It seems like I just got done wishing you a very nerdy Christmas, but it’s been a whole year already! But while the season may change, the one thing that remains constant is the need to fill our homes with all the nerdy things. While traditional Christmas decorations are fine, I guess, personally I tend to like my holiday decor a little less conventional, and if you’re reading this then chances are so do you.
This week’s Ten 3D Printed Things column is for all of you 3D printing nerds out there who want to celebrate the holidays ensconced in all of your favorite nerdy things. From video games to LEGO to Star Wars, you’ll find a little something for every flavor of nerd buried in Santa’s sack of goodies.
Here are Ten 3D Printable Nerdy Christmas Things:
LIGHT UP 20-SIDED DIE TREE TOPPER
Zheng’s Critical Christmas by Zheng3
Found on: MyMiniFactory
Cost: Free
Every roll is a natural 20 with this cool Christmas tree topper that looks like an over-sized 20-sided die. The tree topper prints hollow, so you can light it up by stuffing a string of twinkle lights inside of it, you can get fancy and install your own lighting inside of it or leave it just as it is.
Because the tree topper prints hollow just about any material that you use is going to let light through it, however it may be a good idea to use a translucent filament of some kind. But you don’t need to light this tree topper up, you can always paint it to look like a real D20.
SPACE INVADER ORNAMENTS
Space Invader Ornament by RobbinsvilleHighSchool
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
For real old school gamers nothing can beat this set of Space Invaders ornaments from the classic arcade game from the ’80s. This set includes four different designs, and each of them prints flat with no supports and includes a small hole to hang a string from.
These can obviously be printed in any color filament that you want, either to match the original colors or to match the rest of your decorations. These would also make great key chains, or gift tags that you can attach to presents or stockings.
MARIO BROS. MYSTERY BLOCK ORNAMENT
Super Mario Mystery Block Hanger by nicklievendag
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
A nerdy Christmas tree just isn’t going to be finished until you have at least one ornament from Super Mario Bros. This great Mystery Block ornament should fill any Super Mario Bros. gaps on your list of decorations. There probably are not going to be any magic mushrooms inside, but you may want to bang it with your head just to make sure.
The files include two different versions of the block; an STL for a single extruder 3D printer and an STL for printers with dual extruders capable of using two materials. But if you only have a single extruder don’t worry, just use some white paint to fill in the question mark and this ornament will be ready to hang on the tree.
GIANT CHRISTMAS LEGO MINIFIG
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
Any LEGO nerd is going to flip their hair piece if they get one of these jumbo figures as a gift. The STL files have this scaled at 4x the original size, but it can be resized depending on the size of your printer, so you can potentially make a really, really big minifig. Yes, I know, a giant minifig is an oxymoron, but I didn’t name the model so back off.
This Christmas model includes different shirts featuring a candy cane or a tree design, and all of the parts that you need to assemble one of these bigfigs. There are a few parts that will need to be assembled, but mostly these guys can be posed in the same ways as their miniature counterparts.
POKEBALL ORNAMENT
Christmas Pokeball by Kirby Downey
Found on: MyMiniFactory
Cost: Free
Don’t think that I left all of you Pokémon trainers out of this list, here is a great 3D printable Pokéball Christmas ornament that is easy to make and will look great on a tree or hanging around the house.
The model prints in 3 different pieces so they can each be printed out in different color materials and then glued together. This would also make a great keychain or zipper pull, so on December 26th just move it from the tree to your book bag.
RETRO ROCKET ORNAMENT
Classic Rocket Christmas Ornament by gpvillamil
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
If you’re forced to have a more conservative holiday due to a disapproving spouse you can still have a very retro nerdy Christmas with this great looking rocket ornament. It has a classic style reminiscent of ’50s and ’60s science fiction, but it simple and clean enough to look great on even the classiest tree. The model prints in two pieces and is easily glued together.
If the goal is to blend in with more traditional holiday decorations then it might be wise to stick to red or green filament. However, because that is the nature of 3D printing, the sky really is the limit here. You can print this rocket out in a metallic material, or a translucent material or you can print it to match the rest of your decorations exactly.
GOPRO MOUNT CHRISTMAS TREE TOPPER
GoPro Star Christmas tree Topper by Valentin Lheureux
Found on: MyMiniFactory
Cost: Free
The best seat in your house is probably on top of your tree, especially when you’re trying to take a picture or film something high speed. And this great tree topper will let you sit there and catch everything. Just mount your GoPro inside the star and it can be pointed anywhere the action is.
Because this will have to support a (relatively) heavy camera, it would be a good idea to print this star in a stronger material like ABS or use a lot of infill with PLA. And, of course, make sure that your tree is strong enough to support the camera while you’re at it.
MINECRAFT CREEPER STRING LIGHTS
Mine creeper lights by FiremanChris
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
If Minecraft is your Christmas theme this year then these string light toppers are just what you need to bring everything together. Just print out a bunch of these Creeper heads and they snap right onto standard string lights. They can then be hung on your tree, or hung around the house.
Obviously you’re going to want to print these with a translucent green filament and use all white lights to get the designer’s desired effect. But if you only have multi-color lights then it would be fine to print these in a clear material, or even print to match the colors of the light. There are no rules in 3D printing.
STAR WARS TIE FIGHTER ORNAMENT
Tie Fighter Christmas decoration by Kirby Downey
Found on: MyMiniFactory
Cost: Free
Now that Disney purchased the rights to Star Wars there will never be a dearth of anything with a Star Wars logo on it, much less Christmas decorations. But as nice as a lot of the commercially available ornaments and decorations are, sometimes it just feels better to make things yourself rather than buy them. This fantastic ornament that looks like a Empire TIE Fighter from the original Star Wars films is cooler than anything that you’d get in a store anyways.
This is a pretty easy model to print, however you will need to use a bit of supports for it. Make sure that you print it in a material that can take some post process sanding. Or you could always paint it like a miniature model, it is certainly detailed enough.
DOCTOR WHO WEEPING ANGEL TREE TOPPER
Christmas Weeping Angel by 3Dmigos
Found on: MyMiniFactory
Cost: Free
Don’t blink. Seriously, never blink, that’s when the Christmas decorations pop up in department stores. It happened this year sometime in August. Freak out any Doctor Who fanatic by giving them this awesome Weeping Angel tree topper. We’ve seen this 3D model online before, but this year the murderous alien killers have donned a Santa hat so they can fit right in with all of the Christmas angels.
This will be printed in gray filament. If you do not have gray filament then you will paint it to look like a real statue. There are a few rules in 3D printing actually, and one of them is that you don’t put a pink Weeping Angel on your Christmas tree.
I started the Ten 3D Printable Things column over a year ago and, and almost from the start I started getting emails from some of you folks asking questions about the models that I feature here or asking about tips on 3D printing or post-processing them. I love to trade tips about 3D printing and painting, and love giving advice. Feel free to email me or hit me up on Twitter @SJGrunewald with your questions and I may start answering them here and feature the projects that you’re working on.
As always, thanks for reading and let me know what type of 3D printing projects you’re working on. Happy nerdy holidays!
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