3D Printed Props for the Haunted Barn n Trail

We’ve agreed to sponsor the Haunted Barn n Trail attraction in Camden Wyoming, Delaware.  What ‘sponsoring’ means in this case is that we will be making them a whole bunch of cool stuff!  

As we make things, I plan on posting them here.  So far, I’ve only run a few things as demonstration of what it is that I do.  

The first item is a small plaque that was generated as a relief from an image.

It was printed in PLA, which is a biodegradable corn based polymer.  If they decide they don’t want to use it after this year, they can dispose of it without clogging up a landfill forever.  The PLA I used for this model is a translucent red, so it might be cool to paint some of the plaque and put a backlight behind it.  Glowing red hair and nose?

The next item was a Celtic Skull model that was downloaded from thingiverse

This part was vapor polished.  Vapor polishing is a standard process for  improving the optical clarity of machined plastic parts.  In this case, it also works out quite well for making 3D printed parts look smooth and shiny.  Here is a picture of what it looked like prior to the vapor polishing.

I have mixed feelings about vapor polishing.  While it does make things smooth and shiny, you lose some detail.  I think that it was good for this particular application.  What do you think?

If anyone has any terrifying ideas for 3D printed haunted house props, let me know!