Flapjack Octopus LED Night Light

I wanted to create a night light for my daughter. She really enjoys Kawaii style (cute and simple) animals so I picked the cutest octopus of all, the Flapjack Octopus.  As a fun surprise, when the light is turned on little suction cups show up along the base.  I have been using this lamp for a while in the house and it works great and does not get hot.

Design

It was challenging to get even light to shine through, especially if more than 2 layers are needed or generated supports have made contact with them inside of the model.  I found the best way to achieve good light consistency was to print without supports and either have 2 layers(light shines through) or many layers(no light shines through).

The octopus has a little cap that is dark when it lights up, the cap is the built in support interface.  I also used a Voronoi pattern generated in meshmixer for the inner support structure to allow light to shine through without casting to much of a shadow.

Hardware

This lamp uses an E12 LED Light Bulb and an E12 Switched Cord.  The bulb holder simply clips in place and the cord runs through a built in channel in the base of the model.

Printing

PLA is fine for these parts.  This is designed for a 0.4mm Nozzle with 2 wall outer layer. No supports are needed.  There are two different versions of the model so you can print the eyes separate in a different color if you want and glue them in later.  Otherwise you can print everything all at once.

Seam Position

Use paint on seams to paint the seams on the back side of the lamp.  This prevents the seam from showing when lit form the inside. Make sure you get the inside seams in the back as well as they can show through as well when lit up, make sure it is not in the same place as the outside seam.

Encouragement

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