Synthetic skins and 3d printing

[ric]

I have seen some synthetic ethu skins over the years and have always thought them to be rather regular and simple.
So I thought I might look at another way of producing one.
One idea is to scan an erhu skin and produce a copy in polyurethane. Then I thought maybe scan a single scale and produce an array but that would make it obvious that it was artificial.
This is just some fun however if I take it further I will produce some sheets of polyurethane with the different ideas I've got.
Here are some pictures of the process along with a 3d printed test.
I would welcome any thoughts on what is the perfect erhu skin.

[paulv]

Do you know what material the existing synthetic skins are made of? That could be your starting point. Good luck!

Regards,
paul...

[d̗̰̗͆͘ǎ͔̱͈̰̬̫ͨ̌ͮͥ͗ͭ̕vid]

Snakeskin with smooth, even, smaller scales are ideal for me. There are some erhus whose snakeskin have remaining pieces of flesh on the backside, which gives the sound more character

[Nikki]

I like that idea.
Think that the thickness and flexibility of the print is very important for the sound.
When you're done, will you actually mount the skin on an erhu?
I am very curious about the sound.
Do you place a sound clip?