Starfish Hex

Meet Starfish Hex Two ready-to-print articulated starfish sizes — small and large — in one 3MF, using the familiar Ocean Motion starfish base with a new Hex articulation layout. Starfish Hex keeps the familiar five-arm silhouette of my Ocean Motion: Flexi Starfish and changes the internal cut and articulation structure to a hexagonal pattern. The result is a crisp honeycomb-style surface and a different folding character. The real printed model in the gallery shows how the hex segments move, curl and stack together. The 3MF contains two ready-to-print sizes, small and large, arranged together on one Bambu Studio plate. Both can be scaled further in your slicer, but remember that scaling down also reduces joint clearances. This is an alternative version created by the same designer as the original Ocean Motion starfish. It is not a new base shape and it is not a third-party remix. I prepared the new Hex articulation layout in FlexySliceSTL in just a few minutes. This refers specifically to the Hex cut and articulation workflow — not to creating the original starfish geometry from scratch. Explore the FlexySliceSTL campaign on MakerWorld. Features Print-in-place articulated design No assembly required Hexagonal segment pattern across all five arms Two ready-to-print sizes on one build plate Small and large versions can be scaled further in the slicer Support-free in the included 3MF profile Clean, face-free starfish design Real printed photos and motion preview included Print profile stored in the 3MF The supplied StarfishHEX.3mf currently stores the following profile values: Generic PETG 0.4 mm nozzle 0.16 mm layer height 2 wall loops 15% grid infill 6 top layers / 4 bottom layers Supports disabled Auto brim Textured build plate These are the settings embedded in the file, not a claim that every printer or filament will need exactly the same values. Check first-layer adhesion and joint clearance before changing scale. How it differs from the original The original and this Hex-Cut Edition share the same base starfish design. The meaningful change is the articulation pattern: Original: chain/fabric-style connections Hex-Cut Edition: visible hexagonal segments and a more geometric fold pattern The photos and motion preview demonstrate the visual structure and movement of the printed Hex version. No controlled side-by-side test has yet established that it is stronger, more flexible, faster to print or easier to prepare than the original, so those claims are intentionally not made here. View the original Ocean Motion: Flexi Starfish by the same creator. Notes Allow the build plate to cool before removing the print. Free the first movements gently and check that no joint is fused before bending the model deeply. Scaling down may reduce joint clearance; scaling behavior has not been validated for this draft.