3D printed skulls come in a lot of shapes and sizes, from macabre figures to Halloween decorations and even jewelry, from the simple to the complex.
Here we’re going to look at some of the coolest 3D printed skulls for a variety of purposes and looks, from decorative and practical, to cute and creepy, that you can check out and print today. And most of them are free!
My Favorite 3D Printed Skulls
- Realistic 3D Printed Skull: Ideal for educational purposes or as a unique decor piece.
- Oogie Boogie Dice Tower: Bring The Nightmare Before Christmas to life.
- Skull Lamp: A macabre yet functional lighting solution.
- Skull Ashtray: Use an eye socket as your cigar holder.
- Skull Planter: Add a daring twist to your plant decor.
- Skull Mask: A chilling Halloween costume.
- T-Rex Skull: A detailed piece great for classrooms.
- Grim Fandango Lighter Case: Featuring Manny Calavera, a nod to Día de los Muertos culture.
- Skull Keycaps: Customize your gaming setup with these designs.
- Cubone Skull: For Pokémon aficionados.
1. Realistic 3D Printed Skull
- Download: Thingiverse
- Designer: MakerBot
- Price: Free
This 3D printed skull is a simple yet very well-detailed project with free STL files for anyone to download, make, and enjoy. The well-defined features are thanks to 3D scanning, so yes, we are beginning this list with a model based on an actual human skull!
The design is deceptively easy to print and assemble, and MakerBot allows for free remixing, so you can either print, assemble, and display it as it is, or use it as a base for a more creative project if you want to experiment and expand your 3D printing repertoire.
2. Oogie Boogie Dice Tower
- Download: Cults3D
- Designer: CLUGSTON519
- Price: Free
Continuing this list with my personal favorite, this 3D printed skull and skeleton inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas villain Oogie Boogie’s lair was featured in our article on 3D printed dice towers.
The recognizable Tim Burton aesthetic from my favorite film can be achieved by any 3D printer, though it has some balancing issues due to being so top-heavy. To keep it upright, we recommend increasing the size and infill of the base in your slicer settings before printing.
3. Skull Lamp
- Download: Thingiverse
- Designer: shiuan
- Price: Free
There are a lot of options out there for 3D printed lamps, and it’s not surprising that this 3D printed skull lamp has attracted a lot of attention. The mesh design allows enough light to pass through to make it an effective light source, making it ideal as a safer, fire-free alternative to a jack-o-lantern.
Because it’s designed for lighting, the skull lamp requires 0% infill. While this does make it more brittle, it also allows for a much more impressive lighting effect that’ll impress Halloween guests and year-round fans of the macabre alike.
For a similar 3D printed skull lamp with more detail, you can also check out this hollow 3D printed Celtic skull for a more intricate lighting effect.
4. Skull Ashtray
- Download: Printables
- Designer: RobertusMaximus
- Price: Free
This cigar ashtray was featured in our article on the coolest 3D printed ashtrays, and it’s easy to see why. The awesome cut-off look and creative use of the eye socket as a cigar holder make this one spooky addition to your living room.
It’s fully ready to be resized as you like to become a regular cigarette ashtray too, and so can be printed on 3D printers as small as a Prusa Mini, which has a build size of only 180 x 180 x 180mm.
Just be warned that cigarettes and cigars can burn up to 500℃ when idle, so it’s best to print this model in PETG or ABS, both of which can withstand more heat than standard PLA and so won’t warp or melt as easily.
5. Skull Planter
- Download: Printables
- Designer: Uncle Jessy
- Price: Free
3D printed planters are a fantastic way to keep your houseplants safe and fed while avoiding the extortionate costs of store-bought pots and vases in garden centers.
To add to your collection, why not check out this hanging 3D printed skull planter from the free STL files?
Requiring no supports and available with or without drain holes, this is the perfect 3D printed skull for your home or garden for anyone to print. It’s easily scalable and can be printed in one piece. Just be sure to print it upside down as per the included instructions to make sure it stays put during the printing process.
6. 3D Printed Skull Mask
- Download: Thingiverse
- Designer: Bob Stuntsville
- Price: Free
If you’re looking for an exciting take on a classic Halloween costume, then this is the perfect project for you. This 3D printed skull mask is designed with a jaw that moves along with your own mouth to complete the full ‘living dead’ look.
Before printing, you will need to make sure the size is right for your own face and you have adequate fasteners so the mask stays in place, but loose enough to still be comfortable.
Best of all, this 3D printed mask is even designed to be comfortable to wear if you have glasses, so bespectacled Halloween fans need not feel left out.
7. T-Rex Skull
- Download: Thingiverse
- Designer: MakerBot
- Price: Free
This 3D printed t-rex skull was designed for use in classrooms, but it can also be a really cool home decoration for any fans of paleontology out there. Because it was designed as an educational too, the detailing is carefully curated to be as accurate as possible.
The STL files even come with a detailed lesson plan if you’re planning on using this 3D printed dinosaur skull to teach.
With over 1000 makes and a very easy print-in-place design, it’s easy to see why this 3D printed skull has ben printed, remixed, and repurposed by many dinosaur fans around the world.
If you’d rather 3D print the skull of a lesser-known dinosaur, you can check out our pick for the coolest 3D printed heterodontosaurus skull along with other similar builds in our picks for the top 3D printed dinosaurs.
8. Grim Fandango Lighter Case
- Download: Cults3D
- Designer: SALVADOR_LIMONES
- Price: $3
Fans of the cult classic puzzle and adventure game Grim Fandango will instantly recognize the Día de los Muertos-inspired head of main character Manuel ‘Manny’ Calavera, whose surname literally means ‘Skull’ in Spanish.
This 3D printed cartoon-esque skull is designed to fit a standard Bic lighter, and fits easily over it as a unique case that players of the eerie yet whimsical game will enjoy. It also means you’ll never lose track of which lighter is yours on a night out again!
It’s a very small print and so doesn’t need much filament to print, making it a great little project if you happen to have just a little filament left over from your last project.
9. Skull Keycaps
- Download: Printables
- Designer: braga3dprint
- Price: Free
If you happen to be a PC gamer then you may have already experimented with 3D printing your own keycaps.
If so, then you might want to check out these really cool 3D printed skull keycaps designed to be printed in either high-resolution or low-poly depending on both your preference and 3D printer’s capability.
Supports are required regardless of which variation you go for, and a layer height of no more than 0.1mm is best for optimal results. Fortunately, the best settings for each of these skull keycaps are well laid out in the link above.
10. Honorable Mention: 3D Printed Cubone Skull
- Download: Thingiverse
- Designer: bluridium
- Price: Free
It just wouldn’t be a 3DSourced article by me if I didn’t involve something for my fellow Pokémon fans out there. And so, this honorable mention spot goes to the famously tragic figure of Gen 1 Pokémon; Cubone.
Famously wearing the skull of its dead mother, slain in the cannon by the notorious Team Rocket, any Pokémon fan will recognize the look of this heartbreakingly sad Pokémon youngling.
Despite the cool detail and faithful shape, the 3D printed Cubone skull doesn’t require rafts or supports, and can be printed with only 10% infill, so it won’t use up too much filament.
