DIY project · 3D printing · Maglev

Fire
in the palm of a hand

Inspired by Ghost Rider's hand, I redesigned that image for the 3D printer: a worn leather glove rising out of rubble, five fingers held on by magnets, and a flame that genuinely floats in the middle of the palm.

17 Oct 2026Duong Tran~5 min read
3D-printed Ghost Rider hand in a dark navy glove, a glowing flaming skull floating above the palm, on a rubble base engraved GHOST RIDER
FloatingThe flame never touches the hand
5 fingersHeld on by magnets
2 flamesClassic · flaming skull

Of everything in the Ghost Rider world, the image that stayed with me longest isn't the motorcycle or the chain. It's the hand: skin burning away to bone, and hellfire bursting out of the open palm. This project is my way of holding on to that moment, with a new design, a 3D printer, and a flame that actually floats in mid-air.

The story

A flame that never burns the hand that holds it

Johnny Blaze traded his soul to save his foster father. What he got in return was a fire that never goes out. Every night his flesh burns away, leaving a blazing skull and a curse he has to carry for life. That fire is both his power and his punishment.

One night in the workshop, with the printer still running and the lamp falling on a pile of failed prints in the corner, it hit me: everyone who makes things is holding a flame. Some flames burn the person holding them: the sleepless nights, the failed prints, the moments you just want to quit. Others are only there to light the way.

This hand grew out of that thought. It rises from rubble, the way every project starts from things that went wrong. Its five fingers come apart and snap back on with magnets, because whatever can break can be put back together. And the flame never touches the palm: it floats, free, burning bright without burning anyone.

Real passion isn't something you grip until it burns you. It's a flame you lift up: close enough to light your way, far enough not to consume you.

— Duong Tran

Johnny Blaze has no choice but to live with his fire. We get to choose: let it burn us, or let it rise.

The character

Ghost Rider — the Spirit of Vengeance

Ghost Rider first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #5 (August 1972), created by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog. Johnny Blaze is a stunt motorcyclist. To save his foster father he makes a deal with a demon, and from then on carries a Spirit of Vengeance named Zarathos inside him.

When night falls, Johnny becomes a skeleton with a skull wreathed in hellfire, wearing a leather jacket, wrapped in chains and riding a burning motorcycle. He punishes the wicked with hellfire and the Penance Stare, a gaze that forces the guilty to feel every ounce of pain they have caused.

In 2007 and 2012, Nicolas Cage brought the character to the big screen in Ghost Rider and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. The first transformation scene, where the skin on his hand burns away to reveal bone, is where this project began.

3D-printed Ghost Rider hand shot from below, an orange flame glowing between the fingers, a flaming skull in the foreground

Five fingers spread as if summoning the fire. In front: the flaming-skull version.

3D-printed dark navy glove with a worn leather texture, held in hand in front of a desk

The 3D-printed glove: worn leather texture, raised stitching, fingers not yet attached.

Design

A hand rising out of the rubble

I didn't want to copy a frame from the film. The hand was redesigned from scratch, keeping what makes Ghost Rider Ghost Rider: worn leather, raw intensity, fire. The rest is my retelling: a hand breaking through shattered ground, palm turned up to the sky.

The glove is textured like leather that has been through fire, with raised stitching and a metal strap around the wrist, a nod to Johnny Blaze's signature jacket. The five fingers are bare, bony at the joints, with grey nails, as if they are slowly turning to bone.

1Leather glove & metal strap

The glove carries a fire-worn leather texture and a silver strap at the wrist. The dark navy makes the orange flame pop.

2Magnetic fingers

Five separately printed fingers attach to the hand with magnets. Easy to print, easy to paint, easy to repose. Drop one and it just snaps back on.

3Rubble base

The hand breaks through broken rocks on a grey base engraved GHOST RIDER, as if it has just punched up through the ground.

3D-printed Ghost Rider glove held in hand, fingers not yet attached
Five separately printed fingers next to the rubble base and an orange printed flame

Left: the finished glove surface. Right: five separate fingers that attach to the hand with magnets.

The highlight

A flame that floats

The most special thing about this design is that the flame never touches the hand. A magnetic levitation module hidden inside holds it floating above the palm, while a warm light makes the translucent orange plastic glow as if it were really burning.

The flame comes in two versions: a classic flame, and a skull engulfed in fire, Ghost Rider's own face. Dim the room lights and the corner of your desk turns into a small stage.

No strings, no stand. Just a magnetic field and a flame that refuses to fall.

Glowing orange flame floating in the palm of the Ghost Rider hand, seen from the front

The flame hovers between five fingers, never touching the palm.

Video · Inspired by Ghost Rider — 3D Printed

A 44-second video on the Ariel Studio channel: the flame floating in the palm.

Build

What makes the hellfire hand

Hand3D-printed dark navy glove, worn leather texture, silver wrist strap
Fingers5 separately printed fingers, attached with magnets
BaseRubble rocks, GHOST RIDER nameplate
FlameTranslucent orange plastic · 2 versions: classic flame and flaming skull
EffectMagnetic levitation keeps the flame floating, warm glow
Inspired byGhost Rider (Marvel) · the films Ghost Rider (2007) and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

Hold your own flame

Watch the flame float in the video, and follow Ariel Studio so you don't miss the next project.

Watch on YouTube Follow on Facebook