The Best Way To 3D Print Sonic the Hedgehog Diorama 3D Model

It’s like taking a stroll down memory lane

Nostalgia, what does that mean to you? For me, it’s my childhood and Sonic the Hedgehog. Growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, the big things that come to my mind are movies, TV shows, Saturday morning cartoons, and video games. These were all such a massive part in my childhood memories. I’m very happy I have the Sonic the Hedgehog diorama to add to my collection.

Still to this very day, video games are a massive part of my life. My first console was the Caleco Game System. After that was the Atari 2600, followed by the Atari 5200. On my 10th birthday the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). In 1991, my freshman year in high school, the Sega Genesis released. It only took five minutes to fall in love with this fast running, bunny saving badass named Sonic the Hedgehog and I have been playing Sonic the Hedgehog games ever since. Seriously, If you were to go on my Xbox today, you would see all the original Sonic the Hedgehog games downloaded. Sonic will live on alongside Mario as an all-time favourite game character from my youth.

Sonic the Hedgehog diorama 3D print time!

Now let’s blast forward in time to last week. I leaped at the opportunity to be first on our team to test this fantastic diorama STL file, created by artist Daniel Thredson. This Sonic the Hedgehog diorama features Sonic and his crew; Knuckles and Tails.

I could tell right away that the Sonic the Hedgehog diorama was going to be a challenging print for an FDM printer. Therefore, the first thing I did was increase its size and enlarged all parts to 125% scale, to help with the small parts like the character’s arms and legs. Furthermore, a ton of supports and finding the correct orientation on my slicer software was required. I had to get the positions just right on the character’s heads and Tails tornado tail to minimise print failures.

Luckily, I only had one failure in the whole 3D printing process, and it was on Sonic’s head. I was able to rectify that with stronger support settings and dropping my print speeds down to 50% of normal.

The obligatory print settings and details

All of the parts and characters for the Sonic the Hedgehog diorama were printed on my two Prusa MK3’s and sliced on PrusaSlicer. Minus a few tweaks to the temps and such for my filament. The standard default settings were used on the slicer. All of the prints are done at a .2 layer height. The infill for the parts and characters varied from 10% to 20% depending on the piece with a gyroid infill. For Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and the fence, I used Solutech PLA white filament and the totem and totem parts printed with Solutech Ultra PLA purple.

The base for Sonic was printed as one solid print on my Creality CR10S Pro. Again, with standard settings in Cura minus some temperature changes for filament. The base had a 5% gyroid infill and experimental tree supports. I printed the bottom half of the base in Eryone Lagoonbow rainbow silk PLA filament, and the top half was Solutech white PLA. The stand was the scariest print of them all. It was an almost four-day 3D print, and two of those days I wasn’t going to be home. The bottom of the stand measured eight and a half inches around and provided ample support for the entire model with no fear of tipping.

What are you waiting for?

“Wow, this is amazing!” was what I said after assembling the Sonic the Hedgehog diorama. Pictures do not do justice to all the details in the ground, grass, tilled earth and fence. The details are incredible; without any doubt, this is Sonic’s world right here.

Any true Sonic the Hedgehog lover or avid 3D printer for that matter should consider getting the STL file and trying to print it yourself. As you can see for yourself, it is a fun print and its just cool. Take your time with those tricky parts, and you’ll do fine. It’s worth it, in my opinion. Here is my final little tip on this model. If something doesn’t seem to fit right, I found using my heat gun helped parts fit together snug and secure.

Special thanks to Daniel Thredson Art (DTR)

You can find Daniel Thredson’s Sonic the Hedgehog diorama file and others at his site to purchase. While you’re at it, visit his Facebook page to like and see all his upcoming projects.

If you’d like to make Sonic your next dessert, check out what Mycuisini can do!