3D Pen- How to Make a Game of Thrones Heart Tree

10-15 hour project

You will need:

• 3D Pen
• White and Red filament (I used Polyalchemy Merlot Elixir for the red)
• Some way of heating parts of the model (lighter, cooking torch, etc.)
• Paper and pencil
• Soldering iron or wood engraving tool
• Thin black Sharpie

Helpful tools:

• Flush cutters
• Tweezers
• Wax paper
• Tape

Please note that I made a time-lapse video of the full process, so you can see all the little details on how to make this in the following video:

https://youtu.be/FOlJkPRCNPc

Affiliate links to the exact products I used to make this are in the video description.

A high level overview of how to make this is:

• Make the roots and trunk
• Make the eyes and face
• Make each branch separately
• Combine all the branches onto the trunk
• Add smaller sub branches
• Make leaves separately
• Add all leaves to branches
• Rejoice

Printing out the steps below and following along with the video will help a lot.

** Finally take care and the proper precautions when using an dangerous equipment that this Instructable requires. **

Step 1: Make Roots and Trunk

• Sketch the top view of the trunk and roots onto a piece of paper, with the tree at the approximate size you would like it. Fill in and build up the roots a little.
• Then build up the trunk by penning in a circle, until the trunk is the desired height. Keep adjusting the position and pinching the trunk together as you build it up.
• Next build the roots up vertically, by using a diagonal penning motion, to give the roots their tapered shape.
• Once the roots have their coarse structure, you can the apply a finer finishing layer. Then apply a nice, even finishing layer, trying to make this as “tree-like” as possible.
• Use a soldering iron or wood burning/engraving tool to draw in the face. Then color these features in with a thin black Sharpie. Lastly, add the red sap (filament) weeping from the face as desired.

Step 2: Make Branches and Add to Trunk

• Estimate how many main branches you want to have at the top of the trunk. Pen that number of circular bases and add them angled upwards, to the top of the trunk.
• Each main branch will be made in the following manner:
  • Sketch the side profile. Pen it out.
  • Build up “ribs” at intervals along the side profile, on both sides. Reduce the ribs diameter as you get closer to the outer tip of the branch.
  • Pen from rib to rib, to fill in the outer structure of the branch.
  • Apply a smooth, even finish layer to the branch.
• Before adding the branches to the main trunk, plug the hole in the center of the tree, made by the angled bases of the branches.
• Weld each branch to the angle circular base on the trunk. Plug up and pen over and holes or gaps made.

Step 3: Add Smaller Sub Branches

• Add smaller sub-branches to the main branches just added.
• Simply pen in a circular motion and periodically press the branch together with your fingers.
• Add even more (and smaller) sub-branches off this to create a realistic looking tree.
• Keep repeating this until you are satisfied with the look of the tree.

Step 4: Make the Leaves and Add Them to the Tree

• On a separate piece of wax paper, make the leaves. Use a pen motion in the shape of a star/stick figure to get the approximate shape of a 5-pointed leaf.
• This takes some experimenting to get right and press down on each leaf with your finger, to get a nice flat shape. Turn the speed setting on your pen way down and don’t use too much filament.
• Keep repeating this until you have leaves. Lots and lots of leaves.
• Then add the leaves one by one to the tree. Apply them by either:
  • Placing a dot of filament on the tree and then pressing the leaf onto the tree.
  • Or add the dot of filament to the leaf and then press the leaf + dot onto the tree.
• Keep adding these leaves to the tree until you are happy with the look. Or your patience runs out!

Congratulations, you now have a Game of Thrones Heart (Weirwood) Tree, made with a 3D Pen!