3D printed Tangled lantern backlit by an LED candle

This post is the first of several in my series on 3D printed Tangled lantern lithophanes. At-home 3D printers puts a new spin on lithophane technology which has been around for a couple hundred years. I don’t recall exactly how I stumbled across lithophanes but my first print was a Frozen-inspired nightlight that someone made for his nieces. Not surprisingly, I also have nieces who also love Anna, Elsa, and Olaf so it only made sense for me to print it on my DaVinci Mini W+ 3D printer to see how it turned out! The designer credited LithophaneMaker.com for the technology capable of translating colors of the image into various depths to create the image in lithophane form.

Inspiration for 3D printing

When I created the design for the Tangled table lamp, I purchased a package of three 6-inch LED pillar candles. This set also came with two 4-inch LED pillar candles and four LED tea light candles from Home Depot. It made sense to attribute the 6-inch LED pillar candles to the table lamp but I didn’t have a plan for the 4-inch or tea light versions–until now!

I took measurements of the 4-inch pillar candle and adjusted my Tangled boat and frying pan lantern pattern so it would look great as a 3D print.

Adjusting the image design for a 3D printed Tangled lantern

All of my DIY lithophanes were created by uploading my PNG files, like the one above, into the Curved Lithophane Maker on LithophaneMaker.com. In order to create a perfect, round design, I cropped the original Tangled boats pattern so the edges start and finish with half of the frying pan. I needed to make this modification so the pattern would start and finish the pattern without a gap!

Tangled boats pattern, trimmed and optimized for 3D printing

Using LithophaneMaker.com

In the Curved Lithophane Maker, you have the ability to adjust the settings to match your particular needs. My recommendations are below but feel free to experiment with the settings. Let me know how things turn out for you in the comments section below. If you’re uncomfortable adjusting these settings on your own, you can download the finished STL from Thingiverse based on my preferred settings or watch this YouTube video to visualize how to apply the settings below.

1. Upload your images – Save the file above and browse for it in your downloads (or wherever you saved the pattern. You’ll want to Choose File twice since this image only covers 180° or half of your curved lithophane. (Leave the third and fourth Choose File links untouched.)
   
2. Do you want a frame? – Select No Frame
   (Why? The frame makes a nice edge for the night lights and some designs but I did not want a frame in this design. Watch the image on the bottom right, to see how the design changes with and without the frame.)
   
3. Lithophane Resolution (mm/pixel): Your choice. 0.3mm is a good start but I recommend 0.2mm if your printer can handle it!
   Note: You must adjust this based on how your printer performs. My DaVinci Mini printer could not support the larger files created by a higher resolution (lower mm/pixel value) so my first prints required a 0.3mm resolution. Later, when I purchased a Creality Ender 3, I was able to use the 0.2mm/pixel (standard quality) offered by Ultimaker Cura which produced a higher quality print as seen below.
   
4. Height (mm): Your choice, but 102mm covered the top of my 4″ LED pillar candles splendidly.
   
5. Angle (deg): Change to 360 to get a round, circle design
   
6. Frame Width (mm): Change to 0
   
7. Frame Height (mm): Change to 0
   
8. Maximum Thickness (mm):
   
9. Minimum Thickness (mm):
   
10. Picture Spacing (mm): Change to 0 so there is no gap in the half-frying pan overlap between two uploaded files

Producing the 3D printed Tangled lantern

Once you have the finished STL, you’ll want to prepare it for your 3D printer. For the DaVinci Mini, I opened the file in XYZPrint software and for the Ender 3, I used Cura to convert the STL into gcode, copy it to the removable MicroSD card, and insert it into the 3D printer.

There are a ton of great filaments out there so stick with what you prefer. For this design, you’ll want to print with a lighter filament so it remains translucent and lets the candle glow shine through the filament. Below are a few photos of different prints with colors and settings detailed below.

In general, I prefer to print with Overture’s white PLA filament at 210°C with a bed temperature of 50°C. If you do not have a heated bed, I recommend 3M Scotch-brand blue painter’s tape with a glue stick lightly applied to the surface before printing.

LED candles for 3D prints

Wax LED pillar candle (left) and resin pillar candle (right)
backlit in purple by Philips Hue LightStrip+

Don’t have time to Do It Yourself? That’s okay because you can buy this 3D printed lantern with or without an LED pillar candle on Etsy!

Caution: Since the 3D printed lantern is made of PLA filament, you must use an LED candle for lighting. Do not use real candles that produce a flame or fire because it will melt, discolor, and/or damage the finished product. It could also cause you great harm.

Disclaimer: The Walt Disney Company maintains the copyright for Tangled, Disney’s Rapunzel, the Tangled golden sun, Walt Disney World, and the Magic Kingdom. I do not own nor claim any copyrights to these items. Rather, this project is inspired by the creativity and innovation of the Walt Disney Company through their depictions in the movie and at the Magic Kingdom. Thank you, Disney, for bringing magic into all of our lives.