We’re excited to present the Night Spirit Dragon, a captivating articulated 3D print model that will ignite your passion for 3D printing and dragon lore! Created by AKinferno, this model is a testament to community collaboration and iterative design improvements, ensuring a fantastic printing experience for everyone. If you encounter any issues, the designer is very active and responsive within the community, typically addressing concerns promptly.
This model builds upon the popular Spirit Dragon, incorporating tweaks and modifications refined over time based on user feedback and a desire for continuous improvement. The Night Spirit Dragon stands out as a distinct variant, deserving of its own spotlight.
What Makes the Night Spirit Dragon Special?
The journey of the Night Spirit Dragon began with the beloved Spirit Dragon model. Driven by a passion for 3D printing and inspired by his daughter’s love for dragons, AKinferno dedicated considerable effort to refining the original Spirit Dragon. This dedication led to numerous enhancements and variations. The Night Spirit Dragon emerges as a unique offshoot of this evolution, showcasing a distinct head design and aesthetic.
One of the primary design considerations for the Night Spirit Dragon was printability. Feedback on the original Spirit Dragon highlighted challenges in printing horns with significant overhangs. In response, the Night Spirit Dragon head was carefully selected to minimize such issues. While the lower fins and chin presented some overhang challenges, strategic rotation, scaling, and base flattening, along with reshaping the fins to a more print-friendly angle, have resulted in a model that prints beautifully without supports. The designer has personally tested and refined the model, and community feedback further validates its printability.
Exploring the Dragon Head Variants
The Night Spirit Dragon offers a selection of head variants to cater to different aesthetic preferences and printing capabilities:
- ‘og’ model: This variant features the original head design directly from the Night Dragon model. It boasts intricate details, particularly in the frills and horns, but requires careful printing, especially for the horns. Printing the horns slowly is crucial to avoid print failures.
Detailed view of the 'og' model head, emphasizing the thin frills and horns requiring slow printing
-
‘thick’ model: Addressing potential printing difficulties with the ‘og’ model’s horns, the ‘thick’ variant incorporates thickened and textured horns. This modification enhances printability without compromising the overall aesthetic, offering a robust and visually appealing option.
-
‘smooth’ model: This variant presents a smoothed version of the thickened horns, providing a different visual style while maintaining the improved printability of the ‘thick’ model. The smooth horns offer a sleek and refined aesthetic.
-
‘bumpy’ model: For those seeking a more unique and textured look, the ‘bumpy’ model features bulging horns that add a distinctive character to the dragon. While visually striking at larger scales, the designer notes that the bumpy texture might appear somewhat repetitive when scaled down.
Side-by-side comparison of different head variants, showcasing the 'thick', 'smooth', and 'bumpy' horn styles
Optimal 3D Printing Settings
To ensure a successful and enjoyable 3D printing experience with your Night Spirit Dragon, consider these recommended settings:
- Walls: 2+ walls are recommended for structural integrity. The designer personally prefers and uses 3 walls for added robustness.
- Infill: A minimum of 10% infill is suggested. For a more substantial feel, 20% infill is recommended. Lightning infill or even 0% infill may also be viable options depending on your desired weight and print time.
- Layer Height: .10mm layers or greater will produce excellent results. The model maintains its visual appeal even at .2mm layer height, offering a balance between detail and print speed.
- Supports and Brims: No supports or brims are required for most printers. However, your results may vary depending on your specific printer and calibration.
- Scaling: Scaling at 70% or greater is advised. Scaling below 70% may lead to link fusion. When scaling below 100%, separating the model into parts in your slicer is recommended to prevent merging, although slight touching at 70% is easily manageable. At 100% scale, no parts will touch.
Attribution and Commercial Licensing
This fantastic 3d Print Dragon model is a remix, building upon the creative works of several talented designers. Gratitude is extended to sunset, sunset_3d_design, and MZ4250 for their incredible original models that served as the foundation for this remix. Proper attribution to these creators and AKinferno is required when sharing or remixing this model further.
For those interested in commercializing prints of the Night Spirit Dragon and other models by AKinferno, commercial rights are available through joining the Printables Club. Club membership grants commercial access to all of the designer’s creations, and exclusive maker coins are provided to club members for showcasing their membership when selling prints.
Download the Files and Join the Community
Ready to bring the Night Spirit Dragon to life? Download the free STL files and embark on your 3D printing adventure! Experiment with the different head variants and share your prints with the community. Your feedback is highly valued, and the designer actively monitors comments to address any issues and further refine the model.
[Link to download STL files]
File Descriptions:
- Og: The original head design with thinner frills/horns, requiring careful printing and potentially supports for optimal results.
- Smooth: A variant with thickened and smoothed horns, designed for easier printing without supports while maintaining a sleek aesthetic.
- Bumpy: Features thickened horns with a bumpy texture, offering a unique visual style, particularly effective at larger scales.
History of Updates:
- 5/7/2023: Corrected rendering issues on the ‘og’ model (version 1.2). All other models remain at version 1.1.
- 4/11/2023: Addressed a fused segment issue found by Miguel_358621. All models updated to version 1.1.
- 3/8/2023: Introduced the ‘smooth’ variant with thickened and smoothed horns for improved printability.
Tags: #3dprintdragon #articulateddragon #3dprinting #dragonmodel #stl #3dmodel #printables #nightspiritdragon #freetl
Model origin: Remix
Original Models:
- Night Dragon by MZ4250
- Articulated Spirit Dragon by sunset3d
Differences of the remix compared to the original: Head replacement, head modifications for printability, body modifications for blunt spikes, arm rendering corrections, link smoothing, tail geometry corrections, piece separation for articulation, and numerous other refinements detailed on the Spirit Dragon model page.
License: [License information]
Highlighted Models from Creator:
