May 3, 2026
Description
This pocket-sized puppet theatre has everything needed to put on a fun pint-size puppet show. Not only that, but your little stage manager has full creative control with colour-your-own puppets and scenery backdrops. Great for gifts, party favours, or even as screen-free entertainment while travelling.
* Why business cards? They're a common and easy-to-find source of sturdy paper. The slot is specifically designed to fit any one of the many different sizes used around the world.
Printing is fairly straight-forward but there are a few things to keep in mind.
The models in the photos were primarily printed using Bambu PLA Basic (Indigo Purple) and PLA Galaxy (Purple). Curtain was printed in Overture PLA Silk (Christmas Red) and the gold accents in CC3D Silk PLA (Glorious Gold).
Test prints were made using the below filaments using default profiles on a Bambu X1C and were found to have a good fit between parts. The only difference that I found for part fitting was the lid which is why there are alternative sizes. Your results may differ due to filament colour/type/brand, and printer.
| Brand | Type |
Colour(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Bambu | PLA Basic |
|
| Bambu | PLA Galaxy |
|
| Bambu | PLA Sparkle |
|
| Overture | PLA Silk |
|
| CC3D | PLA Silk |
|
| Spectrum | PLA Silk |
|
The two colour effect of the stage opening, the puppets, and the puppet handle are accomplished by using a slicer command to swap filament at a certain height. This technique works with and without an AMS and results in a part that looks the same regardless of how it was printed. How a filament swap is accomplished is functionally different between the two setups.
I've set up my print profiles to trigger the swaps at the appropriate layer height. All you need to do is either load both colours in the AMS or be on hand to make the swap manually.
To add a name to the back of the theatre, download the special “Theatre with Name Plate” 3mf using the “Download STL/CAD Files” button and open in Studio. It already has a text object applied and positioned correctly; all you need to do is edit it. If you've never edited text before, this video is a good all-round primer on how to do it. Just remember to check the Preview tab to see how the sliced font looks. If it doesn't look good on-screen, it won't print any better 😥
⚠️ Important! Leave the Thickness set to 0.6mm; any bigger and the bottoms of the text will droop. Multicolour printing the text is NOT recommended; the wall it is on is very thin and the text may delaminate.
Models were prototyped on a Bambu X1C with a 0.4mm nozzle. These are the process settings I used and which are contained as part of the print profiles.
⚠️ NOTE: There is a ~10mm bridge at the top of each window. It prints decently on my X1C (not perfect but also not awful). Adding support increased print time about 10 minutes and resulted in marginally better bridges. I've left them disabled as I found the small gain wasn't worth the extra print time and filament. There are techniques to get better bridges, but I'll leave it up to the user as it's printer dependent.
| Setting | Value | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Layer height | 0.2 | Part fit and colour swaps were designed with this value. Changing this value will throw off colour changes and part fit. |
| X/Y Contour Compensation (Tighter and Looser Lids only) | ±0.03 | Reduces/increases outer contour without affecting layer height. Used to provide alternate sizes. |
| Wall generator | Classic | Prototyped with this generator. Changing to Arachne may make parts not fit. |
| Wall order (first layer modifier only applied to puppets) | outer/inner | Printing the outer wall first gives any tiny inner walls something to stick to. Only applied to the first layer as it's inadvisable to use for the entire model. |
| Bridge Flow | 1.1 | Increased flow for better bridges. May need tweaking for your own filament/printer. |
| Only one wall on top surfaces (curtain and stage front only) | Not Applied
| Results in a nicer top surface for these two parts |
| Wall loops | 3 | Overall increased strength. |
| Sparse infill density/type | 10% / gyroid | Capped at 10% because the strength mainly comes from the increased wall loops. |
| Initial layer speed | 20 mm/s | Slower speed allows complicated first layers enough time to cool and adhere. This setting is specifically for the puppets and handles but as I cannot limit it to just those plates, it needs to be a global setting. It doesn't impact print time of the bigger parts by much. |
| Outer wall speed | 100 mm/s | Slower outer wall speed is better for overhangs and overall surface quality. You can increase this speed but the quality may not be as nice. |
| Bridge speed | 20 mm/s | Slower speed results in a better (but not perfect) bridge. May need tweaking for your own filament/printer. |
| Purge Tower | Disabled | Filament swaps generally do not need a purge tower. All my prototyping has been done with it disabled and I found no discernable drop in quality. If you notice print quality issues, you may want to re-enable it. |
If two parts are not fitting well together, adjust one (not both) of the parts in Studio using X-Y contour compensation.
Note: these values are guidelines only and may need further tweaking. The alternate lid sizes have this setting already applied but they can be adjusted further if they still are not fitting for you.
This puppet theatre was designed for Pieksekisten and was in the planning stages even before the contest was announced. I was incredibly moved by Pascal's story of loss and resilience and knew I needed to do something, no matter how small. While my kit cards are well-liked by kids and are a fun thing to build together with their adults, I knew that they'd be problematic in a hospital setting with leftover sharp-tipped sprues. So I set to work designing something that would be more appropriate but would still be enjoyable as a shared experience between both caregiver and child.
Within minutes of deciding to build a model for Pascal, I knew that “something” would be a puppet theatre. Storytelling is transportive, interactive, and unlimited. Puppetry makes it accessible to both the child and the caregiver as both can tell stories through them. It could be for a laugh, a momentary retreat from the world to some place fantastical, or even as a way to explore emotions that may be difficult to express.
It was a long few weeks of prototyping to create this little theatre. I had a lot of requirements to be sure it would be easy to print, accessible, interactive, self-contained, AND be small enough to fit inside a Pieksekisten. I'm fairly confident I succeeded. At least I hope I did! If you're at all interested in the prototyping process, check out this deep dive. Believe me when I say every little detail from big to small was chosen with deliberate care 😅
Regardless of whether or not my theatre will be part of Pascal's project, I hope it will bring smiles to whoever prints it. It was a labour of love made with the hope that it would bring a small spark of joy wherever it goes ❤️
License:
Standard Digital File License
berri3D
