Christmas guide – how to make a “Baby Yoda” bauble?

The last part of Star Wars saga, which is the culmination of the latest trilogy, has divided the universe fans and is one of those topics (next to Netflix “The Witcher”), which is better not to raise at the holiday table. However, just before the film, the premiere had the series “Mandalorian”, taking place in the star-war universe. And while the series, due to the lack of availability of the Disney + platform in Poland, few saw it, it was impossible to pass by indifferently one of the key characters in the plot …

Already after the first few shots from the series it was known that Baby Yoda would win the hearts of not only loyal fans of the saga. Even the scientists bent over the phenomenon of this character, seeking answers why little Yoda became so popular. Even the outstanding director Weener Herzog, who was also involved in the series, admitted that this character is so beautiful that he is heartbreakingly beautiful.

No wonder then that the internet was flooded with a wave of gifs, memes and 3D models. The first of them appeared already on November 16, i.e. several dozen hours after the premiere of the first episode of the series. He didn’t break the BB-8 record, whose models were created based on a few seconds of film teaser shot, but it is still a good result. So far, the Thingiverse repository has 93 models labeled “Baby Yoda”, but we’ve already encountered a situation where the character models from Star Wars have been irrevocably removed.

One of the Baby Yoda models, published on Thingiverse, was used to create our Christmas decorations. It is true that the process of model optimization itself was not complicated or time consuming, but who would have time for it in the heat of Christmas preparations …?

The design

In the original model, we decided to introduce several changes that facilitated the post-processing process. Using the simple 3D Builder program, the edges of the model base were cut off – two cube models were placed symmetrically to each other, and then the solids were removed with the “Subtract” function. Thanks to this, it will be much easier to remove the model from the 3D printer platform while reducing the risk of the model breaking.

Then, to make the figurine as a Christmas tree ornament, we added the “Torus” shape at the top of the model. Remember that before exporting the model, you must merge them to create one 3D object.

The prepared model was exported as .stl format and send to 3D printer software.

The 3D printing

We decided to print Baby Yoda on a Zortrax Inkspire 3D printer. The model is so easy to 3D print that supports are generated primarily under the ears and paws, not on the detailed surface of the face. The almost lack of supports on the terry part of the model gave confidence that the finished 3D print would give the appearance of a virtual model. To maintain high precision of the manufacturing process, we used 0.05 mm layer height in the 3D printing settings.

For printing, we used white Zortrax resin BASIC white, which gave the whole an interesting color of off-white combined with a velvet surface finish. The model was relatively large (volume about 82 ml), and its preparation time was 7 h 32 min. As you can see, even the most forgetful ones are before Christmas Eve!

And done!

After cleaning the 3D model of all supports and smoothing the surface, the model is ready. You can also go a step further and paint it with acrylic paints, but the one-color “little Yoda” looks just as impressive, which you can admire in the pictures below.

3D printed is our proposition for the forgetful for a gift or an addition to a gift. It is hard to imagine that someone could resist the charm of Baby Yoda!