee, calf_wide and foot. To mirror in s3d, go to Mesh> Mirror Mesh> Mirror Y

X,Y,Z rotations:

head_red: -98,0,0

head_gold: 78,0,0

neck: 12.29,0,0

chest: 0,0,0

arc_reactor: 90,0,0

abdomen: 0,0,0

shoulder: 0,-111,0 (same for mirrored)

biceps_red: -177.50,0,0 (for mirrored: 177.50,0,0)

biceps_gold: -178.49,0,0 (for mirrored: 178.49,0,0)

forearm: 0,0,0 (for mirrored: 0,0,0)

hand_open: 90,0,0 (for mirrored: -90,0,0)

hand_fist: 0,-18,0 (same for mirrored)

hip_half: 0,90,0 (same for mirrored)

thigh_red: 0,0,0 (same for mirrored)

thigh_gold: -68.00,0,0 (for mirrored: 68,0,0)

thigh_side_gold: 0,88.26,0 (same for mirrored)

knee: -68.00,0,0 (for mirrored: 68.00,0,0)

calf_wide: -116.42,0,0 (for mirrored: 116.42,0,0)

foot: 0,0,0 (same for mirrored)

thigh_socket: 90,0,0 (print two of these)

chest_socket: 90,90,0 (print three of these)

Notes:

• Don't mirror the parts after rotating. Create a copy, mirror the copy, and then rotate.

• While slicing the hand_fist part, you might face a problem where the ball joint is separated from the fist. To fix this, in s3d, you need to go to mesh>separate connected surfaces. Then you'll have 2 parts of the fist. one of them will highlight the whole part and the other one won't highlight anything. Delete that part and slicing again, the problem should be fixed! This trick can work if you're getting similar problems in some other parts.

• The chest_socket and thigh_socket must be printed horizontally for structural reasons.

After printing the parts, you'll need to clean them. Remove supports, clean edges and surfaces but do not mess with the joints just yet.

Step 2: Gluing the Parts

Now, if you are printing the multicolor version (which you should), you need to glue some parts together. You can use superglue or whatever glue works with your filament. Mind the mirrored parts.

You need to glue these parts together:

• thigh_side_gold and thigh_gold to thigh_red (image 1) (also for mirrored counterparts)

• biceps_gold to biceps_red (image 2) (also for mirrored counterparts)

• hip_half to hip_half_mirrored (you might need to sand down the flat surfaces a bit before gluing to make sure it fits in the cavity of abdomen) (image 3)

• head_gold to head_red (image 4)

• chest_arc_reactor to chest (this should fit without glue) (image 5)

Step 3: Assembling the Body

Let's start the fun part!

• You'll first want to attach the neck to the chest. If the joint is too loose, use a little bit of masking tape or any kind of tape, plastic sheet or even paper on the male joint. If it's too tight, sand it down a bit. (image 1)

• Now attach the 3 chest sockets to the chest. If they don't fit tight, you can add masking tape or even glue them (especially the one that connects to the abdomen) as they don't need to move. (image 2)

• Keep the chest aside and join the hip to the abdomen. Sand the hip joint if it's too tight or use tape if it's loose. But you do want this joint to be quite sturdy as this holds the whole upper body. (image 3)

• Now join the abdomen with hip to the chest. Again, using tape or sandpaper as needed. (image 4)

Step 4: The Limbs

Let's work on the limbs now.

• First, attach the hand to the forearm (mind the left and the right one) then the forearm to biceps. Note that the joint on the biceps is weakand can easily break. So, don't put too much force. Just sand it down. (image 1)

• Work on the legs now. You first want to attach the knee on to the calf and then to the thigh(image 2). The knee joint needs to be very sturdy and if it isn't you can use tape on it too (as shown on image 3).

• Now attach the foot and the thigh_socket(image 4). You can align the socket as shown in image 5 (the notch on the socket facing upwards). You can glue the socket if it's too loose.

Step 5: Attaching the Limbs to the Body

• Attach the legs to the body minding the left and right leg (image 1). You can use tape on the joints if it's too loose (as shown in image 2).

• Join the shoulders to the body. (image 3)

• Join the arms to the shoulders using tape to tighten the joint if needed. Join them such that the gold part (white in my case) faces forward. (image 4)

The model is almost complete!