Tardis Transformer V2 by Ellindsey

Last crawled date: 2 years, 11 months ago

I designed the original version of this as a challenge to see if I even could. While successful (and vastly more popular and attention-getting than I expected by far) it had a lot of design issues. It was huge, took over a pound of plastic to create. It was fragile and wobbly, wouldn't stand up unsupported, and tended to fall apart if you picked it up wrong. Since then I've been completely redesigning it, to be simpler to make and more rugged, something that can actually be used as a toy, that doesn't cost a fortune to print.
This design is scaled to two-thirds the size of the original. It takes about one-third the plastic to print. It has about half as many parts, and is easier to assemble. The transformation sequence is simpler. Thanks to some interlocking tabs, the toy holds together very firmly both in robot mode and in Tardis mode. Due to the reduced weight and the redesigned joints, the robot easily stands on its own unsupported.
On the downside, it's can't be posed as freely as the original - there are a lot fewer axis of freedom in the joints, especially in the legs. That's the price you pay for something made completely of plastic.
This was actually a much harder design than the original - it's a lot harder to design a durable toy than something that just has to look right.
The toy stands about eight and a half inches tall in robot mode. In Tardis mode, it's four and a half inches tall, and two and a half inches wide. At 25% infill it takes 6 ounces of plastic to print, most of it blue.
As with the original, this toy can be built with entirely printed parts, doesn't need to be painted, and holds together without screws or metal pins. You can still optionally insert scraps of white construction paper in the windows to make them white, and print labels for the various decals. While it can be assembled without glue, I do recommend using a few dabs of glue on the locking tabs if you are actually going to play with it.
Original was printed on my custom Rostock derivative printer. Printed in PLA, using a 0.5mm nozzle and 0.3mm layer height, 2 shells and 25% infill. Autocad source files are included.
Transformation sequence, more pictures, and other details at http://drewsrobots.blogspot.com/2013/07/tardis-prime-version-2.html
I have uploaded plates of all blue, black, and grey parts. These should be able to easily print on a machine with a 200mm bed. In addition, you will also need to print the abdomen in white and the bowtie in red.
Major update on 7/11/2013: Slightly redesgined nearly every part for better printability and durability. Redesigned the elbow joint to keep the forearms from falling apart as easily and to make it easier to get it into Tardis mode. Got rid of the sliding black bar mechanism in the back, that idea didn't work out well, replaced it with two smaller fixed bars instead.
Added two thinner versions of the fist inserts in case you have trouble getting the standard ones in.
9/18/2013 update: I have modified nearly every part on the model to improve printability, ease of assembly, durability, and show-accuracy. Cleared up some issues with the leg and hip parts interfering and redesigned the fist sliders. It should be easier to assemble and look better now. I also rearranged the blue parts onto two trays that should be possible for any machine to print.
12/11/2013 update: Major tweaks for printability and easier transformation. I've added in a linkage between the abdomen and the head pivot so that the abdomen automatically slides up into the torso when the head pivots forward, and selective interference between the shoulder bars and abdomen mechanism to make the transformation process easier and more obvious. I eliminated all the fragile vertical tabs in the torso and shoulder blocks and made the shoulder ball-in-socket joint more robust. I have also completely redesigned the hips to make them easier to print and add a little bit of waist rotation. The legs and knees have been tweaked to stand more reliably and fit better together in Tardis mode. Also many other minor changes for durability and ease of priting and assembly.
The footleft, footright, hips, midback, torsobar, and bowtie pieces have optional versions with added support for more reliable printing if your printer has trouble with overhangs.
I have also now finally added parts for a Sonic Screwdriver gun. The parts for that are fairly fragile and difficult to print, so it's only recommended if you're confident in your printer's ability to print thin vertical pieces. It also has nowhere to go when the toy is in Tardis mode, but that's true of most transforming toys anyway.