Scale: how a design changes with size

The naive assumption is that a model scaled to 150% looks like the same thing, bigger. It does not, because the nozzle stays the same size while every feature gets larger — or smaller.

Scaling down

• Fine features collapse first. A two-millimeter gap becomes a fused bridge.
• Layer lines become proportionally larger, so the surface looks rougher.
• Thin parts get fragile. A tail that was fine at three inches snaps at two.

Scaling up

Bigger is more forgiving on detail and much less forgiving on time. Print time scales roughly with volume, so doubling the height of a piece can multiply the print time by three or more. It also exposes flat areas that looked fine small, where every layer line becomes a visible stripe across a large surface.

Size is not a setting. It is a redesign with the same file.

This is why our oversized pieces are not scaled-up versions of the small ones. They are modeled again at that size, with thicker limbs and simpler surfaces.