Castings face-off in simulated battle.

In the wild, there are a host of natural enemies. Wolves and sheep, snakes and mongooses, and lions and hyenas are among the most famous. Surely there are occasions when other animals will engage in battle--but most people never have an opportunity to witness it.

For a new television series on the Discovery Channel, animal experts and other scientists wanted to provide the opportunity to see these clashes. From that, "Animal Face-Off" was born. For the television series, biomechanical versions of animals are built and then pitted against one another in a simulated fight.

To quantify the power, strength and prowess of some of the world's most impressive animals, the experts have turned to the strength and durability of metal castings.

Wade Engineering, Silverdale, New Zealand, has cast props for the series, including cast aluminum animal skulls that are fitted into a hydraulic machine to simulate the actions of a live animal. The firm has cast the skulls of an elephant, rhinoceros, shark, hippopotamus, lion, tiger and crocodile.

These castings were produced via the full mold process because the consumable foam pattern (which is surrounded by nobake sand to form the mold) provided the casting with a rough, dark finish that the producers liked. It also solved the problem of how to remove such a complex pattern from the mold without any complications.

The largest of the skulls poured was the elephant's at 500 kg (1,102 lbs.). It was used to simulate an elephant battling a rhinoceros. The aluminum was melted in four furnace bodies, with 100 kg (220 lbs.) of aluminum in each small body and 200 kg (440 lbs.) in the large body. Once melted, the aluminum was poured into two ladles that were then poured simultaneously into the mold, evaporating and replacing the polystyrene pattern.