3D-printed medieval armour turns Barbie into a dragon slayer

Designs for the armour are available to download for $30 - though fans will also have to have access to a 3D printer to make them

The politics of what Barbie does and does not wear are pretty complex. Sometimes it seems it’s just easier to take matters into your own hands - at least, this is what designer Jim Rodda decided to do when he created three sets of “Barbie-compatible 3D printed medieval armor”.

Barbie fans can download the models that turn the doll into a dragon slayer for $30 (£17) from Rodda’s website - although they’ll also need to find a 3D printer to actually make them.

The trio of outfits (there’s the Athena, Parade Armour and Plate Armour) were created after a successful crowd-funding campaign, with Rodda saying he created the armour after a failed attempt to make “My Little Pony-compatible glitter cannons”.

“I had some trouble engineering the spring so I gave it up after a few prototypes,” said Rodda on Reddit. “By that point my mind was already in the little-girl-targeted toy zone, and Barbie was the next platform that came to mind.”

Radda – who is better known as Zheng3 in the 3D printing community – admitted he had some trouble in fitting the armour around Barbie’s hands and feet, and that in the end he had to use a Pata sword design (one with an enclosed gauntlet) because he couldn’t create a weapon that would stay in her hands.

“Barbie has had many occupations over her long and storied career,” writes Rada on the project’s Kickstarter page. “Astronaut, veterinarian, pinup, and princess more times than I can count. She has not, to my knowledge, cosplayed as Brienne of Tarth until now.”