How I Designed the World’s Smallest FDM Articulated Turtle We all love minis — they’re trendy, collectible, and satisfying to print. Most of the designs I develop are full-scale articulations with well-sculpted details and refined geometry. But for a long time, I’ve wanted to create a true miniature — something tiny yet mechanically functional. The problem? I was never satisfied with the detail and articulation quality when scaled down. While I was sculpting the standard articulated turtle, an old friend reached out. He uses a 120mm print bed exclusively for research purposes but always wanted to try printing an articulated model. That stuck with me. As I worked on the full-size turtle, I kept the X and Y dimensions within 120mm — though it eventually crept up to 126mm. After releasing the full-scale version, I began researching how to scale it down without sacrificing clearance or articulation integrity. That led me to revisit one of my older designs: the ball-joint links from...
How I Designed the World’s Smallest FDM Articulated Turtle
We all love minis — they’re trendy, collectible, and satisfying to print. Most of the designs I develop are full-scale articulations with well-sculpted details and refined geometry. But for a long time, I’ve wanted to create a true miniature — something tiny yet mechanically functional. The problem? I was never satisfied with the detail and articulation quality when scaled down.
While I was sculpting the standard articulated turtle, an old friend reached out. He uses a 120mm print bed exclusively for research purposes but always wanted to try printing an articulated model. That stuck with me. As I worked on the full-size turtle, I kept the X and Y dimensions within 120mm — though it eventually crept up to 126mm. After releasing the full-scale version, I began researching how to scale it down without sacrificing clearance or articulation integrity.
That led me to revisit one of my older designs: the ball-joint links from my 2022 Dragonfly V2. I took those old joints, remixed and upgraded them, and achieved a geometric proportion that could be scaled without losing mechanical clearance. It felt like a breakthrough.
I pushed myself to see how small this joints could go. After two intense days of testing — battling nozzle clogs, adjusting print profiles, and hyper-focusing on tolerances — I finally managed to print a 20mm articulated turtle on my Bambu Lab A1 FDM printer, using standard PLA.
To my surprise, it worked. The joints moved. It wasn’t just small — it was super micro and fully functional.
I created an export version for others to test. Some managed smooth prints at 40mm, while a few ambitious users printed the full 20mm version. Although tight, the joints moved with finesse. But hitting the 20mm mark requires serious print experience, a well-calibrated machine, and the ability to troubleshoot on the fly.
As feedback started coming in from my subscribers and followers, I realized this wasn’t just a personal achievement — it was a community moment. And this is just the beginning. The newly refined articulation system has already sparked ideas for future mini models that will continue pushing FDM capabilities.
Stay tuned — the microscale era has just begun.
The sample files are Available:
๐ BAMBULAB MAKERWORLD
๐ PRINTABLES
๐ ELEGOO NEXPRINT
If you want to try printing the high resolution files yourself, the model’s up on Cults and MyMiniFactory:
๐ Cults3D
๐My Mini Factory
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