Articulated Wiggle Snake Toy with Tulle Spine

O modelu

I set out to try to recreate a wooden snake toy that you would hold by the tail and when you tilted your hand side to side, the snake would slither back and forth.   I first tried to do this with normal printing (and I didn't want to use a hinge), but kept having issues with it breaking. Then I thought to try using Tulle and it worked well!     For this print to work, you need to add a pause so it pauses before layer 41 (about halfway) and then add 4 pieces of tulle before restarting the print. Because the print is at an angle, it can be kind of weird to tape the tulle down so you might have to get creative. Also, you don't have to completely surround the snake, so if your tulle doesn't go all the way through the head or tail, that's okay as long as it goes INTO the head and tail so all pieces are connected.   There is overhang between the sections but you DO NOT want support there. It will be too messy to clean and the overhang is small enough that the print should still survive without support. You DO NEED support at the tail though.   I've been able to print this without a raft, but I've also had issues without a raft. So, in the end, I go with raft.   After the print is done, trime off the excess tulle. I like using a flush cutter to get the closest cut and I find that exacto blade just doesn't work as well.   You can use any PLA filament color and tulle, but I recommend matching colors if you don't want the spin to be too obvious.   I've left a hole for the mouth that will fit a piece of filament. I like to add a piece of split TPU red filament for a tongue.   To use, hold by the tail and tilt your hand back and forth, it should slither around. So far, for me, the tulle hinge has been surprisingly sturdy, but I'd be curoius to hear from others how it holds up!   Find full creation details on Instructables: https://www.instructables.com/Flexi-Snake/   I also have a print in place, articulated version: https://makerworld.com/en/models/215158#