Customized 3D Printed Surf Toys

This is a short Instructable to describe an easy and fun project for teaching 3D printing to kids. I have been trying to develop a variety of interesting projects to illuminate the fun and complexity of teaching 3D printing to a range of students. This project came from seeing this toy on Maui beaches: https://surferdudes.com/ and finding this model when I inquired if it was 3D printable: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1689141-surfing-toy-snap-together-and-play#profileId-1790351. I thought it would make it even more fun if the kids could pose for the surfer dude and print themselves in profile. It turned out to be a very easy modified project that really any class can do. The parts are printed in TPU and PETG and most of the printing is done out of class. The kids just pose for the shots and perform a little AI magic and approve of their avatars and print them out. The toy was modified from the original source to make it easier to print and the design moved itself Pipeline ready for the biggest waves!

You will need access to a 3D printer and PETG and TPU filament. I usually use a Bambu printer but any available unit should work. I have only printed the surfboard in TPU but PETG would probably work. PLA was not tried but its proximity to heat and sun would probably make it short term toy.

Once they were shown how the model would turn out the kids got into it. Being from Maui most of the kids had some experience with the surf culture and definitely knew how to do the pose. A couple declined the side pose but it really doesn't matter. Dial up CHATGPT and use the following prompt after you upload the photo: change this photo into a sideview, black and white only, silhouette of this person on a surfboard.

Use this free website: https://picsvg.com. Upload the pic from ChatGPT to the website and convert it to a SVG file format that is a total silhouette. It is usually called Internal1 in the pulldown list that gives the best results. Download this file to your desktop.

Use you free educational copy of Fusion360 to upload your SVG file to the desktop. You have to choose what plane to add it to and what orientation that you want. SVG are added by using the INSERT command on the upper pull down list. You also can adjust the size of the object that you want to create or you can modify this in the slicer software later. Use the PressPull command to outline the features and expand the figure to a 3mm depth. Its good at this point to modify any features that you want to eliminate from the figure...I usually trimmed off the surf board provided by AI.

The surfboard is the same as the downloaded file from this source: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1689141-surfing-toy-snap-together-and-play#profileId-1790351 but reduced to 75% of the original size. The skeg lower unit was my own design to modify the handling characteristics of the toy...it seems more stable with this compact tail unit and doesn't flop on its side as much. The surfboard is printed in TPU with no supports and in an upright position. My printer had a tendency to string too much when these units were printed together on one field so for my small class I printed them individually. The lower units were all printed in PETG. The figureBase must be added to all the surfing dudes after you send them to your printer from Fusion360. This is relatively easy with the Bambu Labs slicer software. It allows an easy connection to the base and allows you to change surfer dudes. Print the surfer dudes in PETG.

Nothing to much to using this fun beach toy. Give it to the kids and they'll know what to do with it. The figures will probably snap off with rough use but can be easily replaced.