The inspiration here is threefold:

1. After seeing the awesome sculptural work being done on the pet monster contest, I knew I wanted to try my hand at organic modeling and I wanted a way a cool way to incorporate it into a 3D print. I decided to prototype a base to work off of in the future.
2. I've been thinking about how traditional crafts can be augmented with 3D printing. I came across an article on marionettes from a 1936 Popular Science article with some great info. http://tinyurl.com/6reet4u
3. The size of the new Replicator platform! Suddenly a 16" tall marionette is doable without a million pieces.

I wanted a puppet that didn't require additional hardware, and that assembled without a lot of fuss.

I tried variations of both Zomboe's snake http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4743 and Landru's springamathing http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:12053 as a replacement for traditional cloth hinges. At this point, the pieces I've prototyped on my thing-o-matic don't have nearly enough movement to serve as a marionette, and thinner renditions have been too fragile. But, I have a start of something interesting. I'm not sure if I'll continue to spend time on an all-plastic solution, or look for ways to make tyvek cloth hinges with plastic connectors. This figure has merit of his own, so I'm sharing it in the meantime.

Print one copy of each plate - they are formatted for a 225 x 145 build platform. Pop the pins into the appropriate holes. Enjoy!

Our springy friend stands about 16.5" tall, or 415mm.