On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted, and the mountain's north face slid away leaving the landscape forever changed. The human mind can have difficulties conceiving of 3 dimensional concepts using 2 dimensional means, so photos hardly do this event justice. Using data from the USGS Historical Digital Elevation Model database processed via ArcMap and Python into STL files, Drew Thompson was able to create a 3D printed version of the before-and-after Mount St. Helens on his MakerBot Replicator 2. A white filament-printed piece represents Mount St. Helens as it appears post-landslide, while a red filament piece shows the previous shape and can be added or removed like a puzzle from the white base. The files are now available on Thingiverse so others can also create their own models. Check out details about this unique topological project: http://3dprint.com/29192/mount-st-helens-volcano/ ‎


Below is a photo of the completed red-and-white before-and-after Mount St. Helens: