This is a 3D model of a basilisk (i.e. a large snake), with a custom head, tail, and body design. The body of the snake is composed of a linear series of ball-joints, and can therefore be manipulated and posed to the user's liking. The sockets have 90-degree cuts to allow for right-angle movement. Theoretically, one could also make a square out of the joints or any other-sized regular polygon of their choosing.
The ball-joints come together in pairs, so a snake of any length could easily be made. You can make the basilisk as short or as long as you want.
See the Print Settings module for the all-important printer settings. Design documentation can also be found below, for those interested.
Printer Brand:
Ultimaker
Printer:
Rafts:
Yes
Supports:
Yes
Infill:
20%, Zig Zag
Filament: Generic PLA Green
Notes:
Feel free to print in your own colors.
I recommend sanding the balls slightly to help them fit into the sockets better. They tend to print a little rough at 0.2 mm layer height.
Scale model (pictured above) printed with a layer height of 0.2 mm from a AA 0.4 mm Ultimaker nozzle.
Specific Cura parameters for the Ultimaker 2+ outlined as follows:
Layer Height: 0.2 mm
Shell: Wall thickness = 1.05 mm; wall line count = 3; top/bottom thickness = 0.8 mm; top/bottom line directions = default; outer wall inset = 0.025 mm; fill gaps = everywhere; print thin walls = checked
Infill: Infill density = 20%; infill pattern = zig zag; extra infill wall count = 0; infill overlap percentage = 10%
Speed: Print speed = 50 mm/s
Supports: Necessary. Generate support = checked; placement = everywhere; angle = 60 degrees; pattern = lines; density = 15%
Plate Adhesion: Necessary. Type = brim; brim width = 8.0 mm
Filament: Generic PLA – Green
Materials: 187 g / 23.68 m of PLA Filament (at 100% scale, printed all at once with 6 joint segments)
Print Time: 22 hrs 20 mins (at 100% scale, printed all at once with 6 joint segments)
Head Design
The head for the basilisk was designed in Sculptris. However, if anyone is looking to do this sort of 3D design themselves, I would recommend using a different program instead, like Blender. Sculptris hasn't been updated since 2011 and is very prone to crashing as a result of resource unoptimization. Naturally, polygons can be reduced to conserve resources, but for more complicated designs reduction may not be possible, and crashes are inevitable. Just a heads-up.
The following blog post documents the design process and reiterates much of the information included on this page. The blog is safe for work and open to the public.
http://3dprinting.illustratingmath.com/2019/10/23/ball-jointed-basilisk-design/
This design was completed as part of the ET 401: Introductory 3D Printing course at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Manchester campus.
