3D Print Ideas, Makes and Designs

This 3D printing gallery is a collection of makes, popular designs, and 3D scans. The gallery is here to give 3D print ideas of what can come out of a desktop 3D printer. It starts with the makes at the beginner’s level and develops into a substantial library. Click on pictures to zoom and start a carousel.

Articulated Flexi Toy Models

There is a range of interesting toy models that are tagged as Flexi or Articulated on STL sharing websites. Making the most of desktop 3D printing at home, makers and designers are turning basic, lifeless models into wiggly, wobbly, jiggly entertaining toys.

3D Printed Flexi Articulated Models - Googly Eyes — Googly Eyes

Flexible Articulated Models - Monarch Butterfly 3D Printed With Colour Change — Monarch Butterfly 3D Printed With Colour Change

Gang of Flexi Articulated 3D Printed Models — Gang of Flexi Toys

Plant Pots Types & Ideas

File repositories offer a vast collection of plant pots or planters that can be 3D printed. Vases and pots usually are desktop 3D printer-friendly and any filament can handle the task. Taking into consideration that these objects are highly customizable and are functional, it is understandable why these are such a popular choice for 3D printing on desktop 3D printers.

3D Printed Plant Pots and Self-Watering Planters - Waterproof 3D Printing — 3D Printed Plant Pots

Waterproof Test of Self-Watering Planter Base — Self-Watering Planter Base

PETG Filament Review - Waterproof Dishes For Planters — Waterproof Dishes For Planters

3D Printed Illusions

If you are into illusions you may find that 3D printers are very useful tools to replicate existing or create completely new combinations.

Penrose Triangle 3D Printed Illusion — Penrose Triangle

Circle Hearts - 3D printed Optical Illusion — Circle Hearts

3D Printed Illusion - Optical & Text Flips — Optical Illusion & Text Flips

Hairy 3D Prints – Ideas

3D printing nurtures creativity and curiosity. Some more advanced makers start to find standard printing boring. They look for a challenge and push the boundaries of this technology. They “torture test” their 3D printers to see the maximum capability. New ideas are born. Designing hairy 3D prints is one of such innovative ideas.

Hairy 3D Prints - Drooloop Flowers - Designed by Mark Peeters — Drooloop Flowers – Designed by Mark Peeters

3D Printed Bust - Hairy 3D Prints - Albert Einstein — 3D Printed Bust of Albert Einstein

3D Printing Gallery - Hairy Lion - Designed by Primoz Cepin — Hairy Lion – Designed by Primoz Cepin

Hairy 3D Print Ideas - Einstein, Lion and Drooloop Flowers — Hairy 3D Print Ideas – Einstein, Lion and Drooloop Flowers

Vase Mode 3D Printing – Textures of 3D Scanned Trees

Let’s use 3D scanning and vase mode 3D printing to achieve a real tree texture effect for functional or decorative items.

Vase Mode 3D Printing - 3D Scanned Tree Vases - Oak, Birch, and Pine Textures — 3D Printed in Vase Mode – Oak, Birch, and Pine Textures

Vase Mode Ideas - 3D Scanned Pine Texture Lamp Shades — 3D Scanned Pine Texture Shades

3D Scanned Tree Texture - Oak, Birch, and Pine Plant Pots — Used as Plant Pots – Wood Filament

3D Printed Lamp Shades - Ideas & Safety Test — Lamp Shades – Rainbow PLA

Useful 3D Print Ideas

Functional 3D printing does not get the same publicity as printing for fun. The share of useful 3D prints in domestic 3D printing is growing but such models are not appreciated enough. In our opinion, both types of modeling are needed and it all goes in the right direction. 3D printing for fun helps to attract the young generation and enthusiasts.

Functional 3D Printing - Useful 3D Prints Thumbnail — Monster Headset Holder

Functional 3D Printing - Useful 3D Prints — Useful 3D Prints

Fix the Sinking Office Chair with a Simple 3D Print Job — Sinking Chair Fix

Useful 3D Prints - Prusa i3 MK2 Noise Dumpers — Noise Dumpers

Multicolor 3D Printing With a Single Extruder

The majority of such printers have a single extruder and for these, the idea of multicolor 3D printing has been a challenge for a long time. What makes it possible, however, is an option to pause, change filament and restart printing.

Multicolor 3D Printing - Fire and Warning Signs by Obolski — Fire and Warning Signs by Obolski

Multicolor 3D Printing - 300 Subscribers on YouTube — 300 Subscribers on YouTube

Multicolor 3D Printing - Hydra Pendant — Hydra Pendant

Multicolor 3D Printing - Funny Toilet Sign — Funny Toilet Sign

Spray Painting 3D Printed Models Gallery

Spray painting 3D printed models has a big potential. It is sad to see objects not being used just because of some minor flaws or dull colors. We know that there are more sophisticated methods of post-processing available, like airbrush or vapor smoothing for ABS, but spray painting is one of the easiest in our opinion. Before – After gallery of spray-painted 3D printed parts.

Spray Painting 3D Printed Models Gallery - Workshop Box — Workshop Box

Spray Painting 3D Printed Models Gallery - Workshop — Spray Painting Station in The Garage

Odile The Swan - After - Silver Spray Paint — Odile The Swan by Loubie3D

Scan The World – 3D Print Ideas

A very rich and interesting part of 3D printing is the ability to print scanned objects. It opens an enormous potential for saving the historic heritage of the world. A significant collection of such objects already exists as MyMiniFactory supported the Scan the World initiative. They share the files for everyone to print a part of history for themselves.

Scan The World - Marwari Horse Head — Marwari Horse Head

Scan The World - Gayer-Anderson Cat — Gayer-Anderson Cat

Thames Lamp Standard Creature - Before — Thames Lamp Standard Creature

3D Printing Guardian Filament Spool Holder

Disguised as a wall mounted spool holder 3D Printing Guardian watches over the whole 3D printing process. He immediately made our lives easier as now we can replace a spool in seconds. It is especially handy when changing filament for multicolor 3D printing.

Wall Mounted Spool Holder - 3D Printing Guardian in Meshmixer — 3D Printing Guardian in Meshmixer

3DPG Makes - Themed Wall Mounted Holder — 3DPG Makes

3D Printing Guardian Comics Thumbnail New — Comics Thumbnail

Wall Mounted Spool Holder - 3D Printing Guardian — Wall Mounted Spool Holder

3D Printed Puzzle Box

One of the best models for customization is a 3D printed puzzle box. The puzzle can be unique for each model or there may be a secret compartment inside the object. In some cases, only the creators will know the key to the puzzle …

3D Printed Puzzle Box Thumbnail — Puzzle Boxes

Secret Heart Box by emmett — Secret Heart Box

3D Printed American Football by Agustin Flowalistik — American Football by Agustin Flowalistik

Groot in Wood

The announcement of Guardians of the Galaxy part 2 created a wave of interest towards Groot in 3D printing community. A glimpse of Baby Groot in the movie trailer gave ideas to the designers. Makers all over the world are having fun recreating the famous character…

3D Printing in Wood - Groot Bust, Planter and Toy - Image 3DWithUs — Groot Bust, Planter and Toy

Groot, Baby Groot and Flower Pot Back View — Back View

3D Printing in Wood - Groot, Baby Groot and Flower Pot - Image 3DWithUs — Baby Groot in Front

Groot 3D Printed in Wood Filament - Before After Finish - Image 3DWithUs — Before After Finish

Odile The Swan

Odile The Swan designed by Louise Driggers aka loubie resembles black swans at Leeds castle in Kent UK.

Odile The Swan in White, Black, Blue and Red — Group of 5 Swans

Black and White Swans — In White and Black PLA

3D Print Ideas for Spray Painting

During the festive season, there are a lot of shiny sparkly decorations around. Having a 3D printer, it is very tempting to try and make something special. As we are not much of the artists, spray painting 3D prints seemed like an easy solution. And what a variety of paints on offer!

Spray Painting 3D Prints Christmas Deer — Christmas Deer

Christmas Deer in Silver Spray Paint — Deer in Silver Spray Paint

Spray Painting - We Are Ready for new GoT Season — Wine Hand and Dragon Cup

Spray Painting 3D Prints - Adalina, Dragon Cup and Wine Hand — Adalinda, Cup and Wine Hand

3D Printed Pokemon

Agustin Flowalistik, designer of a low poly 3D printed Pokemon, had a big success with his creation even before the launch of Pokemon Go game. Flagman Pikachu was downloaded tens of thousands of times … Read more & images

3D Printed Pokemon - Double Pikachu — 3D Printed with Tower

Five 3D Printed Pokemons - On Delta Wasp Printing Bed — Bulbasaur, Pikachu, Squirtle, Chikorita, Totodile, Charmander.

Six 3D Printed Pokemons on a Mobile Phone

Minecraft Mobs

3D printed Minecraft mobs are very popular among dedicated players. Any Minecraft fan would be happy to have one in their collection. On the other hand, their square-shaped look makes it easy to design and print. Read more & images

Minecraft 3D Printed Mobs Creeper — 3D Printing Creeper

Minecraft 3D Printed Skeleton with Support — 3D Printed Skeleton

3D Print Ideas for Wood Filament

3D printing wood filament exists since 2012, but it could still be called experimental. It often consists of 60-70% polymers and 40-30% of recycled wood fibres of different kinds… Read more & images

Houses on the Rock in wood filament — Houses on the rock

Wood Filament Elephant Toy — Elephant Toy

3D Printing in Wood - Groot Trio Front — Groots

Tree Stump Coasters - 3D Printed in Wood Filament — Tree Stump Coasters

3D Printing Test

Once your new 3D printer arrives it is good to understand its capabilities. There are many test files to choose from on Thingeverse. The reason to use a proper test file is because it contains all hard-to-print bits. After printing such object it becomes clear what settings you need to complete tricky and detailed projects. Also these files are designed in a way that you don’t use a lot of filament and printing time. Read more & images

3D Printing Test - Fail — 3D Printing Test – Fail
(Photo: 3DWithUs)

3D Printing Test - Stringing - T-Glase PETT — T-Glase PETT

3D Printing Filament Test - CtrlV Test - Cura Settings — CtrlV 3D Printer Tests

Source & Links

Most of the STL files for the featured designs that we use come from file-sharing repositories. You can find the sources by following the links to the blogs. We feature some of 3D printing ideas in our 3DWithUs YouTube Channel.
Similar layout galleries:
– Spray Painting 3D Prints
– 3D Scanned Tree Texture
– 3D Print Ideas, Makes and Designs

3D Printing Gallery

If you take some of our images for your own blog/article, please make sure you add the image source linking to 3dwithus.com.
Example: Source: 3DWithUs or Image: 3diwithus.com