Hinged Dragon Scales

This cloak is the end result of an idea I had for a cosplay gift for a friend of mine. I saw the amazing dragon scales printed on tulle by ShoreyDesigns (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2755451) and just knew I had to find a way to make a wearable item with scales.

My original thought and design was a fully 3d printed set of scales printed directly onto fabric. Unfortunately, I ran into two problems: 1) I couldn't print the scales flattened as much as I wanted without supports and couldn't remove supports printed directly onto the fabric, and 2) I only have a small printer, so could only print 4" by 4".

This lead to a series of redesigns that ended up with a two part print. The first part being a set of hinge bases that printed directly onto fabric, and the second being the hinged scale.

When I eventually get a dual-extruder printer, I intend to revisit this design and see if it can be printed all in one as a hinge but with soluble filament for the supports.

Despite the limitations, and the LARGE amount of manual labor this required, I'm pretty pleased with the result.