3D Printed Mazinger Z with Creality Ender Neo 3

Welcome to the printing and painting of Mazinger Z. This is one of the most iconic robot from the genius of Go Nagai and has various names (Mazinger Z or Mazinga Z in italian). I wanted to build the original anime version as close as possible.

I found the SLT on www.thingiverse.com here is the link: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1906741.

After choosing the scale (maybe I printed too little in the end) I printed with ABS. Why ABS instead of the more reliable PLA? Because PLA is a biodegradable material and it’s not ideal for miniatures that are supposed to last long; it’s damaged easily by temperature changes, humidity and light and the result is that after few years the model will crumble into dust, kept whole only by the paint.

I Always consider that for 3D printed models you have a long work of refining the print with filers and various sanding with different grits. The model will never come out perfect (unless you have a super expensive professional printer or you use resin printers) but this is what my Crealty Ender Neo 3 can do and it’s enough for me. Needless to say, if the print was a bit bigger it could have helped a lot.

After the print and the adjustments I proceeded with an acetone bath. I explained the procedure in other 3D prints description, but basically it’s done to create stronger bonds between the layers and to smooth the surface.

This is the final result after a coat of light gray primer. I tried to assemble to have a glimpse of the final result.

You can see the situation of the belt of the Jet Scrander, very messy so needs a lot of work.

However Then I started with the white and to try to color different parts

As you can see now the belt looks better.

Then the little parts, like the Hover Pilder, the breast gamma and the head.

This is the Jet Scrander.

After I finished all the parts I detailed a bit the Head with permanent markers and applied a matte transparent coat to proceed with some shading with a white pencil to add some details on legs and arms.