3Doodle a Rubber Ducky Family: Score for Best Baby Shower Gift Ever

You’re probably aware that due to the 3D printer we may never have to leave the house again to buy anything from household goods to auto parts, clothes, shoes, or even to meet with a contractor about that part that just fell off the roof gutter. If it’s gone missing or broken or we need one of something, anything, we’ll just whip one up on our home hardware. And yes, while that may be a bit of a tongue-in-cheek exaggeration for now, there are still plenty of things you can conveniently make from that home 3D printer. Baby steps (and, funny you should mention babies…)!

As impending motherhood approached for you or someone you know, I bet you all never thought about a future where you could make your own baby toys, or even more fun—make them for someone else. What happens when the child tosses the plastic toy out the window on the way to the mall? Zip right home and make another! Forget about knitting booties and beanies, forget about registering for overpriced diaper pails and wipe warmers—heck, ya’all can even forget about the 3D printer—just gain possession of a 3Doodler pen and check out your first project: a 3D printed rubber ducky.

Bath time can be more amusing by tonight’s joyous celebration of splashing, and you won’t have to worry about finding many pieces to get started. Here’s the short list of items:

• Your 3Doodler (V.1, 2.0 or Create)
• Nozzle Set (optional)
• Yellow FLEXY Plastic
• Orange and black ABS or PLA Plastic
• Scrap paper
• Golf ball
• Scissors
• Masking tape

You’ll find that nearly every step of the way here offers fun and is easy, beginning with shaping the body.

Use a piece of scrap paper to begin forming the duck’s body. This will be getting ‘3Doodled’ over to complete the form, so keep that in mind as you work on this briefly (You can also, once the 3Doodle is in place, scoop out the paper)

That golf ball? Yep, you guessed right. That’s going to be your rubber ducky’s head. To make doodling on it easier, try covering it snugly with masking tape, and the same for the body.

“Doodle one half of the sphere first, then remove it from the golf ball and Doodle a second half,” offers the 3Doodler team as a major tip. “Then you can join the two halves together to make a whole sphere without the golf ball!”

Use your orange filament to Doodle a little bill and then Doodle it right onto the duck’s emerging countenance. Use the black PLA or ABS to add the duck eyes, reinforcing them in a circular shape to make sure they are firmly attached.

Last, you get to use more scrap paper for modeling wings. Attach the small rolls of paper into the existing filament without disturbing the body you’ve Doodled so far, and then begin Doodling over it. As with the body, once you’ve got the wings set, you can reach in and take out the paper.

And by the way, as simple as these projects look, the fun is contagious and you’re sure to have company quickly if anyone’s around to check on your Doodling activities—a great reason to have an extra pen and more supplies on hand. This first ducky be headed straight into the bathtub at your house, but keep in mind it would be one of the most unique gifts (maybe create an entire duck family?) anyone has seen at a baby shower in a long time.

3Doodler offers a great tutorial for this project, as well as videos for the basics on getting started with your 3Doodler pen, which can be purchased with beginning supplies for under $100. We’ve seen some incredible art done with these pens, from enhancing the tools themselves to creating amazing ‘fine art,’ and even serious high fashion. Are you a fan of the 3Doodler? Lets talk about this project and others you might have in mind over in the 3Doodled Rubber Ducky forum at 3DPB.com.