Though relatively small as US national parks go---only 229 square miles---Zion packs a tremendous amount of elevation change and geography into its small footprint. The main canyon is very narrow, yet two-thousand-foot towers of rock overlook your every move. Zion was first protected under the name "Mukuntuweap National Monument" in 1909, but was promoted to a national park in 1919. Now the area is a hiker's paradise, with trails for every level of climber leading up and through the thick Navajo Sandstone deposits which give the canyon its reddish color.

Our print contains many of the popular features of the park, from The Watchman and Mt. Kinesava, past the East and West Temples, Three Patriarchs, The Sentinel, The Great White Throne, to the beginning of the Virgin River Narrows. Westward, the model include backcountry features such as Horse Pasture Plateau, Inclined Temple, the Bishoprics, Church Mesa, and the knife-edge ridges beyond the Altar of Sacrifice. Normal maps simply cannot communicate the magnificence of the terrain in Zion, only a 3D print can do it justice. We hope the detail and fidelity of this piece kindle in you the curiosity that the first explorers must have had.

Model scale is 1:119300
Model covers an area approximately 7.4 by 7.4 miles
Altitudes covered: 3829' to 7813'
There is never any vertical exaggeration in TinyMtn models.

Click here for more sizes.
Click here for other 4" models.

TinyMtn models look best in the default "White Strong and Flexible" material, which is also the least expensive material. When you receive the model, there may still be Nylon dust on it from the printing process. Use either an airbrush, canned dust blower, or a soft old toothbrush to remove this dust. Do not get the "White Strong and Flexible" material wet, and don't prime it or use any oil-based paints on it. You can safely seal it with Polycrylic or a similar water-based clear spray sealant. Read more about this popular material here.

The "Frosted Detail" material will show more detail, but is semi-transparent and has an uneven surface texture when unpainted (due to the orientation of the model when Shapeways prints it). It may show up feeling a little greasy and with small crystals in crevasses. Clean those off by soaking the model in warm (but not hot) soapy water and brushing with an old toothbrush. To get the surface to an even matte finish, spray with a few light coats of sandable primer (white automotive primer works), and then do a baking soda grit-blast.

These models have been optimized for the above materials, and are not offered in other materials for strength or cost reasons. If you need one in another material, please contact us and we'll try to accommodate your request.

(C) 2013 TinyMtn (TM)
Model created using GDAL, NetPBM, Gmsh, Carve, MeshLab, and other custom software
Source of digital elevation data: U.S. Geological Survey
The USGS home page is http://www.usgs.gov/