The Spine Guard Dragon emerges heavy and armored. Ancient, aggressive, and built for war. This was actually the first version of the Sun Dragon, but once the sculpt was finished, it didn’t quite read as “sun.” The face pulled a little too much inspiration from Smaug, and the tail horns felt more like armored spikes than solar flares.
I loved the design too much to scrap it, so instead, it became its own release: the Spine Guard Dragon Emerging. The result feels brutal and defensive, like a dragon bred to guard vaults, citadels, or sacred knowledge hidden between the pages.
This model comes with two different head options:
One with slots for 12mm craft eyes
I use these from Amazon: https://a.co/d/b2UkkSP
One with multi-colored printed eyes that can also be hand-painted
The tail comes as a separate matching piece to complete the emerging effect. All of the Dragon Emerging Book Nooks share the same universal box design, so you can mix and match dragons without needing a specific box for each one.
I printed this one in a gold-black co-extrusion filament from Geeetech, which fits the armored, spine-heavy design perfectly and really emphasizes the layered plates and ridges.
Gold/Black Co-Extrusion Filament (affiliate link): https://a.co/d/hnCiE5a
⚙️ Print Settings
Walls: 2
Infill: 5% Gyroid
Supports: Tree Supports (Standard)
Printer Used: Bambu Lab A1
Note: Standard tree supports wrap the tips of the horns and spikes better than strong tree supports, helping reduce failures. Two walls are more than enough for a decorative piece like this.
🧵 Filament Usage & Time
Head with 12mm eye slots: 270g, 12 hours
Head with multi-colored printed eyes: 350g, 18 hours
Tail: 359g, 16 hours
Universal box (3 walls, 5% infill): ~180g
Happy Printing!