George Washington Frosty Crossing the Delaware

On December 25th/26th, 1776 General George Washington led a column of Continental troops across the Delaware River in a surprise attack against Hessian forces located in Trenton, New Jersey. The bold stroke by the future President helped to renew colonial enthusiasm for the war and helped boost troop morale during the challenging winter.

The historic crossing was immortalized in the famous oil on canvas painting "Washington Crossing the Delaware" by German-American Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze. "George Washington Frosty Crossing the Delaware" is a holiday-themed homage to this event and a potential conversation starter for those new to American History.

Step 1: Downloading Your Software and Components

Download Sketchup. Using Sketchup’s 3d Warehouse, download the following 3d models from which your ornament will be derived. Sketchup's Terms of service regarding usage are pretty permissive, though it's best to make adjustments to your models to avoid creating a 3D model that's too generic.

Step 2: Positioning Your Snowmen

Place the snowmen inside the canoe using the “Move” tool. Using CTRL and the move tool, duplicate the snowmen and place them in the desired position. The “Rotate” tool (circulating arrows) and the “Orbit” tool (arrows circling an axis) are useful for orienting your snowmen and assessing the placement of individual elements.

Step 3: Removing the Top Hats

With the “Select” tool activated, right click on the snowmen’s top hats. Using the “edit components” selection, isolate the individual elements of the top hats and erase.

Step 4: Getting Dressed for the Occasion

Using the Move Tool and the “CTRL” command tool place the “tricorne” hats atop the snowmen (adjust colors and dimensions as desired).

Step 5: Preparing to Row

Using the “Scale” tool in conjunction resize the oars and position them with the snowmen.

Step 6: Providing Balance for GW Frosty

To create a leg for GW Frosty, select the right leg of the model using the “Select” tool and the CTRL key. Cut and paste onto the middle snowman’s leg.

Step 7: Preparing for Combat

To create the sword you may wish to recolor and resize using the “edit components” command from Step 3. The “scale” tool will help you adjust the sword to the appropriate size.

Step 8: Raise Your Flag

Again selecting individual components, eliminate unneeded elements of the flag and position it on the canoe.

Step 9:

Once your individual elements are all arranged use the Use the select tool and the keyboard command CTRL+Shift+A to select the entire model. Resize the entire 3D shape using the Scale Tool.

Step 10: Save for Future Generations

Save your work! To export as a stl. File, Select "Export as 3d Design" (.wrl) and download the program "MeshLab." Open your exported file and save as a .stl file.