I want to shatter a piece of plastic to use for an art project. Is there a way to crack it into a web-like shape like this
If your friend is going into hospital - the best thing would be that the pig stays where it lives now and you go to it to check on it. It should be ok in a garage for a week or two, but it will need to be taken out daily. Also - do you realise that your garage will forever smell like pigsh1t? You will never get rid of it - it will be on the floor, the walls and even the ceiling.
You can try putting clear contact paper on one side of it.
Clear plastic usually won't shatter for any reason. Some kinds of plastics such as the kind used to make paint buckets will shatter after being stored a couple of years in a very hot shed. (How do you think I know that?) What you want to do is get a laminating kit. Office supply stores carry them. Stick a layer on both sides of thin glass and beat it into an artistic condition. Another technique that might work for you is to use art glass, commonly called stained glass. Break it into artistic shapes and tape together with masking tape on only one side. Then force clear silicon tub and tile sealer between the pieces. After it sets, strip off the tape and see what you have. Lastly, consider candy glass. It will shatter but it won't cut skin. When you see a movie where somebody is thrown through a window, that is candy glass. Ask at any stage supply store about that.
It depends on what kind of plastic you're talking about: acrylic sheet, Lexan, butyrate, etc. Some plastics like Lexan will dent but won't shatter. What you want is acrylic sheet. It will fracture, but the pieces will separate unless kept together by another, flexible, plastic sheet bonded to your acrylic.
