Jellyfish Mod Resized for ease of Assembly

thingiverse

My first 3D printer arrived two weeks ago, the Flashforge New Creator Pro. After it arrived, we began searching through files on Thingiverse, and my oldest daughter couldn't wait to print out the Jellyfish. Our color selection was limited, so that is why it's Black and Yellow. The original model is very nice, and well put together. It was an excellent model to learn 3D printing with. The whole model was printed in Hatchbox PLA on the FF New Creator Pro. The G-Code was created using ReplicatorG Sailfish software and PyPy. We really enjoyed making this model. A BIG thanks to "CarryTheWhat" for the Top piece of the model, the artwork for this piece alone is Awesome! Also a BIG thanks to Ellindsey for the original files uploaded for the Octopus, the ball-joint links are fun to play with! If I knew more, perhaps I could have printed this out using the original scale of the files provided, but being a newbie, I had issues where the tentacles were frozen and wouldn't rotate. To remedy, I simply printed everything out 50% larger. I also had issues printing out the bottom base. For some reason, the top and bottom surfaces of it wouldn't print out... only an outer-ring of ball-sockets resulted... I'm betting this is due to ReplicatorG Sailfish software, and not the model itself. Anyway, to remedy, I took the Skull-Head model uploaded by Ellindsey, and revised it in Google Sketchup; I cut the base free, selected one ball-socket and cleaned it up, and then copied it several times into a circle to make a new ball-socket ring. I then added new flat surfaces for the top and bottom. This model prints great. Also, I learned that snapping the tentacles into the base was nearly impossible. As a Dad, I could do it, but it took all my strength, and some sandpaper. I could hear the PLA cracking as I did so. ABS would probably be better as it's more flexible. To remedy, the final design has the bottom piece slightly larger, at 155% of the original size. The tentacles snap much better (no sandpaper needed); effort still required though. Also, the Tentacle end piece is smaller at only 145% of the original; allowing them to snap-in more easily to the end of the tentacle links. The files uploaded depict the percentages that I trialed and found to work for me. You can print out these files as is or experiment further on your own. Just another quick side note: I had difficulty getting PLA parts to stick to the bed when printing them out. The blue surface provided with the printer was worthless. What worked for me was a piece of Dollar Store glass (cut to size), covered in green "frog-tape" from Walmart, and then rubbed a white plastic eraser all over the frog-tape's surface. The parts stuck like a champ, and were easy to remove later, hot or cold. Edit: 2018-01-21. I no longer use blue tape and glue stick. Instead, I use a clear sheet of PEI cut to size and glued down to the original bed. It becomes tacky as the bed heats up, and PLA and PETG stick very well to it.