Casting a Fire Ant Colony Built Around a Log with Molten Aluminum (Cast #116)

This fire ant colony was built partially around a dead log that was lying partially below the ground surface. I had melted 31.1 lb for a larger cast nearby and had a decent amount leftover so I decided to use the excess to cast this smaller but potentially more interesting colony. The resulting cast has a very noticeable cylindrical cut-out area where the ants had built their colony tunnels around the log. It doesn’t appear as though they tunneled into the wood at all. The log was around 4 in (10 cm) in diameter.

The finished cast (Anthill Art Cast #116) weighs 11.1 lb (5 kg), has a depth of 15 in (38 cm) and a maximum width of 11.5 in (29 cm).