Took several tries, but finally made a topographic model. 10 x 8 x 1.6 cm. This is Mt. St. Helens, using elevation data and aerial imagery from the USGS seamless data system. It's hollowed out underneath to save $. I'm impressed with the photographic detail; pretty close to the resolution I'd hoped for. Haven't yet coated it with gloss acrylic medium, which is what I've been using on my other color sandstone prints. A little reluctant to make this all shiny... item page here
That's really neat. What was your process for converting the USDS data? I admittedly haven't done very much searching, but I haven't seen anything regarding the format on the USDS site.
It's the USGS site, and once you get the process down, it's a great resource. I made a little workflow tutorial (for my students) here: Using the USGS map server
Where does your example zoom into? that looks very close to my home lol. At least if you zoomed into Maryland's eastern shore. As far as St. Helens, I've always had a fascination with it. Lovely model.