Tails - Classic

Tails, a character from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Tails is a nickname for "Miles Prower", which is a pun on "miles per hour", a reference to the famed speed of Sonic the Hedgehog. Tails is a two-tailed fox, hence the nickname.

He is a mechanical genius and skilled pilot. He can fly by spinning his tails like a helicopter rotor and can be seen flying in multiple games and TV shows.

Two parts require supports and special printing considerations (see notes for very specific and important information). Slicer supports are minimal for the two parts, therefore, no presupported files are included for this model.

If you have the proper filament colors, no painting is needed.

As presented, Tails is in proportion to my previous Sonic model.

Tails can be printed without the base if you want to hang him from a shelf in order to 'fly solo', or printed with the base and one connecting part.

The assembled model with the base is 205mm tall.

(11/11/2023 note: The mouth.stl part is incorrectly labelled as ‘face’ in the assembly diagram.)

Enjoy!

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Special shoutout to maker Benoît Lussier for providing QA printing and quality feedback.

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Print Instructions:
Supports: Yes (two parts only)
Resolution: .2mm (see below for printing tips suggested optional exceptions)
Infill: 15%

Notes:**

Refer to the notes below for a few important printing and assembly instructions.

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Building the model

Colors

Black: (Paramount3D PLA - Black)
eye_black_right
eye_black_left
nose
base_bottom
base_back
base_sides (contains two parts)
sole_right (to be used if printing without the base)
sole_right_with_pin (to be used if printing with the base)
sole_left
cuff_black_right
cuff_black_left
..

Orange/Yellow: (Paramount3D PLA - Eggyolk Yellow)
head
hair
arm_left
arm_right
tail_orange_left
tail_orange_right
body
..

Green: (DevilDesigns - Light Green)
base_green
..

Blue: (Parmount3d PLA - Cadet Blue)
socks_blue_right
socks_blue_left
..

Red: (3DFuel PLA - Iron Red)
shoes_red_left
shoes_red_right
..

White: (Overture PLA - White)
eye_white_dots (contains two identical pieces)
eye_white_right
eye_white_left
hand_right
hand_left
ear_right
ear_left
shoes_white_right
shoes_white_left
socks_white_right
socks_white_left
cuff_white_right
cuff_white_left
belly
face
tail_white_right
tail_white_left
..

Grey: (Paramount3d PLA - Prototype Grey)
buckles (contains two identical pieces)
..

Light Brown: (PolyTerra PLA - Wood Brown)
base_lt_brown (contains all the individual parts needed)
base_side_lt_brown (contains four identical pieces)
..

Dark Brown: (PolyTerra PLA - Army Brown)
base_dk_brown (contains all the individual parts needed)
base_side_dk_brown (contains two identical pieces)

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Printing and assembly tips

Printing tips
1 - Special considerations for this model if you plan on using the base. When using the base, one leg holds the whole model up in the flying position on the base. I printed all the parts with a .2mm layer height, 15% infill and all the standard slicer parameters for my MK3 and MK4. The resulting model is well secured and holds the flying position very nicely. However, picking up the model and handling it roughy most likely will put too much stress on the leg resulting in a break. The model resizes like all my other models, but, I do not know how the leg would hold up with a heavier model.

2 - There are some pieces that REQUIRE rafts and or supports.

* I used a 2 layer raft:
tail_white_left
tail_white_right
tail_orange_left
tail_orange_right
mouth

• I used slicer supports, from the plate only, with a max angle of 30 degrees.
  head
  mouth

• I used brims on:
  hand_right
  hand_left
  arm_left
  arm_right
  hair (during QA, Benoit used a raft. A brim or raft is required)

3 -The following point is applicable to all my models, but more so for this one:
When removing parts from the printer bed, it's a VERY good idea to place left/right parts into separate containers to help with the assembly process. Sometimes the difference between the left and right parts is very small but it is still worth keeping track of them and assembling them in their proper place.

4 - Some parts print better with a lower layer height. The head, in particular, has a slope in the back resulting in a note so clean print. Since it is in the back, it is mostly hidden, but a lower layer height for that area would be useful.

..
Assembly tips:

1 - Take your time gluing the model together and enjoy the process. Give some thought into which parts to glue together as groups and then gluing the groups together. Let the glue for each group set completely before combining groups.

2 - I used 3D Gloop and E6000 to put this model together. Each type of glue has different pros/cons and I found that 3D Gloop was far easier to use than superglue (for me). The E6000 sticky glue that I also use allows more time to position parts and is still the best for smaller parts. For both glues using a smaller amount is usually better than more glue.

3 - Due to the goal of creating parts that print easily, some of the connections are not as 'sturdy' as I would have liked. However, taking care when gluing and having the patience to let things dry properly works fine.

4 - The cuff_white and cuff_black parts have holes for the arms. The holes are tapered and the wider side faces the arm. Also, the holes are not round, so be sure to rotate the parts to fit the arms. These parts should slide onto the arms easily.

5 - Along with the assembly diagrams, there is a picture highlighting some parts to help confirm assembly.

6 - Refer to the assembly diagrams in the pictures section as well as the uploaded pictures for putting the model together. The model is meant to be glued.

Do not hesitate to ask questions, feedback is essential to making better models.