◆ Concrete
Low poly concrete head planter mold
A low-poly concrete head planter: a real scan of David cut down to about 1200 flat facets, the crown hollowed into a pot.
◆ Concrete
A low-poly concrete head planter: a real scan of David cut down to about 1200 flat facets, the crown hollowed into a pot.
A geometric head planter 112 mm tall: the head of Michelangelo's David reduced to about 1200 flat facets, so the curls, brow and nose read as crisp planes that catch the light. The faceting comes from a real 3D scan, the plaster cast of David's head in SMK's Royal Cast Collection (public domain), not a head modelled from shapes. The crown is cut flat and hollowed into a well 53 mm across at the rim and 43 mm deep, with a 7 mm wall and an 8 mm drainage hole down through the neck. It is 249 ml, about 548 g in concrete.
Made with the hugging-shell mode of our silicone mold maker, the mode the tool itself suggests: the facets overhang each other all round, so a silicone skin follows the head inside two printed shell halves and takes about 859 ml of silicone. The well becomes a silicone core and the drain a pin on its tip. The head narrows toward the neck, where the mold opens, so a tear-resistant silicone lasts longest.
Raw grey concrete shows off the facets best; paint a few planes in a metallic or a pastel for a modern look. The zip carries every printed part, the planter master as its own STL, the tool's own print-settings sheet and a recipe file for the generator.
Shown as a 3D render of the printed mold parts pulled apart around the master, not a photo.
Print the base, which has the master already fused onto it, the two shell halves and the six clamps (all six are in clamps.stl). No supports.
Stand the base plate on the table, set each shell half down a few centimetres out from it and slide it in until the ridge round the plate sits in the groove at its foot. Push the six clamps over the seams: the shells cannot lift after that, and the ridge seals the bottom.
Tape the outside seams or run a bead of hot glue along them, because silicone finds every gap.
Mix 917 ml of silicone in one batch, pour it into the open top in a thin stream, and fill level with the rim. It fills the well as it rises and becomes the core.
Once it has cured, take the clamps off, slide each shell half straight out and peel the silicone off the master the way the last step describes. That silicone is your mold: a skin with the core standing inside it.
Turn the silicone over and set it back in the shell to keep its shape: the opening is the foot of the planter, with the drainage pin on the tip of the core. Pour a fluid concrete or Jesmonite slowly down one side, tap the shell for a minute to raise the air, and strike the foot flat, wiping the pin tip clean.
Demold after a day: take the shell off and peel the skin back one face of the head at a time, then twist the head off the core and the drainage pin. Sand the foot flat and seal it.
Fresh concrete is alkaline: soak the planter in water for a day, or wait two weeks, before you plant in it.
Print details
| Cast material | Concrete |
|---|---|
| Printed parts | 9 |
| Size (W x D x H) | 122 x 142 x 129 mm |
| Print bed needed | 142 x 96 mm, 129 mm tall |
| Filament | ~354 g |
| Layer height | 0.2 mm |
| Infill | 15% |
| Supports | Not needed |
| Download | ZIP: 9 printed parts in 4 STL files + head planter master (STL) + print sheet + recipe |
| Added | 2026-10-01 |
Made with the free Silicone mold maker generator. Upload your own model and get the same kind of mold built around it, in your browser.
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Free for personal use. Selling the pieces you cast needs a commercial licence (Pro or Founder); passing on the file itself is not permitted on any plan. Full terms.
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We took SMK's public domain scan of the plaster cast of David's head, about 400,000 triangles, and let a mesh simplifier cut it down to about 1200 while keeping its shape, which leaves the flat facets of a low-poly model. Then the crown was cut flat and hollowed into a well with a drain.
Hardly: the facets meet at shallow angles, not knife edges. Use a fine concrete or Jesmonite with no gravel, vibrate the mold for a full minute so no air sits on a facet, and let it cure a full day before you peel the skin back.
A small succulent, an air plant, a tuft of grass or a trailing string of pearls, from a 5 to 6 cm nursery pot. The well is 53 mm across at the rim and 43 mm deep with a drainage hole, so use a free-draining cactus mix and stand it on a saucer indoors.
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