Slide of the Month - Spirit of Freedom

 

July 2026

Time to Design: 10 hours

Time to Print: 6 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

 
Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

Flag design: Betsy Ross flag by babjazz

The skull stands as a reminder that every life is finite, but the spirit of freedom is timeless. In 1776, brave men and women chose liberty over fear, believing that the right to govern themselves was worth every sacrifice. Though generations pass, the ideals born in that historic year endure, proving that while our bodies return to dust, the pursuit of freedom lives on in the hearts of those who cherish it.

While I can't take credit for the previous paragraph, I think AI nailed it.

I’ve been thinking about this slide for awhile now and it took a bit of time to model as I really could not find the right file on the internet. I started with a file of a real skull that had been scanned to a 3d print and began removing the bits I didn't want. Once I was satisfied, I need to find a tri-cornered hat. Once again, I found a file of a person wearing the hat and removed the figure from the hat. Next came merging the hat and skull together before printing. I painted the hat using craft paints and sealed the paint with some poly.  To finish my concept, I needed a colonial flag in the background and found one to print at the link above. This required printing in red, white, and blue with some super glue to put it together. I also used super glue to connect the skull to the flag.