Imbabura Treefrog (Boana picturata)

Introducing our realistic 3D-printable model of an Imbabura treefrog (Boana picturata)! This detailed animal model is available in STL file format, ready for you to download and bring to life with your own 3D printer.

In addition to its adorable appearance, the Imbabura treefrog, also known as Boana picturata, is a fascinating species of frog that hails from South America. Specifically it lives in the Ecuadorian Andes and Colombia. These treefrogs are inhabit arboreal habitats, found mostly in the canopy of the cloud forest. They have characteristic yellow-and-reddish-brown patterned skin and comicly large, expressive eyes. The Imbabura treefrog is a nocturnal species and it’s usually active during the rainy seasons.

This model is realistically posed sitting on a twig, making it a great stand-alone display model, an ideal addition to a diorama, and a wonderful educational tool.

This 3D-printable model is not only a fun and engaging project for hobbyists and model enthusiasts, but it also serves as a valuable tool for educators and students studying the natural world, allowing them to better understand and appreciate the diversity of life found on our planet. With your 3D-print and paint job, you’ll be able to bring home a part of the rich biodiversity of the Ecuadorian Andes.

We provide two versions of the model:

• one as a single solid model, including the twig and the frog
• one where the frog and twig are printed separately and then assembled.

The 3D printable, digital files are in STL format. They’re scaled to life-size and ready to be printed and painted by you!

This Imbabura Treefrog is 59mm long (SVL), which corresponds to the SVL of the female type-specimen that this species was described from. Adult males are typically slightly smaller than this and adult females are typically slightly larger than this. So if you want to create an average sized male, print it at 84% size. If you want an average-sized female, print it at 111% size.

We test-printed the frog-and-stick-together version with the following settings:

• Layer height: 0.05mm
• Hollowed: True
  • Wall thickness: 2mm
  • Infill: 8%
  • 3mm drainage holes near the top and bottom of the twig and the frog’s bum hanging beneath the twig.
• Oriented similar to the default orientation but tweaked slightly to allow it to fit in our printer’s build area.

To maximize realism, we think the frog should be printed in transparent or translucent resin and paint should be applied sparingly. We predict this will allow light to interact with the finished model in a similar way that does with a real frog. However, we’ve only tested the model in grey resin.

Feel free to use these settings as a guide or use your own preferred settings. They’re just the settings that we plan on using when printing.

Due to the nature of resin printing, you will have to determine your own exposure settings because they are different for every brand of resin and printer.