Cheshire Cat

myminifactory

I had a stash of leftover purple ABS from my last project (Dino Flintstone) and decided to build the Cheshire Cat. My daughter loves Alice in Wonderland, so this was an easy decision for me. The printed model stands 25cm high and 28cm long, but since it's sliced into pieces to allow for colors, you only need to check the size of the largest flat piece (body_6.stl, approx 130mm x 125mm) to determine your print size. The tallest piece is head.stl, at 63mm tall. I expect the model to scale well except for the eyes (just the black dots) and whiskers. I used glow-in-the-dark ABS for the mouth for that extra special touch. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3D PRINTING SETTINGS Printer: FlashForge Creator X Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: .2mm Infill: 10% Important notes in the 'extra notes for printing' section are crucial for the black eyes and whisker pieces. I printed all parts except the head with one shell. The head required two shells due to extreme overhangs (60 degrees max). Colors: pink: face, ear_rear_l, arml_1, arml_3, arml_5, arml_7, armr_1, armr_3, armr_5, armr_7, arm_bump (two copies), tail_2, tail_4, tail_6, tail_8 purple: head, arml_2, arml_4, arml_6, armr_2, armr_4, armr_6, tail_1, tail_3, tail_5, tail_7, tail_9, body_2, body_4, body_6, body_8, body_10, body_12, body_14 white (or glow in the dark): teeth_1, teeth_2, teeth_3 black: eyebrow_re, eyebrow_l, eye_r, eye_l, whisker_l (three copies), whisker_r (three copies) yellow: eyeball_r, eyeball_l Extra notes for printing: Rafts are not required, except for the eye_r and eye_l parts due to their small sizes. I use a Geckteck plate for adhesion and printed all other pieces with no brim or rafts. The whiskers' narrow size requires 0% infill and 0 bottom layers when printing. This allows them to fit into the narrow whisker slots on the face. Alternatively, you can sand them down to fit. Extra copies of parts: Three copies of whisker_r Three copies of whisker_l Four copies of body_bump Two copies of arm_bump Assembly: The assembly diagram below shows all connections. To keep the diagram readable, I labeled only the first and last piece for each section (tail, body, and arms). All numbered pieces are to be assembled in order. Special notes: 1- Be careful with left and right pieces; they look similar but are actually different. 2-The whiskers could cause issues if the model is resized. At standard size, the whiskers fit well if you follow the instructions above. 3-There's a significant amount of gluing required. I glued pieces in pairs, letting the glue settle before gluing pairs together. Masking tape works well for holding parts in place while drying. 4-Glue the tail together. 5-Glue the body together; see the diagram for the body_bump position. 6-Glue the body and tail together. 7-When gluing the arms, create each arm (including the arm_bump) without hands. Glue the arms to the body and interlock the hands together before gluing them between the arms. 8-Make sure the bottom of the hands rest on the table surface, even with the body. When placing the head, it will rest on the hands and fit into the body. 9-Push the eyes into the eyeballs; then glue the eyeballs, ears, and eyebrows into the head. 10-Insert the whiskers and teeth into the face. Insert teeth_1 and teeth_3 first, making sure they're all the way in before inserting teeth_2 between them. 11-Glue the face and head together. 12-The final step is to glue the full head/face to the body (the head is rotated), with the chin resting on the hands. Note: The body and tail are hollow, as I aimed to reduce print time. If you're handy, consider adding a light inside the model for an extra touch!