We imported the island outline into Sketchup.

We then modeled the terrain using a ‘triangulated irregular network‘ from the sandbox toolset.

Using the Slicer5 sketchup plugin we create a slice model based on the terrain contours.

Resulting parts are laid out within a 400mmX600mm panel corresponding to the size of the laser cutter bed and material deimensions.

Parts are exported as dxf files and lines are colored according to the cut and engrave settings on the laser cutter.

Parts are laser cut.

Holes are cut (by hand for now) below the areas where the highest points or mountain peaks are located.

Accordian spacers are glued around the edge of each layer allowing for each layer to rise 5mm and fall back to a flat position.