I worked for 1220 Exibits in Nashville TN, and a client did a ant hill casting for a college museum. It was 5 to 6 ft. deep. Unfortunately several of the tunnel branches broke. They need someone who could weld it but also do it in such a way it didn't look welded. I was the one who welded it together. They sent a test piece to see if I could do it. I welded it and they sent another test piece because they didn't think I welded it as they weren't able to find the weld. 2nd test piece convinced them that I could do it. Anyway just thought you'd find it interesting.

In Zambia, where I was born and grew up, there are ant hills the size of some mediim sized houses. They are basically clay and are prehistoric in origin. The ants that built them, apparently, no longer exist. Casting one would require a huge dam around them and 30-40' high. The material to cast them would be in the tons. The other nasty we had were red ants. Try and do this to one of their nests, if you can find them, the SOB's would have you dead and eaten to the bone within the first day. Not to be messed with. I only ever found one nest on our farm, under a banana palm and we burned them out by pouring petrol, a gallon at a time, into the hole and lighting it. Took at least four attempts before we eradicated that nest which had plagued our chicken farm for years. We'd follow their columns but couldn't find home base until the banana palm. Little buggers could crawl all over you without your knowledge and then almost as if someone gave a command they'd all bite at the same time. People used to leave their homes when the ants arrived. Theyd kill and eat everything in their path, leave the next day and you wouldn't have a cockroach, flea or any other bug for weeks.

As someone who had to specifically hunt down foam in place bags to ship out computers…. The expanding foam in a trash bag was a genius idea

Watching from Canada and am absolutely amazed and blown way by what you are doing! It is obvious to see how much planning and research you have done before you start the castings. What beautiful pieces of art they are and mesmerizing to look at all the details of each area f each piece. It is a lot of hard work for get the end result and I really commend you for your time and perserverance. I am hooked and can't wait to see more. Great work guys.

It's fascinating how natural forms repeat themselves. This looks exactly like coral!

For future reference have the tractor operator throttle DOWN to have a MUCH smoother response, avoid that jerking motion that broke nest 1. I know you said it was weak but that didn’t need to happen that way, still a gorgeous piece just trying to help I’ve logged 1,000s of hours on those machines. It’s a common mistake driver shouldn’t feel bad just a learning experience!

Seeing the complexities of an ants nest is awe inspiring. keep up the good work.

Never in my life have I seen anything like this. Can't say that anymore. Thank you for allowing me come along, from the comfort of my home.

And a big shout out for the ants who were martyred making this video.

Maybe one or two plate compactors turned on as you pour the aluminium would vibrate the air bubbles upwards and make for better casts.

I watched the casting video and was disappointed to not see the final results, well now I feel better. I'm very impressed with the results 😃

Amazing work guys. I have personally extracted around 50 of these nests but in a different fashion. We collect the ants for rehoming to hobbyists. the nests we collect are either in danger of destruction due to land disturbance or like these you did, pose a risk to land owners. It is great to see the nest structure in its whole form like this. In my experience, bull ants will dig down to the water table. I have had digs go well over 2 Meters deep depending on the soil. Different species also have distinct nest shapes. M.brevinoda like you did spread very far at the surface like a fan while M.nicrocincta tend to dig more like an inverted xmas tree.

Would be nice to see some videos of the cast nests installed in the Qld Museum

Thank you for sharing. Amazing what you are doing. Take care.

I liked your furnace, your partner carry & pour handles, and PPE. I did green sand casting, for a while, but got my lungs hurt at work, and I gave my entire set-up to my apprentice/student that turned into my partner, at work. He's about 25 years younger than I am. Thank you. I SUBBED and am going to send your link to a bunch of my friends. Bill, from Tn. 🇺🇸.

Why are these videos so absolutely riveting?!? Love what you guys do and know that it’s extremely dirty and dangerous! Thank you for posting these, I hope to be able to make the very very long journey to Australia one day!

Great work and wonderful results! To prevent damage during transport, the following suggestion. After freeing the nest from the ground, lower it into a container, do not put it down. Fill the free space with coarse sand and distribute it with vibrations. Then lower the nest. The whole structure should be evenly supported in this way and should not be damaged even if the roads are bad. Releasing the nest from the sand later and drying it off should take little effort.

Great explosive footage of the air pocket. Glad everyone was safe

You know you’re in Australia when you hear those magpies hahaha they sound so cool!

Wow!, Greetings from the Netherlands, This is awesome to watch. Respect for your work. 👍

That was like a mini documentary!

Ants are super workers . Their nests are simply awesome . Great video series .

Thanks folks. You've given me an incentive to head into the city and revisit the museum. That will be pretty amazing to see close up.

I’d like to see what they look like once they’re ready for display…

Congratulation to all you expert skilful men....We/ve been living in Perth, WA for over 53 years....Very fortunate to be able to witness your incredible task...Have a great X.mas/New Year.

Bravo , c'est de l'art , vous êtes des artistes , 👍

Thank you very much. What you do is very literally, extraordinary. I very much appreciate your videos and I'd like to say thank you for taking the effort to make and publish them. Phil from London.

Your work has convinced me to do my best in keeping a huge nest that I have. I’ll try working with its surroundings for a healthy nest. Very interesting. 🤟☮️🇦🇺😎👍

For lifting/moving nests of that size, I would flatten the top of the casting, drill and tap it for four 1/2" (12mm) studs in a square (one would be enough but redundancy because of probable casting flaws) and then attach it to a pre-drilled I beam, two holes each side of the vertical. I suggest the beam rather than a wooden piece because the nests are clearly not symmetrical and it will be better able to cope with those forces whilst not being overlarge. You can then use the beam for lifting and moving and, for transport, attach it to a custom wooden frame, made from 2x4 lumber, of a size suitable for each nest. None of the nest casting touches anything but air and you have a substantial mount for handling for exhibit preparation. You could modify the dimensions for other sizes of nest.

this the one that had the lava popping and exploding? !!! i been waiting for this!!!!!!! Cheers from Maine USA !!!!

All I can say is everything is bigger in Australia. Good on ya!

👍👍👍... Great job guy's. Next time let's do Klendathu !!! ...🐜🐜🐜...hahaha 😂😂😂 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺👍

So freaking huge! Glad they came out so well, it makes your hard work so worthwhile.

Hello from Canada. I love your work. I was just thinking that large memory foam cushions might help you? Super dense cushions, in various sizes and shapes, to set between the wood bases and the art pieces. It would stabilize and protect your work. They'd be machine washable in large laundry mat machines. Just an idea. The thought of damage makes me sad. All the best to you and your crew and family. Cheers!

So interesting,it came up in my recommended and I subbed. I’m another Aussie In which the Bull ants at my place occasionally bite me, but the Echidnas, Lizards and frogs love them at my place so I have a good balanced ecosystem. Cheers fella’s great job, glad your protective gear did its job on the casting video.

good job guys!.. major PITA!.. but worth it in the long run!

Amazing! Thanks for sharing your hobby with the world. It’s truly fascinating.

Can't thank you enough, for incetifying me to take up stamp collecting as a retirement hobby.....🤔😂😎🇦🇺👌

The look on your face when the young'n asked "can we make heavier ingots?"!

Expanding foam inside garbage bags, lol just as you said it. Cardboard box outer. Fantastic job. Well done.

Expanding foam in bags... My god it was worth the video for that actual life-hack 😮

That was so cool and beautiful pieces of art

2:51 Aww. "Guys? Guys? Where is everybody?"

Nest 2 was so beautiful !

Good job guys and gal.

Thank you for your Ant cemetery. The amount of stuff used I expected the thing to have gone on much deeper not thicker. These things can be on sold as display's in shopping centers etc. Brizzie ah, if you know Andrew Simpson, tell him Kia ora from this end Aotearoa.

Absolutely amazing, beautiful, and such hard work all of you are doing! These castings are beautiful and show a hidden world beautifully with the aluminum and occasional wooden branches. Greetings from San Francisco, California!

❤ it. 😂 😊

That was some nice photography, drone shot pretty spectacular. Very interesting to see almost complete ant nests dug up, heck of a lot of work. I remember reading somewhere, when water hits molten aluminium, it doesn't expand 'about a thousand times' as majority seem to think but flashes to steam about 1,600 times original volume so a teaspoon full would probably be enough to cause the explosion you had (or a large group of ants lounging around in large chamber) 😁

Beautiful interactions, perseverance, and a unique look at nature's architecture. Well done.😊

oh very7 beautiful work guys, thank you

Not too shabby. A shame you don't have volunteers to collect aluminum cans and other aluminum products in bulk to melt down into ingots for these projects of yours. That would be awesome if that was ever possible. Ask for donations from the local communities instead of them donating/cashing them in at recycling companies. From Upstate NY, USA

The guy on the excavator with the dart in his mouth was the true artist.

So basically you are creating ant pompeiis😮

a Qlder watching from Estonia... i wish you could cast my ant nest next spring

This is fascinating. I've seen this before but never really saw the entire process so this series was great and educational. Thanks for posting this.

kinda crazy that I watched this sieres yesterday, nmot knowing anything about anything. Then you upload part 3 and I was like :o

It was a great video!!👍🏻

Amazing ❤

This is b@d@**!!! 💯👍

That was by far the most interesting mini doco that I have seen in ages, I have seen this done before but usually only as a 1 off & even then they didn't use anywhere near that much liquid whatever, great job.

Nice castings fellas! Helpful hint....idle down the tractor and it ill be easier to feather the front loader forks movement.

Have you considered using an aluminum alloy such as aluminum/ brass to cast these. It would make them stronger and give them a golden color

Greetings from rural Illinois. Fantastic work. I liked your emphasis on safety.

It‘s always good to see real scientists at work…

Never even heard of it till today. I am a fan. These little piss ants don't know nothing except how to smell up your house when they invade. Your skill is a wow factor for me.

Ooo Inigo Montoya ant, prepare to doe.

I would like to see the castings cleaned and finished.

Great job guys

I like the fact that this is a family activity that everyone seems to enjoy. Everyone has some jobs that have to be done to achieve success, and the team work is good. Excellent.

So how do they look after they’ve been cleaned up, I mean for museum quality viewing .

Bag it, crate it, fill it with stasis foam (expanding). Then its protected 360 degrees. You could ship it across the world if needed.

nest one looks like a bonsai tree with the tree root. If i ever visit QLD again (I live in Sydney), I'd love to go & see these in person.

I wish we could get a camera into an ants colony. That would be so damn cool.

Proper cities! Love your work team, keep 'em coming. Subscribed!

Have you considered using what we call in the states a turbo nozzle on your water jets they might move the dirt more readily for you really enjoy videos have fun

If you dont like setting the weight of the nest down onto the delicate structures for fear of damage, you might consider adding lifting points into the base during the casting process. It would be a bit of welding during the prep phase. A bit of sturdy steel pipe, arranged how you see best, to allow you to slide poles into the base for leverage to flip it over, to add a 2nd temporary lifting point for an additional chain hoist, and for ease of carry upside down. A strong U-bolt inside a cup with aluminum cast around the brim makes a strong permanent lifting point and gives the customer options to display it on a table or to hang from a beam.

Amazing!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

It is amazing what you guys do. Great educational video.🇺🇸

Truely amazing!

All so beautiful!❤

It occurs to me, that the best/simplest way to transport these castings would be to suspend them from a gantry on your truck. That way you could just reverse the truck under them, and then hook them onto the truck gantry. ..

Of course, I can't be sure as to the provenance of the opening shot (0:00 to 0:08), but kudos to you if it was your drone footage: amazing lighting, angle, surreal misty landscape with the trees just vividly highlighted through said fog. In fact, removing the last second and a half (to get rid of the ramshackle fence and whatnot [and not knocking that property]) I could see this used in a NatGeo/Attenborough level nature documentary.

That is so cool but dangerous stay safe

Seems your artists kind got a raw deal.

Wonderful content, I'm glad I found you.

Wow, beautiful.

Please turn the IS (Image Stabilization) on to 'handheld' for the camera.

Seemed the pressure washer was blasting hell out of it.

Low RPM while moving forks makes hydraulic movements much less erratic.

He had ants in his pants and it was time to dance 😂😂😂😂

(02:52) That poor little Bull Ant - I guess she never got the memo...?

Packing tip for even distribution of pressure… Use plastic film separation and expansive foam.

that ant was thinking its gone its all gone

Can the broken pieces be reattached through a weld or aluminum solder?

You guys are awesome

Great work great

-2 ..... good weather for diggimg , better than 25 in the shade

I'd like to see a steel plate placed at ground level before the pour. Then, the aluminum above the plate would be machined off before display, especially in nest 2.

Well done guys 👍🇺🇸