The Terracotta Warriors are often considered one of the most impressive artifact collections in the world, and who wouldn’t want to eat chocolate Terracotta Warriors?

A model of one of the Terracotta Warriors was created by Thingiverse user lolikuma. It is an amazing reproduction of one of the Warriors in the famous army which protects the tome of Qui Shi Huang, China’s first emperor.

Michael Curry of Skimbal – a blog for 3D printing projects – got to work to show us just how to create an army of Chocolate Terracotta Warriors. Curry said: “Every once and awhile you have to do something completely ridiculous, like cast yourself an army of Chocolate Terracotta Warriors…”

As 3D printable chocolate is not available yet for most home printers, Curry had to be creative with his idea. He managed to turn the digital file into chocolate using a three part process.

How to Make the Chocolate Terracotta Warriors

The first step involves printing the model in PLA which you can then create a silicone mold from. The mold can be created from a pourable liquid silicone product.

It is a good idea to search for a silicone product which has been tested and certified for food safety. But in general, most platinum cured silicones are chemically safe. Curry used Dragon Skin from Smooth-On.

A good food safe silicone will stretch and bend to allow demolding, but return to its original strength for reuse. Curry then suggests constructing an enclosure around the warrior with foamboard and hot glue.

The silicone comes in two parts that need to be mixed in a 1:1 ratio. Curry added a little coloring and mixed using a paddle attached to the drill press.

After the 10 hours it takes for the silicone to set, Curry demolded his warrior, which proved slightly difficult but with a few cuts the warrior escaped.

He then added the chocolate to the mold – in order to keep the liquid chocolate from hardening as it is poured, the mold was heated in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. The hot mold got a spray of food safe mold release and was ready to go.

Curry said: “The filled mold chilled in the refrigerator for an hour before demolding, which when great until I tore the warrior’s head off. Overall the detail reproduction was amazing! There were almost no bubbles, and the chocolate even picked up even the smallest details.”

Can I Have a Bite?

If you would like to make your own chocolate Terracotta Warrior, the 3D model is available for download from lolikuma’s Thingiverse page here. Dragon Skin silicone, which Curry used, can be found on their website.

Let us know what you think of this design in the comments.