Hey everyone! As a celebration of my 500th post, I bring to you my first totally original puzzle, the Starburst! This is an icosahedral equivalent of Alexander's Star and as Sky pointed out to me, is really just a shape modification of a dodecahedral dino. Oh well. At least it looks interesting.

I have a little bit of sanding to do because one fo the parts was designed just slightly too large. But other than that, I'd consider it a success! Hope you all like it. Here are some pictures:

This view is orthogonal to a corner of the underlying icosahedron (or the face of the dodecahedron, hence the pentagonal symmetry)

This view is orthogonal to a face of the underlying icosahedron. The three pieces iin the center of this picture are the rotating unit. The six faces which are directly behind those pieces are parallel to their turning plane and they will be stickered all the same color. This is why it's like an Alexander's Star. The backgrounds of each turning unit dictate the solved state.

Mid-turn:

Three of the pieces are removed, exposing the center piece and the core.

A close-up of the pieces.

3x3x3 size comparison.

At the top of this picture, one turning unit of 3 pieces is sticking up. You can see the surrounding pieces forming a parallel background.

Very nice. Can't wait to see stickered version of it

That's really cool, I like it a lot. Will it be going on Shapeways?

Alex

Beautiful!

nice, cant wait to see is stickered

Very nice, reminds me of something I drew up a while ago with a stellated rhombic dodecahedron.

Great! I really want see stickered ver.

How do you plan to sticker it? Like, what sections of the puzzle will be the same colours?

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I have a set of cubesmith stikers in the mail. At JLO, all the info about stickering is in the first post. Think "Alexander's Star"

Ah

Isn't this just a dino dodecahedron shape mod?

Very nice puzzle, are you going to dye it?

I've been debating dyeing it. Is white shapeways plastic as prone to getting dirty as I've heard. If not, I'd really prefer to keep it white.

Also, please people, read the entire first post before you ask questions. There have been already two questions asked that were both answered very explicitly in the first post.

This is a very beautiful puzzle. Please make this available on Shapeways.

Very nice, cant wait to see it with the stickers on.

Sharon

Very nice! BTW the shape is a compound of five octahedra.

Also the puzzle is equivalent to an edges-only face-turning icosahedron.

Oh wow! I knew it was an edges only icosahedron, just like the Alexander's star is an edges only megaminx. But I really like that the shape is so interesting. I had actually no idea what it would look like until I assembled it. I only designed the pieces to have the same functionality as an Alexander's star.

... which does suggest an unusual way of stickering it, highlighting the geometry, but easier to solve:

Really nice puzzle, great job!

Both are properties I like very much.

Amazing! Can we expect to see a video soon?

...which brings the question: octahedral shape mod maybe?
I really like the simple (?) geometry of this puzzle, it looks very nice. I've always liked the way that stellated large-polyhedra look, this one is no exception. I also love how it looks like a Logic Star (:
Will this be offered on Shapeways? (I'm asking this solely out of custom, as I'm pretty sure I won't be able to afford it anyway.)
Great job, can't wait to see a video and stickers!
-sj

... oh! Even better, dye it five colors, no stickers needed. How many puzzles do you know of that are naturally five colored?

Wouldn't it be nice to have this puzzle stickered with different variants in just one colour, as light to dark blue or different shades of grey? Would fit into the winter time and the base body colour is snow white already