The Secret Lives of Everyday Objects — 3D-Printed Toys

When I tell people that 3D printing has come a very long way, it’s hard to judge just exactly what I mean. But as a child of the 80s, a Transformer seems to me a fitting ultimate test of the quality of 3D printer. Aaron Leaman, aka Dr Operator, has been producing delightful, quirky, and unique 3D-printed Transformers for over a year now. A sandwich? A toaster? Adorable.

Leaman, a prolific amateur toymaker, says that on average he spends about 20 hours designing the models in Shapr3D. His latest is Dial Tone, a telephone handset that actually has a built-in Bluetooth module! The PCB, battery, charging port, and mic were harvested from an old Bluetooth handset, and the speaker came from an old headset.

“Dial Tone was a lot of fun to make and easily the most challenging due to the hardware needed, and my complete lack of experience using electronics in my designs,” Leaman said.

Photography by Aaron Leaman

This series of models is a bit of a testament to the power of little contests within the community. It all started when Printables held a contest to design toy cars and Leaman was looking for a way to stand out with his entry.

“I had designed a simple looking hippie van, but wanted to make my entry stand out and had come to the conclusion that turning it into a Transformer would accomplish this,” Leaman said. “The end result was a very crude looking Transformer whose arms and legs were prone to falling off. It didn’t come anywhere close to winning, but it was a ton of fun trying to figure out how to turn a van into a robot. Now, I walk around looking at stuff like ‘Dude, that frying pan would make a great Transformer.’”

Download the models and print them for yourself at printables.com/@DrOperator.

This article appeared in Make: Vol. 90.