Another marathon session of printing 3D parts on my Makerbot printer over the last few days has paid off with the completion of my large scale Lego Jet Man figure.
In the top photo you can see an actual Lego man standing next to Jet Man. The regular sized figure is only 1.625 inches tall. The last photo above shows you how this regular sized Lego man compares in size to a dime. My Lego Jet Man stands 11 inches tall from the floor to the top of the propeller assembly. So he is huge!
This photo gives you a much better idea of the scale difference between Jet man and the smaller Lego figure.
One of the challenges in printing Jet Man was his arms. The original design was intended to be a 40 inch tall fiber glass figure and so the computer model needed to be updated so that all parts could be printed on the Makerbot 3D printer. The arms being such an odd shape had to be carefully tweaked so that they would lay flat on the printer so that they could be made.
Next was the leg and hip assembly. In this photo you see this assembly near completion with the left leg yet to be added. Jet Man by himself is very complete with legs, arms, hands and head that can be posed into any position. With the jet pack on though Jet Man is limited because the pack needs to be permanently mounted to him. Maybe the next large scale Lego man can be updated so that the jet pack can be removed. For now this still makes a great figure and project.
The fuel tanks for the jet pack are mounted using tabs and slots. Both the tanks and the back mount have slots that accept mating tabs that are glued into place. The tanks then are glued on to the tabs to locate them perfectly.
Jet Man even has a smile on his face. The helmet which is almost 2 1/2 inches in diameter was glued into place using standard plastic modeling glue.
Jet Man has only one piece of metal in the assembly which is a small machine screw. The seven inch diameter propeller on the top of the figure spins freely with this screw buried inside the upper shaft of the assembly. The machine screw is hidden by a domed cap that is mounted on top of the propeller assembly.
To complete the look of Jet Man I added shoulder and waist belts including black buckles. Jet Man weighs in at 13.6 ounces and the cost of materials comes to a grand total of $19.35. A small price for a lot of hours of pleasure during the assembly and the untold years I will have showing him off. Speaking of which the total time to print Jet Man comes to 28 hours 30 minutes. Not including around 70 hours design time to figure how to make this guy. Total number of parts for Jet man include 15 pieces for the man and another 25 for the jet pack. Another great and fun project that I am proud to say "I designed and made myself." I hope you enjoy the photos and the info about Jet Man.
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