Christmas Decoration - Die Hard - Yippee Ki-yay Merry Christmas

What better way to celebrate Christmas and to add that finishing touch to your tree by having a Die Hard themed Christmas decoration. From one of the most iconic christmas films of all time comes this John McClean stuck in an air duct bauble.

This is a take on the Die Hard christmas ornaments but provided in a 3D format, there are links to the STL and images below so you can make your own.

Step 1: 3D Files and Prep

First off you'll need to grab the 3D files and here is the link to them on thingiverse. You can pretty much print them in anything you like and they are not too critcal in size. Perhaps the only thing worth testing out is the battery holder. I've printed them in PLA, PETG and ABS from .15 to .3 resolution and they all work fine.

Once the the files are printed I just sand them a little with 60 grit and then 320 grit to give something for the paint to hold to and to smooth them a little as these ones were printed at 0.3 resolution.

Download the files here https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4013447

Step 2: Priming and Painting

It's a simple job here to prime and paint the decoration. I just use standard car paints with grey primer for the outside with some dark green paint. The inside is done in matt black to give a better base for the silver which is Skoda metallic silver in this case.

Step 3: Screens and Images

The images that go inside the decoration are just printed out on an inkjet printer and I have made some screens to attach them to. There are suitable holes for the light to shine through. You'll also spot that one of the images are mirrored so that the hole lines up neatly.

Once the images are attached then the screens are super glued into the painted cases.

Images are supplied individually , but also as an Inkscape drawing. Inkscape is a great program for this as it is very easy to dimension your images with it and they then are printed out correctly

Step 4: Electronics

The electronics are really simple, and it is a flickering LED attached to a watch battery. I use a CR2032 or you can use a CR2025. The easy way to remember these is that the 20 represents the diameter (20mm) and the last two digits are the thickness. So that's 3.2mm and 2.5mm respectively.

The legs of the LED are just pushed and bent through the holder and touch the battery. The longer leg of the LED goes to the positive of the battery. You can then turn it on and off by just sliding the battery in and out.

Step 5: Build Video

If you want a step by step walk through of how to make your own, this is the video for you.

Step 6: Hang It on the Tree

All you need to do now is glue the case together and hang it on the tree. If you want a more traditional ornament, then have a look at my Christmas ball. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3309421

Yippee ki-yay , Merry Christmas