Revisiting 3D Printed Dragons in 2026

 

We've some 'old favourites' that have featured on this blog many times over the years.  In this instance we have been looking again at one of the stock items that seem to appear at most market stalls - the 3D Printed Dragon.

We had this as one of our class creations in 2025 for our Market Day.   While it didn't feature from our classroom last year in the updated version the printing of these projects are something of a measure of printing progress.

This print used 55g of PLA to complete the print and had a price point of $0.88c.   It took three and a half hours to complete the print.  In previous versions of these kinds of dragons when completed there would be a fair amount of PLA rafting under each of the sections of the body which needed to be removed subsequent to printing.

In 20206 the standard print on the Bambu H2D means that the level of rafting is absolutely minimal.   What was there on the print was removed by using a small tool (which was actually in this case bamboo skewer).   At this price point using regular PLA these items could conceivably be used as a stock item - as they can be produced for less than one dollar.

We sourced this file from one of the public domain creations that was present on Bambu Studio Labs - there are limited opportunities for the students to develop this idea further as it is very much the finished print but we use them to encourage students to think about designs, how they might work (and yes we do indeed discuss with them things like the price point and what these are either retailing for or being sold for at local markets).