The 3D Benchy is a very popular model that several 3D printer users turn to for calibrating their 3D printer, but they can start to get boring.
The 3D printing community can get very creative when bored, so I decided to put together a list of the 20 best 3D Benchys to 3D print including some bonus entries as well. This should allow you to make some really high-quality and fun 3D Benchys and perhaps tune your printer too along the journey.
These can all be 3D printed with filament 3D printers (most common) or even resin 3D printers.
Without any further ado, let’s jump right into this listicle.
The original 3D Benchy is one of the most popular 3D prints of all time, providing users with a “torture test” for 3D printers to see if they can handle the difficult bridges, overhangs, dimensional accuracy, and plenty more.
Once your 3D printer is properly calibrated and assembled, if it can create a 3D Benchy successfully, then you are on the right track.
It has over 2.5 million downloads just on Thingiverse and even has its own collection of different 3D Benchys within the downloaded zip file. The 3D Benchy was created by CreativeTools.
You don’t need to use any supports for this model.
With default Cura settings, the 3D Benchy takes around 2 hours to 3D print.
The Bathtub Boat Benchy is a really cool spin-off the 3D Benchy that kids (or you) can play with in the bathtub. It has some really cool features built in such as the ladder going up to the upper platform, as well as horn right at the top of the boat.
You can 3D print this at your desired layer height, with some users getting great results with a 0.1mm layer height. One user mentioned how this 3D print highlighted some insufficient cooling on the left and right of the hot end part cooling fan due to the steep lower overhangs.
Another user made this for his 1 and a half-year-old son on the weekend and he loves it. You can print this at 20% infill for pretty good durability, but you may want to increase the infill so it sits in the water better.
With default Cura settings, it takes around 7 hours to 3D print.
Check out this awesome floating bathtub boat video by Adafruit Industries.
The Benchy at Sea model is a very cool-looking print that can serve as an impressive decoration piece on your shelf or desktop. It consists of a sculpted wave which the 3D Benchy seems to be riding in a stylish fashion.
Apart from all the aesthetics, the appealing design of Benchy at Sea really puts your 3D printer to the test to see how well it can handle a fairly complex model.
In case you were wondering, the 3D Benchy is not included in this model. You will have to print it separately in order to place it on the wave and give the print a complete look since the sculpted wave’s purpose is to display the 3D Benchy.
Many users who printed this model using Silk PLA (Amazon) have reported the best results, so if you’ve got some of that lying around, get to printing right away and watch the magic happen yourself.
The model has been created by a user called nexnox. It takes about 6 hours to print using Cura’s default settings.
3D Benchys are great and all, but there’s a considerable functional downside to them that also happens to come off as quite ridiculous. Being a boat by nature, they cannot float when placed on water.
However, that is exactly what Ben the Floating Benchmark (Benchy) has been created to do. The creator of this model—vandragon_de (Thingiverse)—has made several design changes to the original 3D Benchy model in order to make it float.
It has railings on its side, a more detailed hull, and even a small lifebuoy placed on the top for extra flair. There’s also a kid-friendly version of the model that takes away some of those features to make it more safe.
The total print time of the model is similar to the original 3D Benchy, which is somewhere around two hours using default Cura settings. The creator made sure not to increase the print time too much for this model.
That said, it’s worth noting that Ben the Floating Benchmark may not float for all users. It mainly depends on your printer’s settings and how your machine is configured.
Some users have said that scaling down the model to 25% has brought the best results. Others have advised increasing the infill to about 40-50% in order to make the boat float.
The Old Paddle-Wheel Steam Boat With Display Stand is an amazing model that really lets you print a highly detailed 3D Benchy.
It’s nicely detailed with a bunch of design features and even has a wavy stand that can be printed separately for displaying the model. It takes about 5 hours to print using default Cura settings.
This is yet another model that has been created by vandragon_de (Thingiverse). They advise printing the model at 90% of its original size for the best results and making the print look visually stunning.
The Old Paddle-Wheel Steam Boat With Display Stand is a large model, so if you want to print it at the same size as the original 3D Benchy, you will have to scale it down to 60%.
The creator also says that you can make the Steam Boat float without the display stand, but not many users have had luck doing so. You will need to meddle around with different infill settings and size scaling in order to get it to float.
A user has suggested increasing the infill at the bottom if you want to make the Benchy float. You can also create this print using multiple colors and make it look even more fascinating.
JUN – the Jungle Queen is another visually incredible 3D Benchy that boasts the extra benefit of being able to float on shallow water. It takes about 8 hours and 30 minutes to print the model with default Cura settings.
It’s best printed in brown color with a capable filament like the ever-brilliant AMOLEN Dark Wood PLA (Amazon), but you can introduce your own versatility to the mix easily.
The best part is that no supports are required to print JUN. The creator of the model, who is vandragon_de (Thingiverse) also says that even though this object isn’t a benchmark, you can still print it for quality control.
One user writes that he really loves this type of 3D Benchy and he’s 3D printed and gifted many of them to their nephews who loved the prints.
The attention to detail is just on point and the interesting design of the model is no less than a treat.
If you happen to get stringing when printing JUN, consider lowering the temperature and increasing the retraction settings as an experienced user pointed out.
The RC Benchy is a fully functional radio-controlled boat that’s probably unlike any other 3D Benchy you’ve seen or printed before. This model can actually run on water and is more of a project to complete than a print to make.
The creator of the model, Thullen, has left several instructions on how to make the RC Benchy come to life and even made a highly detailed video to put together all the electronics of the model.
The video given below walks you through the basics of the RC Benchy.
The model uses a revised hull shape that’s a bit wider than normal, but the rest of the base design is basically the same. However, since the model comprises many functional parts, you will either need to purchase or print them.
This is a large project and has taken users several days to put together completely, but you can also complete it within a day if you’re really dedicated. The effort and time investment will definitely be worth it though.
The model page on Thingiverse has a dedicated “Instructions” section, so you can definitely follow those for a step-by-step guide.
Check out the following video to see the R/C car in action.
The 3D Benchy is widely known as a difficult model to print, and most users don’t always get it to print successfully. Therefore, the Shipwrecked Coral Benchy is a creative manifestation of a failed Benchy 3D print with a couple of characteristic features.
DecoTOAST (Thingiverse) has come up with this design by taking inspiration from another model called the Cryohabit Coral Pack on Thingiverse, which you can also check out.
In addition, don’t think of this Titanic-style Benchy to go easy on your 3D printer. It also has its fair share of overhangs and retraction pillars that can really test your machine to see if it’s configured properly.
It’s advised to print the model without any supports to make the corals on the Benchy uninterrupted. The total print time of the Shipwrecked Coral Benchy is 4 hours.
You can also use any infill percentage that you want for this model, although picking a 10-15% infill percentage is a good way to start.
One user has even printed this model for the bottom of their fish tank and they say that it looks really stunning, so you could definitely follow a similar approach with this type of 3D Benchy.
You can see the Shipwrecked Coral Benchy being printed in the preview of the Peopoly Moai SLA 3D Printer in the following video.
Leo the Little Fishing Boat is another visual Benchy that consists of a small fisherman catching a 3D printed skeleton fish. This model does not require supports to print, so you’re looking at a pretty hassle-free build here.
This is another Benchy that has been created by the talented vandragon_de on Thingiverse. The model takes about 4 hours to print with default settings.
Many people have downloaded Leo the Little Fishing Boat to gift their fishing friends a nice little decorative item. There are 5 different parts of this model:
The Fisherman
The Fishing Rod
The 3D Benchy Boat
The Fish
Each part can be downloaded and printed separately if you want to take your time post-processing. However, the creator has included a fifth STL file in the model page that consists of all of the aforementioned parts and prints Leo the Little Fishing Boat as a whole.
Some users wanted to gift the model to someone but didn’t like the “Leo” engraving at the back of the boat. If you’d like to change that, you can use a software like Blender to make modifications to the design yourself.
The Iron Throne Benchy is one for the Game of Thrones fans. The model features the popular show’s Iron Throne within the helm area.
Another quality worth mentioning is that people have printed it more successfully somehow as compared to the original 3D Benchy.
The main reason for this is quite unclear, but that hasn’t stopped people from downloading the model over 130,000 times. The creator of the Iron Throne Benchy is known as T-E-C on Thingiverse.
The default size of this Benchy is larger than a normal Benchy, so you can scale it down to about 70% to get it to normal size as one user has pointed out. It takes about 4 hours and 30 minutes to print the model in Cura.
Similar to the majority of the other Benchys on this list, the Iron Throne Benchy also does not require any supports, but if you still run into trouble, you can always look at the How to Improve 3D Printing Quality guide for tip-top prints.
Prepare to wage war with the Battle Benchy by your side. This charging variation of the original 3D Benchy has two turrets and an antenna built right onto the back area to make it look no less than a battleship.
The creator of the model, DecoTOAST (Thingiverse), says that you can scale this model down to about 50% of its original size and use it as a keychain. They got this idea from the Battleship model by SylvianKnight on Thingiverse.
One user pointed out that it’s more preferable to print the model at a 30-60mm/s print speed. They tried printing at 120mm/s and found out that the turrets on the Benchy are designed to be movable and cannot be printed at high speeds.
In addition, it’s worth using supports for the two turrets of the model. Another user has suggested using breakable supports at the pivot points, so the turrets would be held in place during printing.
You would then easily take the supports off when the model has finished printing. It takes about 3 hours to print the Battle Benchy.
Apart from using it as a keychain, you can also scale this model to about 200% if you have a 3D printer with a large build volume like the Creality CR-10.
A 3D printer hobbyist has done this with the Battle Benchy and created toys for their children.
The Wiggly Benchy is a unique 3D Benchy with intricate details and an appealing design. It has been downloaded more than 44,000 times at the time of writing this article, so it’s a fairly popular 3D Benchy modification.
This model has quite an interesting origin story. A Twitter user posted their low-quality 3D printed Benchy online and it sparked an idea in the mind of Dizingof, who is the creator of the Wiggly Benchy.
The low-quality Benchy that was posted gave off the impression of a Z-wobble issue, which is when your Z-axis movement of the print head is titled or improper.
Dizingof then created this model with a wiggly design that makes it look quite amusing.
It takes about 2 hours to print this model using Cura’s default settings.
The Megalodon Benchy is a fierce-looking model that cleverly replaces the front of the boat with a high-quality shark design. It’s definitely not the average 3D Benchy that most people print to tune their 3D printer.
It has more than 17,000 downloads on Thingiverse at the time of writing. The file size of the STL is around 18 MB, so your slicer will take a bit of time to load the model up.
The creator of this design is known as FiveNights. They coin the Megalodon Benchy as the outcome of a Megalodon shark and a 3D Benchy who fell in love with each other.
No supports are recommended by the creator to be used for this Benchy, so you should easily dive in knowing that. It takes about 3 hours to print this model in Cura with default settings.
The Supportless Ghostship Benchy is a freakishly cool model that’s best designed on an occasion like Halloween. This is actually the support-free version of the original Ghostship Benchy on Thingiverse.
Speaking of which, check out the 30 Holiday 3D Prints you can make on festive instances.
It consists of some really detailed features, such as a dead man laid against a wall inside the helm area of the Benchy with the steering wheel itself also infested by ghostly structures.
There’s also a formidable skull design at the front of the boat with high details.
One of the first things that the creator of the model—spooner2011 (Thingiverse)—has done to make the Ghostship Benchy support-free is flattening the base.
That way, you do not need a raft to hold the base of the Benchy in place. In addition, the smokestack at the top of the Benchy has been replaced with another one, allowing it to be printed without supports.
One person has created a multicolored Supportless Ghostship Benchy print and it looks absolutely phenomenal. You can print this model within 3 hours in Cura with default settings.
You can check out the following time-lapse of the original Ghostship Benchy to get an idea of the support-free version of it.
Talk about taking an ordinary 3D Benchy to higher levels (pardon the pun). Thingiverse user numshah has drawn inspiration from the original ED-209 Enforcement Droid to create the formidable BENCHY-209.
The result is a tall 3D Benchy in the disguise of a tall robotic droid with guns for arms. People are calling it the Benchy Robocop and there’s no reason they shouldn’t.
You will have to print this model with supports, given the complex design of the model, and there will be no workarounds to this, I’m afraid. It will take around 6 hours to print this Benchy.
A useful tip here would be to use Tree Supports or Custom Supports in Cura to make the BENCHY-209 come out much cleaner as opposed to using regular supports.
In addition, one user has reported printing this model successfully using a 30mm/s print speed, 0.15mm layer height, and, of course, implementing support structures.
It’s definitely one of the wildest iterations of a 3D Benchy that one can come across. Apart from its difficulty, printing the BENCHY-209 may be well worth the effort.
The Groot Benchy is a mix of three distinct models: the 3D Benchy, Baby Groot, and Yoda. All of them are present individually on Thingiverse, but creator scoutshady thought it was better to combine the three designs together.
It’s got the arms and legs of the Baby Groot model, the head of Yoda, and the base of the 3D Benchy. The combination is quite impressive and flows well to deliver a hybrid yet impressive look.
The model has been downloaded more than 13,000 times and has a fairly large file size, which is 82 MB. The slicer software will probably take a while to load the STL. It’ll take around 12 hours for this model to print.
As for the supports, you might be needing them for Yoda’s ears. However, if your printer’s settings are really dialed in and can print overhangs a bit over 45°, you should be just fine printing this model without support structures.
One user recommends printing the model at 0% infill for the best results. You really want to make the Groot Benchy turn out as amazing as it really looks when sliced to disperse a wave of humor in the air.
As if the original 3D Benchy wasn’t already a 3D printer torture test, ferrouslights on Thingiverse thought it was a great idea to make the model more complex.
The distorted brother of the 3D Benchy requires no support materials and is advised to be printed at a layer height of 0.2mm.
It has more than 10,000 downloads on the platform and sports a 10 MB file size, so it shouldn’t really be a problem for your slicer software to load it up. The total print time for the model is around
Another enjoyable variation of the 3D Benchy is the Bernie Benchy. This fun-filled model involves the combination of the original 3D Benchy and a miniature model of Bernie Sanders in a very distinctive pose.
The internet meme community never fails to surprise and the trend has followed through to 3D printing as well. The “Bernie Sanders Mittens Meme” circulated like wildfire online and the Bernie Benchy is a symbol of just that.
This model created by pandoranium on Thingiverse is actually the support-free version of the original Bernie Cruiser that requires support structures on Bernie’s left elbow and his hand.
The Bernie Benchy takes somewhere around 2 hours to print using the default settings of Cura. The STL file size is also about 16 MB, so the model should load up quickly in the slicer.
The following is a time-lapse video of the Bernie Benchy posted on YouTube by a fellow 3D printer user.
The Lattice Benchy is an amazing modification of 3D Benchy that decorates the original design with latticework. It does not require supports to be printed and can turn out very cool-looking on a finely tuned FDM or SLA 3D printer.
One user who printed the Lattice Benchy successfully recommends using an infill of 10-15% with a layer height of 0.12mm, especially if you have the Creality Ender 3.
The file size of this model is around 200 MB, so the slicer will take some time to load the STL. In addition, the Lattice Benchy takes somewhere around 4 hours to print using default Cura settings.
It’s worth creating a Benchy not just for the calibration of your 3D printer but for an exceedingly attractive model for your desktop or shelf as well.
The Nimitz-Class Benchy is another 3D printed model that you can take into battle alongside the Battle Benchy.
It features the design of an aircraft carrier with characteristic features like a large platform, four small jets, and an outlined runway. It’s a fairly detailed model that doesn’t require any supports for printing.
However, one user wrote that he used brims just to be safe as the bottom of the model is on the thin side. He wasn’t sure if the brims were needed, so you can try printing the model on your own and check for yourself.
The STL file size of the Nimitz-Class Benchy is about 2 MB, which should allow the slicer to load it up pretty quickly. The model has been downloaded more than 5,000 times on Thingiverse.
It will take you around 4 hours and 30 minutes to print this object. Another user confirms that the Nimitz-Class Benchy indeed floats, but it tends to tilt on one side because of the extra weight.
One more person who printed this Benchy in PLA says that using a 200°C temperature will reduce stringing in this Benchy and give you the best results, but this depends on the brand and type of PLA.
The 3D Benchy Pirate Flag is something that’s worthy of a bonus mention. This model cleverly utilizes the hole at the back of the boat and fixes a detailed pirate flag in it.
The STL file of the model only consists of the flag and does not include the 3D Benchy, so you’ll have to print that separately. The diameter of the pole of the flag has been designed to fit the original Benchy scaled at 100%.
People have been very creative with this pirate flag. One user printed the aforementioned Ghostship Benchy and inserted the flag at the back of it to make the whole thing really stand out.
The model has been downloaded over 18,000 times and has a 120 Kb file size. In Cura, the pirate flag takes about 4 minutes to print using default settings, so the turnaround time is really quick.
You also won’t be requiring any supports for this mode, as the creator of the model Meander_ on Thingiverse has confirmed.
You’ve finally got the Screwable Benchy Stand to top this list off. This convenient model can serve as a storage item for multiple 3D Benchys. It can store up to 12 Benchys but all of them have to be the original one.
It does not require any supports to be printed, but the total print time of the model is somewhere around 9 hours, so it’s going to be a fairly time-consuming print job.
One user writes that the model didn’t fit their Benchys perfectly, so you might have to scale the model up just a bit. Another person says that making the Screwable Benchy Stand 2% larger did the trick for them, so you can try doing the same as well.
You can also print more than one stand and stack them atop each other as they do fit together nicely. Doing so can hold many of your Benchys if you have them lying around randomly.
The creator of the model is called gomadin on Thingiverse.
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