Description

A replica of the dragon priest wooden mask from skyrim. The wood texture was added using a normal map in Blender. I split the model into 4 parts to make it easier to print on my ender 3 v2. I would recommend printing it sideways to so that the layer lines get mixed in with the wood texture. The holes on to side of the split model parts were orginially for alignment pegs, but I realzied the pegs would have to be far too small to be printable. It's easier to get a good alginmeSnt with a little bit of care anyways.

Material

Some woodfill PLA. I used 3D printing canada natural wood filament.

Print settings

I used 0.2mm layer height. You can probably get an equally good result with smaller or larger layer heights. All other settings should be tuned according to your filament and machine.

Post Processing

The post processing is the most important part to achieve the wood finish.

Material:

• Gorilla CA-based Super Glue 
• 180 Grit sandpaper
• Varanthe gel walnut wood stain
• Krylon clear sealer

Steps:

1. Glue the parts with one at a time with the CA glue.
2. Sand the surface of the model until the large wood grain ridges are smooths.
3. Apply a single coat of wood stain in the direction of the wood grain. One side at a time.
4. Apply 1 to 3 very light coats of sealer. One side at a time.

You will probably get good results using other products. During my testing, I found that water-based wood stain didn't penetrate the filament much, therefore I recommend using a gel-based one. The Krylon sealer will give a matte finish to the mask, which makes it look more like “raw” wood. If you want a something that looks more polish, I would recommend using a shiny sealer or varnish.  

Sources

• https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/q3oqjh/update_today_i_learned_how_to_add_realistic_wood/hft6a7n/
• https://www.romanreiner.com/creating-textures-for-3d-printing/