Yesterday I asked what people are doing with their MakerBot Cupcake CNC’s, our very first 3D printer model that we released back in 2009. Here’s a pretty awesome answer to that question.

Jordie Smith made this WaspWings setup for a friend of his to wear to MakerFaire Kansas City last weekend, and he used the Cupcake at Cowtown Computer Congress Kansas City to do it.

You can see all the various MakerBotted parts in the shot below.

Many of the gears and fittings for this project certainly needed to be custom. We’re told this project came together really quickly, so even better that Jordie had a MakerBot on hand to make the parts he needed.

Of course we wouldn’t leave you hanging without a video. Check out how these wings flap, quiver, and collapse. Awesome!

This past weekend, Michael Curry and I verified that “everything is up to date in Kansas City” spending time at Hammerspace and Maker Faire Kansas City with the KC Fabricators MUG  and a bunch of the CCCKC crew. Well, we also got a chance to spend time with members of hackerspaces and makerspaces from all over the region, and have now embarked on a mini-tour to visit the home bases of handful of these great folks.

We are particularly aiming to connect with local MakerBot User Groups (MUGs) to introduce the Capture Your Town project — sharing tips and tricks from the field to help each group level up quickly and start sharing things they love about their towns on Thingiverse. Check the slideshow above for the latest snaps from our journey — and read below for chances to meet up with us on our travels this week!

ChiMUG CaptureSession — Chicago, IL — Monday, June 25th, 10am-1pm

Michael and I will be joining Mike Moceri, Tom Burtonwood, and other members of ChiMUG to hit the Art Institute of Chicago Museum and/or The Field Museum to perform some Chicago-focused Capture Your Town. This visit will be fast and furious: definitely an exciting day, all before lunchtime!

Milwaukee Makerspace — Milwaukee, WI — Monday, June 25th, 7pm-11pm

After completing the CaptureSession, Michael and I will head 2hrs north up to Milwaukee to spend an evening with the Milwaukee Makerspace crew sharing the MakerBot Replicators and printed objects we are bringing, and checking out this awesome space and community.

Sector67 — Madison, WI — Tuesday, June 26th, 6pm-8pm

Now, I’ve been excited about attending Sector67 for a couple of months now, after seeing images of Nathan Davis’s MakerBot/Arduino music project. We have heard that there are some awesome MakerBot Operators at this space and I certainly had a good time hanging out with members of this space in Kansas City. When they weren’t elbow (wrist?) deep into repairing their Power Racing Series vehicle, that is.

The Mill — Minneapolis, MN — Wednesday, June 27th, 6pm-8pm

Our first stop in Minneapolis is The Mill, a new educational industrial arts/maker space. The rumor on the streets of Maker Faire KC are that a gaggle of educators will be racing over to join us at The Mill for The Replicator demo as well as to learn about MakerBot’s curriculum resources and opportunities for the classroom. Also, there are a bunch of MakerBot Operators who orbit around this space: I’m looking forward to meeting them!

Hack Factory — Minneapolis, MN — Wednesday, June 27th, 8:30pm-11pm

After hanging out at The Mill, join us for “hacker hours” (i.e. late!) with Twin Cities Maker @ the Hack Factory for BBQ, beer, and all sorts of project show-and-tell and socializing. TC Maker has had MakerBots since the early days so I am looking forward to checking out what sort of 3D printing activity is going on here — and to see who’s running their MakerBots lately!

It looks like the first pictures from Bre’s MakerBot User Group challenge are rolling in!¹²  It’s really great to see people organizing in real life, and not just on message boards.  I don’t often get to geek out with other robot-inclined³ people, so I find it a special treat when I get to talk to other 3D printer operators.

Ace Monster Toys MakerBot User Group!

Is there a MakerBot user group near you?  If not, have you tried starting one?  There’s still time until the March 15 deadline!

1. CCCKC photo by rsaxvc.  The photo says all rights reserved .  I hope you guys don’t mind me posting it here.  If you do, let me know and I’ll take it down even thought it would be a shame. [↩]
2. Ace Monster Toys photo by SeanOsteen, also all rights reserved.  Let me know if you guys want me to take the picture down. [↩]
3. Robot aligned? [↩]