Midvale Comic

Midvale, from "The Far Side", a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson

"Midvale School for the Gifted" is one of The Far Side creator Gary Larson’s most famous cartoons, first published on November 24, 1986. It features a student struggling to enter a school by pushing hard on a door that has a large sign reading "PULL".

Please read the full writeup!

No supports are required on the fully split model, however, an optional set of files for the shirt are provided for machines that can print multi-material models which requires support. Due to small parts, patience is required in order to assemble this model.

If you have the proper filament colors, no painting is needed.

The assembled model is 155mm tall.

Enjoy!

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Special shoutout to maker MadCatUSA for providing QA printing and quality feedback.

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Print Instructions:
Supports: No, see specific instructions below for options for the shirt
Rafts: YES, see specific instructions below on one part
Resolution: .2mm (see notes for options on one part)
Infill: 15%

Notes:**

Refer to the notes below for a few helpful printing and assembly instructions.

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Building the model

Colors

Black: (Devil Designs PLA - Black)
glasses
sign (color change is required, see notes)
pull_sign (color change is required, see notes)
..

White: (Devil Designs PLA - White)
eyes (file contains two identical pieces)
shirt_white1
shirt_white2
shirt_white3
shirt_white4
sleeve_left_white1
sleeve_left_white2
sleeve_right_white1
sleeve_right_white2
socks (file contains two identical pieces)
shoes_bottom (file contains two identical pieces)
mmu_white_red (optional part for multi-material printers, see notes)
..

Brick Red: (Devil Designs PLA - Brick Red)
wall (for more brick texture, print at .12mm layers)
..

Dark Green: (Devil Designs PLA - Race Green)
door
..

Mid Brown: (Paramount3D PLA - Dark Complexion)
sign_posts (file contains two identical pieces)
..

Brown: (BambuLabs PLA - Brown)
shoes_top (file contains two identical pieces)
..

Gray: (Devil Designs - Gray)
steps
..

Dark Gray: (Paramount3D PLA - Battleship Gray)
window
..

Silver: (Devil Designs - Silver)
handle
..

Skin: (Paramount3D PLA - Universal Beige)
head
hand_right
hand_left
..

Red: (BambuLabs PLA - Red)
shirt_red1
shirt_red2
shirt_red3
sleeve_left_red
sleeve_right_red1
sleeeve_right_red2
sign (color change is required, see notes)
mmu_shirt_red (optional part for multi-material printers, see notes)
..

Blue: (BambuLabs PLA - Blue)
pants
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Green: (BambuLabs PLA - Green)
book
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Light Beige: (Unknown PLA - Light Beige)
sign (color change is required, see notes)
pull_sign (color change is required, see notes)
..

Any color (hidden parts)
pin_shirt
pin_sleeve_left

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Printing and assembly tips

Printing tips

1 - No supports are required, unless you choose to print the multi-material version of the shirt. In that case be sure to suppress supports in the area for the pin and ensure the slicer adds supports for the right arm.
There are two assembly diagrams. The second one lists all the parts for the split shirt and the optional multimaterial shirt parts.

*supports: N/A except for the optional multi-material shirt

2 - There are some pieces that may need brims or rafts, use your discretion. When setting up my prints I prefer to be conservative to ensure the least chance of a print failure, especially since the base of many parts are hidden when inserted into another part. Rafts also ensure that the first layer of small parts will have a better fit for my models.

*I used a three layer raft on the following parts:
- hand_right

3 - The wall can be printed at .2mm layers, however, to achieve a more 'brick' texture, printing at .12mm layers for this part is preferable.

4 - Since the shirt has a number of small parts, an optional multi-material shirt is supplied. For a multi-material shirt, load both the mmu_shirt_red and mmu_shirt_white at the same time and have the slicer treat it as parts of the same object and assign colors appropriately . The second assembly diagram lists all the parts of the split shirt that this replaces, which need not be printed if using this option.

5 - Two parts are printed with color changes:

• sign: Start with a light color and change to black after 2.0mm, then after 2.6mm change to red
• pull_sign: Start with a light color and change to black at after 1.6mm

6 - When removing parts from the printer bed, it's a VERY good idea to place left/right parts into separate containers to help with the assembly process. Sometimes the difference between the left and right parts is very small but it is still worth keeping track of them and assembling them in their proper place.

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Assembly tips:

1 - Take your time gluing the model together and enjoy the process. Give some thought into which parts to glue together as groups and then gluing the groups together. Let the glue for each group set completely before combining groups.

2 - I used 3D Gloop (strong fast drying) and E6000 (tacky slow drying) glues to put this model together. For both glues using a smaller amount is usually better than more glue.

3 - important for all my models, be sure to dry fit all parts before gluing.

4 - Assembling the shirt requires patience but it is not difficult. Using the second assembly diagram and the picture of the printed object be sure to orient each part correctly. Everything should line up smoothly when oriented correctly. Dry fitting is very helpful. Here is the order I glued the parts after ensuring the proper orientation (it may sound complicated but it's not):

• Assemble and glue the main shirt parts (including the pin) without the sleeves and without the shirt_white4 part. Take note that the shirt_white1 part is slightly tapered and the tapered side goes down to the pants.
• Glue in the book making sure it is seated flush (it is angled, but still should be flush with the shirt)
• Assemble and glue the hand_right to the sleeve_white1
• Glue in the sleeve_right_white1 to the shirt. It should fit nicely in the shirt notch
• Glue in the sleeve_right_red2
• Glue in the sleeve_right_white2
• Glue in the sleeve_right_red1
• Assemble and glue the hand_left to the sleeve_left_white1. There is a very small notch to ensure the proper rotation of the hand into the sleeve.
• Using the pin_sleeve_left, assemble and glue the sleeve left parts in the proper order and rotation
• Assemble and glue in the full left_hand/sleeve assembly into the shirt.

5 - Refer to the assembly diagrams in the pictures section as well as the uploaded pictures for putting the model together. The model is meant to be glued.

Do not hesitate to ask questions, feedback is essential to making better models.