FDMJoint Mediterranean House Gecko - Updated

This is a Mediterranean house gecko toy. Yes, it is yet another gecko.

More importantly, this model introduces a new type of joint that I have been working on for ... an embarrassingly long time, which I have very cleverly named FDMJoint. These joints solve two problems that I have found to be fairly common for 3d-printed articulated toys: printing overhang issues and fragility. The weak point of these joints is not layer adhesion, so you can use Silk PLA just as well as regular. I have found these joints to be significantly stronger than the single-chain-link method so common right now. If you want to try using them in your own models, you can try out my experimental Blender extension at https://github.com/hpaulsen/fdm_joints

Included here are a version with eyes and a version with eye sockets designed to fit 6mm eye cabochons.

There is also a negative space that can fit seven 3mm diameter x 2mm high cylindrical magnets. These are the largest magnets that will fit in the hands and tail tip. Larger magnets could be used in the head and body, but I opted to use just one size for simplicity. Because they are so small, make sure you get strong ones, like n52.

WARNINGS!

• If you are having stringing troubles, these joints will not be smooth.

• Because of the nature of these joints, I recommend using only 0.4mm nozzles.

• Because of the nature of these joints, I do not recommend scaling the model, though I suppose scaling it up should be ok.

These last two warnings should be able to offset each other: if you want to use a 0.6mm nozzle, scale the model 150% and the joints should work fine. I used a 0.2mm nozzle and scaled it down 50% and the result, while adorable and mostly functional, was unfortunately too fragile and lost a hand.

Layer height should be 0.2mm or less.

Update 1.1:

• Updated joints to FDMJoint v0.1.5

• Increased clearance in joints

• Improved magnet placement and size