With Voltron back on Netflix as a new animated series, there is sure to be a flood of new lion-bot toys hitting the market. But if you have access to a 3D printer and a lot of time and patience, you can download and print Jurica Pranjic’s fully-transforming and assembling Voltron replica for free.
And by free we mean the 3D models and schematics are free to download from My Mini Factory. Everything else, including the 3D printer and filament needed to create the countless moving parts and all five lions that make up this replica, have to be supplied by you.
It’s not just the hardware and materials costs you have to consider before attempting to 3D print this model, there’s the time involved too. Many of these components will take hours to print, not including the final finishing work and assembly that all has to be done by hand.
A $US1250 ($1698) Voltron statue is a ludicrously expensive collectible, but when you crunch the numbers it might actually end up being cheaper than building this free alternative.