New Snap-Flex Joint and a St. Patrick's Day Friend
Thanks for sticking with me over the past few weeks! I've been doing a lot of experimenting & prototyping and less actual posting, so this weekend we have 2 exciting new models
Sly - Articulated Snake, Snap-Flex TWIST
Snap-Flex Twist
The new Snap-Flex Twist is my attempt to revamp an old experiment using some of my learnings from the current Snap-Flex joint.
I experimented with dozens of different mechanisms when trying to make locking/posable articulated models, and all but one of them got left on the cutting room floor.
Now, with new learnings from the current Snap-Flex joint, I'm revisiting old designs to see which ones I can breathe new life into.
The Snap-Flex Twist joint flips the Snap-Flex design on its head:
Instead of Pushing to Lock and Pulling to Flex like the original Snap-Flex joint (ie. Slick - Articulated Snake), the Snap-Flex Twist swaps those two around:
Pull to Lock
Push to Flex
This allows for a greater range of motion, and posability while locked in place so you can have more twists and turns in your posed models.
The chains in this design are a little thicker at 100% than the usual models, so feel free to give it a solid tug if it's a little tough to snap at first.
There are a number of design trade-offs that make this possible, so please let me know how you like the new Snap-Flex Twist and how you think it could be improved.
I already have a list of several changes I want to make, so your feedback will help me validate which development paths to actually pursue.
Videos
I'm starting to include short turntable videos with each model I post, and I would like to take better advantage of our ability to include videos on the model pages now. Please check out the latest model pages and the linked videos and let me know what other types of content you would like to see.
As always, thank you for all of your support and for liking & downloading my designs! I love hearing your feedback and seeing any photos you post of the final prints.
Seeya around!
~Tom (Mimetics3D)