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Hey guys!
A friend and I are working on a project that didn’t work out quite so well when we attempted to make a 3d printed figure with moving parts. We’d like to skip the the fidgeting around and hire someone to make us a base figure (that way we can focus on the details of each piece instead).

The idea is a 1 inch high figure with swap-able limb pieces, with (probably) ball joints.

There’s a few features that would need to be included:

-Hands need to grip onto pole-like objects (Lego-style)

-The figure needs to be fairly pose-able

-The head needs to be made in such a way that hair/helmet pieces could ‘snap’ onto it (Probably around the back of the ears)

-The finished piece will be cast from plastic so it obviously needs to be designed so it won’t break when clicking the pieces together.

I’m including a rough concept image of what we’re looking for in case there is anyone here interested… otherwise would be appreciated if we could be pointed in the right direction… thank you!
base_minifigure_model_concept.jpg

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Go to 3dhubs, and find a hub near you with good reviews. Filter by 3d modeling, and then create an enquiry there. Your model is not that complex, so most 3dhubs that offer 3d modeling should be able to help you.

Another option is to go to thingiverse, and start with a model that already exists, there are many ball joint dolls on there, that you can cut parts from to get where you are trying to go. This is a less expensive option, of course.

If you dont find anyone, contact my hub with an enquiry.

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Hi @Arvemor just a small observation… you description says the entire model is about an inch high (25mm). That’s going to mean some extremely small parts for 3D printing - the hands might be, what, 2mm or 3mm long? FDM printers are going to find it extremely difficult to produce high detail at these sort of dimensions, particularly for things like ball joints that’ll probably be smaller than the physical nozzle size of the printer. Before you spend any money on getting the model created in software, I’d recommend researching what options you have for actually getting it produced (by any technology) to an acceptable standard.

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Thanks for the responses guys! You might be right about the size, cobnut… we were more or less wanting to make a small figure in general, but one inch high is not a hard-set size. We could definitely look at making them bigger - indeed, I think I miscalculated (I normally use metric system).

Thanks for the suggestions, Perry_1 - I will be sure to check out both Thingiverse and 3dHubs too!