A Good Year for Elephants
It’s been a good year for the beloved elephant. Earlier this year, a new Dumbo movie from Disney was released, albeit to moderate fanfare (6.3 out of 10 on IMDB and a Metacritic score of 51). Plus, Monday, August 12, was World Elephant Day, and finally, on September 22, we had National Elephant Appreciation Day.
Let’s pay proper homage to this beautiful animal by printing one!
Articulated Elephant
This sleek, articulated elephant is by far the most popular of this list. It was created by LeFabShop to celebrate the giant puppets made in Nante, France.
Even though this elephant articulates at the head and legs, it prints in one piece. It only requires standard resolution and no supports are needed. You can also print it with no infill, if you like. It comes in two different sizes, 90 mm and 270 mm.
Who made it? LeFabShop
Who printed it? 1,471 reported makes on Thingiverse
Where to find it? Thingiverse
Woolly Mammoth Skeleton
Ok, yes, you are correct, a wooly mammoth isn’t technically an elephant. But mammoths are related to Asian elephants, so let’s roll with it. Besides, skeletons are cool. This doesn’t have any reported makes on MyMiniFactory yet, but it does have over 200 likes and over 1,700 downloads, so you can be sure that people are printing it.
It also comes with instructions on how to put it together, don’t worry.
Who made it? Rogar Kersoe
Who printed it? No makes as reported on MyMiniFactory
Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Low-Poly Elephant Trophy
Elephant poaching is a real danger to our current elephant population. A recent census reported that the elephant population declined by 30% over a three-year period, primarily due to poaching. But you can have your very own elephant trophy without hurting the herd with this low-poly version will look perfect hanging on your wall or your fridge.
Print it on a raft at 0.2 mm and 20% infill, as the creator recommends.
If you are looking for other animals, check out Hammer23‘s other creations.
Who made it? Hammer23
Who printed it? 4 reported makes on Thingiverse with 368 likes and 388 collections
Where to find it? Thingiverse
Simple Elephant
Adult male elephants weigh around 10,000 to 12,000 pounds and live around 70 years. They eat 200-600 pounds of food and drink 50 gallons of water a day.
With 420 likes, 591 collections, and 27 reported makes, this is a great representation of an adult elephant. And these stats are just for Thingiverse, this model is on many other sites, too.
Who made it? YahooJAPAN
Who printed it? 27 reported makes on Thingiverse
Where to find it? Thingiverse
Old Elephant Pitcher
The Smithsonian doesn’t share any data about downloads, likes, saves, or views, but this one is just plain cool. It’s an angry elephant with a little buddy elephant on his back with dragons and masks.
Just so you know, an ewer is an older word for pitcher or jug.
Who made it? Smithsonian Digitization 3D
Who printed it? No stats collected
Where to find it? Smithsonian Digitization 3D
Elephant Smartphone Holder
Here is a handy little print that looks good and will hold up your smartphone. It’s a simple model without any crazy overhangs or fine details. All you need to do is pick a color and let it run. If you’re trying to hold something bigger, like a tablet or even a laptop, try scaling it up.
Who made it? learnbylayers3d
Who printed it? 82 posted makes on Thingiverse
Where to find it? Thingiverse
Sitting Calf
Baby elephants are called calves. Female elephants hold onto a calf for 22 months, which is the longest gestation period for any mammal.
This calf is a simple, cute model that makes a great display piece. With 931 likes on Thingiverse, it’s a definite community favorite.
Who made it? fpertl
Who printed it? 63 posted makes on Thingiverse
Where to find it? Thingiverse
Elephant Family Puzzle
You may think that the male elephant has his trunk over the female elephant, but elephant families are matriarchal… in other words, the mom is the boss of the family. They form tight bonds with the other moms sharing childcare duties across families. A related group of families is called a herd. An average herd contains around 50-100 individuals (depending on families, terrain, food, water, etc.).
This cute family of elephants looks good sitting in your family room or as a gift for a child. It’s more of a 2D model, but since it doubles as a piece of art and a puzzle, that’s easy to forgive.
It’s also easy to convert it to a CNC project, if you like.
Print it without rafts or supports at 15% infill.
Who made it? 3dglauber
Who printed it? 3 posted makes on Thingiverse
Where to find it? Thingiverse
Sitting Elephant
An elephant’s trunk is a fusion of its nose and its upper lip. It’s the elephant’s most important limb. The trunk is sensitive enough to pluck a blade of grass and strong enough to lift people off the ground. The trunk is also used for drinking. Elephants can suck up to 4 gallons of water at once and then blow it straight into its mouth.
When bathing, the elephant sucks water and sprays it all over its body. It will then spray dirt on its wet coat, which will dry and protect its skin from the hot sun.
This is an elegant model that showcases the elephant’s unique limb in a graceful arched position.
Who made it? PzaforRza
Who printed it? 3 posted makes on Thingiverse
Where to find it? Thingiverse
Voronoi Elephant
In India, elephants are symbols of prosperity and joy. To celebrate the elephant, they decorate them with paintings and ornaments. They also carve them into wood, ivory, or stone. Some of these carvings are very intricate, they even carve a small elephant inside a larger one. Holes are carved as decoration into the outer elephant’s skin, allowing the craftsman access to carve the smaller elephant inside the larger one (see the picture below).
To celebrate the symbol of prosperity and joy, we have a Voronoi style elephant. The Indian carvings are not specifically Voronoi, but they are beautiful just the same.
According to Wolfram MathWorld, the Voronoi style is “the partitioning of a plane with points into convex polygons such that each polygon contains exactly one generating point and every point in a given polygon is closer to its generating point than to any other. A Voronoi diagram is sometimes also known as a Dirichlet tessellation.”
If you’re interested, have a look at other Voronoi models:
Who made it? roman hegglin
Who printed it? 17 posted makes and over 1,000 likes on Thingiverse
Where to find it? Thingiverse
(Lead image source: Lawdee / Thingiverse)