Gru Minions Chess Set

This is my remix of Thingiverse thing#1872984, which is itself a remix of some original work by Steve Haines.  My respect and thanks for their foundational work.

• I further tweaked the King's crown and the Queen's crown, to strengthen the knobs
• I further tweaked the Knight's sword and the King's staff and platform, to strengthen the parts and improve their printability
• I finally fixed the Knight's right arm (it was partially hollow)
• I resized the heights of some pieces, to follow the usual chess piece height-differential profile
• I added a hollowed-out area inside the base of each piece, into which additional weight could be added. (I tried using fishing weights, but BBs worked best.)
• I created a small base piece to glue over that hollowed space.
• I reduced their size to 85% of the remixed set, to better fit the 45mm x 45mm squares of my chess board and box
• I “forked“ the Grus and modded them into a set of Macho minions.
• I found a way to model Stuart! (or is that Steve?) (See One-Eyed Pawn file)
• I added a bonus alternative one-eyed QUEEN, modelled on Donny. 

NOTE: These pieces still have a couple of weak spots, which can be problematic when printing and cleaning away support. 

• I direct my slicer (Cura) to use 100% infill from the feet to the waist on all except the pawns. I also use 100% infill for the knobs on the crowns.  The rest of the character can be as little as 20% infill (though I personally find that heavier chess pieces feel like better-quality pieces.) 
• I block infill from forming under the character, between their legs, around their head-pieces and in their eyes.  I also prevent support from enclosing the bottom end of the King's staff, because that is still very thin and prone to breaking when clearing support away.  
• I prefer to use support under raised arms and under their hands and their goggles
• The under-sides of minions are a major challenge to the overhang-printing capability of you, your filament and your system.  I favour using a dense roof on my support, to help curtail sagging as the printer circles their butts.  It can be a challenge to remove dense support, though, especially with softer filaments.  Printing in Silky PLA tended to help a little with the support removal, but highlighted every little zit and blob and made sanding problematic.  This is the kind of print that makes me wish I had a multi-material setup and some dissolvable filament to work with…
• You may want to experiment with support type and placement, for the filament that you choose.

Post-Processing

After printing the piece and base:

• Invert the piece and insert some lead weight (e.g. BB's).
• Pour in a couple of drops of superglue (enough to stop the weights from rattling)
• Spread a little glue around the hole and glue on the small base plate.
• (Optionally) cut a small round of felt in a matching or complementary colour and glue that to the base (or use double-sided tape, to avoid glue stiffening the felt). 
• Let the glue set, before standing the piece on its base

I find that having some weight to each piece makes the set “feel” better, and that the pieces are easier to slide around a board when they have felted bottoms.

CAUTION: Superglue leaves a very stubborn white stain on PLA board squares, if you put the piece down on the board before the glue holding the felt has fully dried.  I recommend leaving the pieces aside on something sacrificial for a couple of hours, before risking your board.