I had an idea to take advantage of one of 3D printing's greatest hurdles, air-printing, to create a realistic looking Christmas pine tree. By creating arrays of thin perimeters for the branches, I was able to get something that looks almost like blown-glass. It took me three iterations of branch shape, radial spacing, and vertical spacing to finally get a result I'm happy with. Please note my suggested print settings to ensure a successful print.
I recommend printing in something a bit hot and oozy like PETg or TPU for the best results.
Note that if you print a plate of them, like I did, you may end up with odd branches where perimeters start on the end of branches instead of at the core. I had to do a little bit of clean-up before taking the photo of the 'forest.'
Edit 10/11/2019 - Added v4 with roots and a more realistic trunk. Use single-extrusion walls to achieve the fine details.
| Realistic-Tree-V3.stl |
| Realistic-Tree-V4.stl |
