Finished 3D print and Make Lincoln

Finally finished this one.  Print has been done for awhile but I had yet to fill and the sand the base.  As a result of the expense of the 3D printing I get some of these printed with a low density.  This makes them rather unsatisfying in heft but this can be ameliorated by having it printed partially hollow.  I then fill this cavity with resign giving the model a satisfying heft.  It also makes them much more stable.

The mantis in this model is an Indian Flower Mantis or Creobroter pictipennis.  It will be on display at Make Lincoln on Saturday September 30th, then at Omaha Bug Symposium on Saturday October 7th, then it will be at Gallery 72.

Mantis Article

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/science/praying-mantis-eating-birds.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

A very article on praying mantises.  The part where it notes they seem to be unable to help themselves when presented with something they can jump onto is something I can attest to.  I have many, many photos of mantises sitting perched on my lenses because they were the right distance away.

Interestingly, the majority of the photos in the article are of subadult mantises.  It's easy to spot because of the distinct lack of wings.  While they're a few species without wings or with very short wings they are uncommon.  Wings only come with the final shed to adulthood.

Indian Flower Mantis Model

I say it every time and it is true every time that I get better at this with every model I make.  Anyway here's an indian flower mantis bust.  I had to do more work than I would have preferred on the mouth and maxilla but I had a lot more work with this round meaning this more accurate and was easier than in the past.  For comparison here the other models.  I'll take this one over to doSpace tomorrow to see about printing it.