(*V2 Available) Customizable Minecraft Skin Figure

******A brand new fully-articulated V2 version of this design is now available on my profile here: (https://makerworld.com/en/models/2981169-customizable-minecraft-action-figure-by-jaebii#profileId-3344661), and it's a huge improvement over the original V1 design! Aside from featuring articulation, it also includes a brand new Customizable 3D Hat Item Head, as well as several other head options with separated eyes to make the multicolor printing process more convenient! It's also wayyy easier to assemble! Best of all, I finally recorded a video tutorial showcasing exactly how to customize the figure template to look like a custom skin! Go check it out!!!!

At long last! I think this might just be my 3D-printing magnum opus! A fully pixel-paintable customizable multicolor Minecraft Player Skin figure! According to my records, I began modeling the parts for this project on July 12th, and I’ve been working on it every chance I could for essentially half a month! But the catalyst for this project reaches back to my first attempts at modeling my Malgosha figure on June 19th, and further back than that, when I was a kid and wanted to have a Jazwares action figure of my own custom Minecraft Skin! After multiple attempts at modifying/recoloring other “Steve” or “Minecraft Player” action figures designed by other creators to look like my own Minecraft Skin, I finally decided to take it upon myself to make my own customizable figure that i could use instead!

I custom-modeled this Minecraft Player figure using MagicaVoxel, making sure to keep the proportions and pixel scale accurate to the in-game model, while also sizing the figure itself to scale accurately with my Jazwares Minecraft figures and the other 3D-printed Minecraft figures and blocks I already made. Unlike other Minecraft figures which sacrifice accurate proportions or appearance for the sake of articulation which results in visible joints that aren’t accurate to the in-game Player Model, my figure utilizes the same “pseudo-articulated” poseability as my Malgosha and V1 Copper Golem figures, now updated using the techniques seen in my Creeper figure and my Copper Golem V2. Although not “articulated,” my figure is a much more exact representation of the Minecraft Player Model, and can still achieve a very wide range of poses through the use of removable/swappable parts that can be oriented in a variety of unique ways! The figure now utilizes a 6-point star-shaped socket construction, allowing the arms and head to be oriented in 6 different angles! The figure can raise its arms 45 degrees/90 degrees/135 degrees both forwards and backwards, as well as straight up and down, and the head can look from side to side the same number of degrees!

For the part everyone else is probably interested in: the customization! This figure is fully pixel-paintable, textured with alternating gray and white square pixels that can be recolored using the Bambu Studio paint tool! You can use the fill tool to fill in a full pixel (which might cause complications when using gray or white), or you can use the triangle paint tool to fill in a half-pixel (which bypasses the issues of the fill tool when using white or gray next to adjacent pixels of the same color). The fill tool is quicker but causes more problems, so the triangle paint tool might be your best option. By recoloring the pixels of each individual piece, anyone with Bambu Studio can customize this figure to resemble their own Minecraft Skin or any Minecraft Skin of their choice! Every individual piece can have a total of four different colors, maybe more if you know how to switch colors during a print or something, and while that’s definitely a serious limitation for many Minecraft Skins, I was able to fairly accurately recreate my own custom skin as well as the default Steve skin, and I’m sure many other skins would be just as easy to design!

Chances are, this might be a fairly costly print for most people due to the number of color switches, depending on the complexity of your chosen Minecraft Skin. An easy way to decrease the wastefulness of color switching is to print multiple copies of the same item at the same time, and especially if you have a Bambu smooth plate or adhesive plate, consider printing the side of your piece with the most colors facing downwards on the plate (i.e. the front of the torso or the face). Personally, I like printing tall pieces like the arms or legs standing upright, which makes the sides much smoother and the color switching more efficient for simple color combinations like hand/sleeve or shoe/pants. Printer discretion is advised.

The assembly for this figure has been the smoothest out of any of my figures so far in my opinion (other than the Creeper which is almost entirely a single piece), although it probably all depends on the quality of the PLA/material you’re using. I also had no failures at all during printing this time, unlike my Malgosha figure which took a lot of trial and error to finally get to print properly. But I did print all of these pieces on specialty Bambu upgrade print plates, so take that as you may. There are a variety of alternate part options for this figure, even more than my V2 Copper Golem offers. This figure has a total of 6 arm options and two leg options: solid arms, arms with a rectangular cutout for holding certain items, arms with jagged cutouts for holding tools and weapons, each available in default and slim arm options, as well as regular legs for standing/sitting, and angled legs for walking/crouching. There are also multiple torso options: a version for standing and a version for sitting, with or without a peg hole in the back designed for wearable items like Capes and Elytras.

On the topic of Capes, I experimented with a few Cape options: a flat Cape and a Cape with an angled edge (both of which would need to be glued onto the back of a figure) or a Cape with a peg on the back, which can be attached and removed easily on the torso with the back socket, at either an angle or completely flat against the figure’s back! These Capes are all fully pixel-paintable and customizable just like the figure itself! And since I'm such a nice guy, I'll even throw in a bonus premade Cape pack containing a few customized Capes from both recent and early Minecraft history!

I also modeled an initial accessory pack to go with the figure as well! It includes a full set of Iron Tools (which could easily be recolored to be Diamond Tools or any other color), as well as a Bucket (with and without a rectangular peg to be held by the figure) and three styles of Torches (two of which are compatible with my next big project…). For future accessory packs, I’m considering making a Water Bucket/Lava Bucket/Milk Bucket, as well as a Shield, food items, Flint & Steel, Shears, Compass and Clock, and equippable Armor/a customizable Armored Version of the Minecraft Skin figure. Also, I’m open to all suggestions for future accessories and new figures, as well as paid commissions for specific designs or pre-printed figures! Feel free to leave your suggestions or requests in the comments!

If you customize this figure to be a unique Minecraft Skin, you’re more than welcome to post it as a new print profile if you want (as long as it’s appropriate), and I’d be thrilled to see photos of your figures in the comments as well as reviews of your printing process and the final result, as well as any difficulties or challenges you may have struggled with, and your overall thoughts!

Feel free to check out my Instagram @_jaebii_ for additional photos and behind-the-scenes of this figure and my design process, as well as other 3D-printed toys and props! If you’re feeling generous and can spare enough money to donate a little to show your appreciation for my work, you can use this link (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=LKR6R7H3Z4GPJ&no_recurring=0&currency_code=USD) to support me through PayPal! I’d really appreciate it! And thanks for taking a look at my customizable Minecraft Skin figure! I'd love to hear about your experience printing this figure and see your final print, so be sure to leave a comment if you make this figure or if you have any issues with the files!