Adventures in 3D-printing a 'Blade Runner' and 'Twin Peaks' lamp

A rare lamp that looks very much like this one appeared as a prop in the sci-fi classic "Blade Runner" and in David Lynch's surreal mystery series "Twin Peaks." The real lamps are hard to find and expensive. This one is 3D-printed from plastic and lit with LED lights. 

Thingiverse user Richy_T created the 3D design based on images of the original lamps and 3D-printing specialist Sandia3D turned out a plastic version in real life.

This screenshot from the original 1990s run of "Twin Peaks" shows the Saturn lamp glowing green on a side table in the Red Room. Agent Cooper sits in the chair near it with the mysterious Man From Another Place nearby. 

This screenshot comes from the 2017 return of "Twin Peaks" and again shows the Red Room, an enigmatic waiting room connected with the Black Lodge. Agent Cooper and Laura Palmer interact near the familiar Saturn lamp, which returned along with director David Lynch and many original cast members.

Peer through replicant Rachael's arm to get a peek at the Saturn lamp sitting on top of Rick Deckard's piano in this screenshot from the 1982 movie "Blade Runner." 

This version of the Saturn lamp has been up for auction on eBay with a starting bid of $645 (£495, AU$830). The glass lamps came in various colors, including green and pink and this frosted version with painted blue stars on top.

The first attempt at ordering a 3D-printed replica of the Saturn lamp came out on the miniature side of things. This shows the first model sitting next to the second, scaled-up version, which is about a foot (30 centimeters) tall. 

A little bit of silver hobby paint highlights the Saturn lamp's accents. 

A cheap string of green LED lights, all wadded up like spaghetti, fits inside the planet-shaped part of the Saturn lamp to provide the green-hued illumination to mimic the look from "Twin Peaks."

A little soldering is required to replace the cord on the LED string lights, lengthening it and making it easy to set the lamp on a table and still reach an electrical outlet. The white box is the controller for the lights.

After soldering the new cord into place, we tested the lights before attaching the top of the Saturn lamp with double-sided tape. The string lights can be set to steady-on, or to pulse or flicker for a David Lynch-style strobing visual effect.

The finished Saturn lamp fits in well with my "Twin Peaks"-themed decor, which includes a large, stylized Red Room tapestry and an owl.