Floating Animated Armor

Here is a sculpt I made with ZBrush of a floating animated armor that can be used in a board game, a D&D game, or a diorama. As you can see in the pictures, it is fully printable on my FDM printer. I made two versions, one complete and another split into two halves to make printing with supports on an FDM printer easier. This also allows you to create an adventure where the animated armor can separate into two independent entities, like this:

As the party pressed deeper into the dungeon’s winding corridors, their torchlight spilled into a perfectly round chamber carved from cold, ancient stone. Only one door awaited them on the far side, heavy, iron-bound, and half-swallowed by shadows. Beside it stood an imposing suit of armor, spear in hand and shield angled protectively toward the room, as lifeless as any forgotten relic. Yet the moment they stepped inside, Elyndra froze. Something felt wrong! A chill crawled up her spine, and Tarin’s breath caught as if unseen fingers pressed against his throat. Rorek grumbled a warning, his instincts flaring. The air seemed to tighten around them, each step echoing too loudly, too sharply. Someone swore they saw the armor shift, just a twitch, but “I saw it move!” Tarin hissed, heart pounding.

Only when they reached for the door did the truth reveal itself. Metal groaned, slowly, deliberately and the armored form stirred. Their torchlight revealed an empty neck opening where no helm or head belonged, the hollow rim casting an eerie, gaping shadow.

“By the gods…” Elyndra whispered, stumbling back. The shield arm drifted free. The legs braced. The floating plates clicked into a stance that felt horribly purposeful.

Before the party could react, the armor split apart with a sharp, violent jolt! The upper torso, shoulders, breastplate, and right arm gripping the spear, rose into the air drifting forward like a predator ready to strike. The lower half slid back, shield dragging a harsh screech across the floor as the detached arm floated beside it.

Tarin gasped, fear slicing through him. “It’s flanking us !”

The two parts moved with perfect, unnerving coordination. The shield-bearing lower half lunged first, slamming into them with brutal force! One adventurer was hurled straight toward the hovering torso and the upper section seized the opening instantly, spear thrusting again and again in a deadly rhythm that left no room to breathe.

Rorek bellowed in pain and fury! Elyndra felt her courage waver, just for a heartbeat, as the two halves closed in like the jaws of a trap.
They weren’t facing a mindless guardian.
They were prey.