3D designer and artist Francesco Orru has designed and printed an awesome bust inspired by the iconic dragon Smaug from JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit. He’s uploaded two versions of Smaug’s head, one that can be hung on the wall as a coat hanger or a second that can be used as a candy dish or coin bowl.
The Smaug Head was designed in Zbrush and Orru created it so the model can be printed without any supports. However he said that, when loaded it in Cura, the software did add a few thin supports that were very easy to remove and clean.
The model has some extremely fine detail, so it may not print as well on all FDM 3D printers, and any post processing beyond a light sanding is probably not a good idea. Orru printed his on an Ultimaker 2, so the fine details were not a problem for him. And, due to the orientation of the model on the printbed, the striation almost looks like it’s part of Smaug’s scaly skin. Plus, a few coats of paint will make them virtually disappear.
The entire print should take between 8 to 10 hours, so you could sit down and watch the entire Hobbit trilogy and have a finished model by the time the third movie is over. Heck, if you’re watching the extended versions you’ll probably have time to spare. The version of the model that Orru printed used about 70g of filament, however he is trying to tweak the model to use less material. You could also try to hollow the model out yourself, but a wall hook it may cause the print to lose some structural integrity. Orru also said that the scale of the model could easily be upped if you have access to a large-scale 3D printer.
The Smaug model can be downloaded for free directly from My Mini Factory, although you do need to have an account with them in order to do so. Orru is quite a talented 3D designer, so, make sure that you check out all of the awesome designs that he uploaded to his profile. You can download the files for the Smaug Head Coat Hook here, and you can download the Smaug Head Bowl here.
