Year of the Dragon Dice Tower

I decided to enter the dice contest #DICEXCULTS , this will be the first one I have entered. I have prepared this Year of the Dragon dice tower for consideration. I am also including some notable information for printing and other details.

First of all, this is not a supportless print. I do a lot of printing and, although I do see the interest around having prints supportless, I also see limitations. For a print like this, to make a spiral tower completely supportless was not something I could easily accomplish. However, it is strategically split for less supports. If you move parts around just a bit, although I have tried to find the right orientations, I think you will find, high supports can be eliminated, and some parts are totally supportless.

Next, I want to mention that I tested this print, in the video and pictures, printing it at 50%, and it came out quite nice. It is a lot of parts and takes time, but this could make a very nice dice tower. I had little time and filament, but I have ordered some silk pla, and will be printing this larger, I assure you!

Some of the parts are different than the ones in the picture and I also added some. None of the joins were changed. New parts include:

1. I changed the head a bit, as the nose was a bit striated due to a steep angle. The new one should print better.

2. I added a moustache to cover any straition in that area, or just because it looks really cool.

3. The back foot of the base was bulky in my original print, I made it look more smoky for the final one.

4. I added fire to attach to the smoke, to cover striation on the tower outer walls.

5. I added an alternate part to use if you do not like the smoke. It is labeled "Altwind" and will prop up the tower instead of using the wind.

Now, some printing and assembly notes:

1. The wind is like a puzzle. It is best to print the legs, glue them on like in the pics, then wind the smoke on and glue the pieces together. I may have to make a video for this later if requested, but with patience and determination, you can assemble it! Have faith!

2. The jaw closing part is a small lever, it isn't totally necessary, especially if you just want the mouth always open, but it will line up if the parts are put together properly.

3. If you plan on using this with actual dice, and not the Chinese character dice I have included, it should be big enough at around 80 or 90%, best to print one of the tower sections and test it. %100 will definitely be big enough, dice are 16mm and the aperture is 30mm.

Well, that's about it! I look forward to a new year and hope you enjoy the tower if you decide to spend the time making it! It will remain free, even after the contest is over, regardless of results, plus, you have all year to print it! I wish everyone a happy holidays and New Year, hope it is a good one for you!

Your choice!