2/20/23 – I printed the first versions of the pieces of my HEX Bug NANO and the inner plate printed very well but the outer structure did not. I decided to make the inner plate out of clear PLA so that I could potentially put fairy lights inside if it looks good so that I can have a HEX Bug light. The outer plate was printed out of blue PLA and I decided to print it upside down so that there would be less supports, but when I took the sports off, the top of the bug was ruined texture-wise. I will be re-printing the main body right-side-up to get rid of this issue and I will be making the supports less present so that hopefully they will not snap the HEX Bug legs when I take them off. A question that I have about my project is should I use fairy lights to light it up on the inside or should I fill it with something else?
Will this move like a Hexbug as well? as far as I know if the feet are somewhat bendable and you have a motor with something off balance attached it should work as you intend. The detail in the design looks amazing!
It will not move like a Hex Bug. I had to print it out of PLA because of issues with TPU supports and PLA does not have any flex. I will instead be making it into a decorative desk light using fairylights.
I am struck by how well the TPU print worked, the surface finish looks great!
I actually did not print this model out of TPU. The supports wouldn’t have worked in a TPU print so I instead opted for PLA. Using PLA also allowed me to choose exactly what color I wanted which was important for my design.
I like the fairy lights idea. What is your plan for attaching the two pieces together? Do they snap together or will they be glued or something else?
I am planning on glueing the two pieces together but I will have some tape as well so that I can detach the two pieces if necessary.
i think fairly lights or LED lights would look really cool inside the structure. how do you plan on wiring the lights? will you add a space for a battery in the bug somewhere?
I am struck by the surface finish that you were able to achieve. This is a high quality print. You can always sand down the surface if you are unhappy with the finish. Sometimes I even wet sand my pieces up to 600 grit which makes an incredibly smooth surface.
I really like the fairy lights idea but what is your plan for arranging them? Will they just sit on the body or will they be wrapped around?
How do you plan to glue the pieces together? Will you be able to fit a battery and lights inside with the current pieces? How do you plan to turn it on and off?