Tsabo Tsaboc
New Member
This is one of my older projects but I thought I'd share. This was done in a total of 3 days as a sort of challenge.
Firstly, here's a finished dagger.
Now for the build process!
First thing was to throw together a quick and dirty vector for the dagger, which I did on photoshop.
I then started cutting out layers of sintra and styrene in various thicknesses using an exacto knife. The proper shape was achieved by transferring the blueprints onto the plastic sheets and tracing out the major parts. These layers were then super glued together.
The next step was filling in the edges. The blade sections were filled with bondo and sanded down until the blade was flush with the body.
The dagger was then masked off, save for the beveled area in the center, and sprayed with a textured metallic spray paint to achieve a subtle stippled texture. The filigrees were then carefully cut out of a "For Sale" sign and super glued on. The handle guard section was sculpted out of apoxie sculpt and later sanded down.
The hilt was made in a similar way. I found a plastic dowel of the perfect diameter and length at Tap Plastics, bent the end with a heat gun, and sculpted the pommel using apoxie sculpt. The sculpt was sanded down after curing overnight, and details were added using an exacto knife, needle files, and some more of the "For Sale" sign.
The two sections were then held in place using clamps and attached with epoxy putty.
With the prototype complete, it was time for a rubber bath. I used Rebound 25 silicone to make this block mold, and Jolly King plasteline for the claying process.
The daggers were then cold cast with aluminum powder and smoothcast 300.
The tiny air bubbles were cleaned up with a needle file and the mold flash was trimmed with an exacto knife or dremel. I used steel wool and aluminum polish to finish up the cold cast, gave it a little acrylic blackwash and handle wraps, and done!
Firstly, here's a finished dagger.
Now for the build process!
First thing was to throw together a quick and dirty vector for the dagger, which I did on photoshop.
I then started cutting out layers of sintra and styrene in various thicknesses using an exacto knife. The proper shape was achieved by transferring the blueprints onto the plastic sheets and tracing out the major parts. These layers were then super glued together.
The next step was filling in the edges. The blade sections were filled with bondo and sanded down until the blade was flush with the body.
The dagger was then masked off, save for the beveled area in the center, and sprayed with a textured metallic spray paint to achieve a subtle stippled texture. The filigrees were then carefully cut out of a "For Sale" sign and super glued on. The handle guard section was sculpted out of apoxie sculpt and later sanded down.
The hilt was made in a similar way. I found a plastic dowel of the perfect diameter and length at Tap Plastics, bent the end with a heat gun, and sculpted the pommel using apoxie sculpt. The sculpt was sanded down after curing overnight, and details were added using an exacto knife, needle files, and some more of the "For Sale" sign.
The two sections were then held in place using clamps and attached with epoxy putty.
With the prototype complete, it was time for a rubber bath. I used Rebound 25 silicone to make this block mold, and Jolly King plasteline for the claying process.
The daggers were then cold cast with aluminum powder and smoothcast 300.
The tiny air bubbles were cleaned up with a needle file and the mold flash was trimmed with an exacto knife or dremel. I used steel wool and aluminum polish to finish up the cold cast, gave it a little acrylic blackwash and handle wraps, and done!
