Hello!
I’m new to 3D printing but I had this idea of printing a lamp.
The problem is I don’t know what kind of material to print on or what thickness it should have in order for light to pass through. I’m aiming to model Baymax from Big Hero 6 so the material would have to be whiteish.
I would appreciate your help in any aspect.
Thank you in advance 
What type of fixture do you plan on attaching it to? A lamp(=lamp shade)?, or adding small light inside of it, thereby making it the lamp?
PLA - white, 3shells,should work fine.(0 infill),(0 bottom layers, unless you are going to make your model have a base, with an opening).
Add some vent holes to the top of your model, so the heat can get out.
An LED bulb would be safer, than an incandescent bulb, as they don’t produce a lot of heat.
Hey! Thanks for the response.
I’m planning to add a small light inside of it and making it the lamp. I’m thinking about printing something like a bust of the character with a hole on the bottom so that the wiring can get out. What do you mean by 3 shells and 0 infill? I’m fairly new to this :S
Warning: This will be long 
If you are just going to design it, then only read the 1st paragraph. But, if you are going to print it, and want to start learning how to 3d print, then read it all, 3or4 times, and it will start to make sense, when you are ready to try.
1st, be aware that terminology differs, for every software program(s)
(eg: car,auto,ride,wheels,transportation, etc…) So try to get advice from ppl that are using the same programs that you are.
Design work is done from 2 different approaches. Non-functional (Modeling) and Functional(CAD).
Non-functional, is for characters or simple objects. You are just creating a digital skin. Precision is not important, it just needs to look good.
Functional, is for mechanical parts, that need precise measurements, and strength.
During the modeling design work, you won’t have to consider thickness of the outer “Wall”. That will be a “setting” you will personally choose in the 3d printer slicing software.(depending on the complexity of your object)
A “shell” is 1 outer perimeter extrusion. 1 shell= (roughly) .4mm wide(standard nozzle tip hole size)(width varies depending on slicer program being used=another long story). (For reference, a piece of paper is .1mm). .4mm is very flimsy, and folks typical only use 1 shell when printing a vase(or cylindrical object), where the layers stack directly on top of eachother. More “shells”, make a thicker outer “Wall”. As your design gets more complicated(detailed), you have to use more shells, b/c the “layers” don’t stack directly on top of eachother, and you want all the curves and details to appear to be smooth, with no holes or separations between layer lines. 3-5 shells would be typical. But, If I where making a mechanical part, I would not be concerned with how it looked, but would need it to be stronger, and might use 5-10 shells.
“Infill” is everything inside of the perimeter wall. So, “0% infill”=hollow. 15-25%infill is typical for most character models. Having some/more infill, gives the outer walls something to print on top of, as they start to form the “roof”/top. Again, if I were making a mechanical part, I would use 60-80%infill, just to make the object stronger.
3 things to think about for those settings for any kind of model/object.
Don’t know what you have in mind for the lighting, but a simple suggestion would be to leave a 1" hole in the back(at the bottom) and stuff the model full with white Holiday LED string lights.(thou that might not create an even lighting effect, as some of the bulbs will be pressed up tight against the front)
Duplicat, =^…^=
Thank you a lot for your help!
I’ll try to get started with my model and maybe after that it’ll be easier to ask questions
But thank you very much for your help it made me get some prespective!
Also I was thinking of just useing one big LED bulb for the lighting and hopefuly that will give the desired effect. I’m not worried about it not being good enough to read or other activities that require real light because it will be mostly for decoration/ambient light.