Tortoise mold

thingiverse

I wanted to experiment with using 3D printed molds to cast concrete sculptures, so I took the tortoise from above and made it into a mold. The process worked well in the end, but melting the PLA off from around the concrete was a major pain, destructive to the mold itself. Printing in a flexible material might be better, but for experimentation's sake, it didn't turn out too bad. Slow and careful melting of the PLA with a blowtorch and pulling the plastic off with pliers worked to free the concrete completely. Some support is required because there are some overhangs that need extra attention. I was able to carefully pull the supports out with long needle nose pliers, which proved to be a useful tool in this process. The neck/head hole was the hardest part to clean up after the fact.