Two-Part Mold Help; For Leia Ceremonial Jewelry and Medal

[verdaera]

I thought my tiny, feminine hands gave it away

It does need to be shaved a touch on the bottom, but it over-lays with the picture fairly close, mine measures about 28.5 x 27.5, I calculated the % shrinkage that resin claimed it would have. As I said, I anticipate having to do this again so at least this way I have my measurements down and can see what, if any shrinkage it will have so I can better calculate the second version and hopefully improve my shape. (I wonder when I get to metal, though, if there's a shrinkage to it...) Since this first one is resin, I can easily sand a bit off the bottom to remove a bit of the squareness.

This is mostly for a costume, but I always strive for accuracy! That's the fun part! I'll work on this first one with what I've learned and hopefully you guys who know more than me can give me more tips on how to fix my inevitable mistakes

 

[Ridire Firean]

I thought my tiny, feminine hands gave it away

They did! I had you pegged as Canadian or European though with the metric measurements and all. I watched Supertroopers 2 the other night and was giving you an accent saying you could hardly hold a liter of cola with your tiny feminine hands. All in good natured ribbing of course.

When I read Mara Jade's Father's post with all the "his"s for a second I thought, hmmm, I had it wrong and maybe the long fingernails could have been on a guitar plucker's hands. Then I checked your DA page, and was like nooope, definitely not a dude! Too funny! I love your 'Alice Bloomers' by the way, they're a riot. I'm very impressed by the number and variety of outfits you've made!

As for your piece, I wouldn't worry too much about shrinkage, at least not with resin (depending on the type you choose to pour). Check Smooth-On's data sheets, the shrinkage is listed there. Silver, pewter, white metal, etc. may be different though, I've never worked with them.

Out of my own curriousity, and because I'm stuck in a project of my own and need something else to think about, I still think you can do this in a two part mold. I'm trying to work out how to incorporate the vents and sprue into it. If I have time this weekend I'll see if I can rough one out in Super Sculpey. I have half of it sorted on paper but I just can't "see" that last piece of the puzzle yet in 2D.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you came up with for your mold!


Hey Mara Jade's Father ! I'd guess that the texture is from a coarse sand being used in the mold. Or that silver cools that way after being poored maybe.

Here's a pic I found from Lapponia while Googling around the other day that shows someone polishing the pieces with a buffing wheel on rotary tool...



I've cast bronze before, and it comes out with a less than polished surface, but nothing as rough as what those silver pieces look like. It's almost like they were sand cast.

Off to Google Silver Casting!

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

I've cast bronze before, and it comes out with a less than polished surface, but nothing as rough as what those silver pieces look like. It's almost like they were sand cast.

Sand cast? Interesting indeed.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Here's a pic I found from Lapponia while Googling around the other day that shows someone polishing the pieces with a buffing wheel on rotary tool...

View attachment 981503

If you look at that image, they are not polishing the main surface, they appear to be focusing on the raised edge. If you look closely at this image....

...you will notice that the raised edge is not textured, it is smooth giving the detail more pop. Not something I noticed prior and would not have except for your image.

 

[verdaera]

They did! I had you pegged as Canadian or European though with the metric measurements and all.

Nope, people kept talking to me in metric about it so I just used my calipers and a google calculator

But yes, the texture is interesting, I didn't know if that would happen by putting the silver in a tumbler prior to polishing or what. I'll have to see how the cold casting turns out. I might even try pressing Silver Clay into the mold and firing it.

 

[thd9791]

They look like individual Dove Chocolate wrappers, with a picture of ruffled fabric.

Nice carving skills, that design has a lot of nuances I didn't realize until reading through this thread.

I'm no help with casting though, good luck! I'll be reading for tips for when I try this someday

 

[verdaera]

Still working on this, I promise...

I did try a practice mold with this, which helped me understand a few things I was doing wrong, but gave me some practice and didn't damage the wax positive so I was able to fine-tune some details. I shorted the height, also. I just need to soften some of the edges a bit, and I'll be pouring side 1 tomorrow.

 

[verdaera]

Sneak preview... This turned out a lot better than I expected, I have a little more finishing work to do but I'm fairly satisfied with it.

 

[Ridire Firean]

Hey verdaera ! It looks like your necklace turned out really well! Did you end up cold casting it? You had me stumped for a second with the other 'replica' part in your costume above your clavicle, but I finally figured it out.

Where are you in this photo? That's a pretty sweet display, is it at a Con, or do you have the coolest basement this side of The Smuggler's Room?

I never noticed Young Lando had a Death Star Hallway Tie! Learned something new there today.

Looking forward to seeing your finished replica pics!

 

[thegnome]

My mom has a necklace exactly like that. Have you gone to places like Joannes or Michaels?

 

[verdaera]

Hey verdaera ! It looks like your necklace turned out really well! Did you end up cold casting it? You had me stumped for a second with the other 'replica' part in your costume above your clavicle, but I finally figured it out.

I assume you mean the safety pin? The weight of the wing sleeves causes the neckline to roll so that was a temporary solution while I figure it out!

I bought the wrong type of powder because the listing was confusing, so it's just shiny zinc powder mixed with resin. I still want to try to get some aluminum powder, but I'll be trying some silver metal clay first. I'm going to roll it flat and hand press it into the mold. I'm curious how the texture on the original was achieved.

The set was actually at Star Wars Celebration! I believe all the displays were fan built, they had OT era falcon up front, a hallway, and clean, Solo era Falcon in the back, it was so cool!

 

[verdaera]

My mom has a necklace exactly like that. Have you gone to places like Joannes or Michaels?

...Did I go to JoAnn's for what specifically?

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Got any close up shots?

 

[thegnome]

Yeah I will ask her

 

[verdaera]

Yeah I will ask her

...???

Got any close up shots?

I'll post some later! I haven't unpacked my prop bin from Celebration yet...

 

[Ridire Firean]

I bought the wrong type of powder because the listing was confusing, so it's just shiny zinc powder mixed with resin.

It seems to have worked out though! Do you think it's more translucent than it's supposed to be, or was it an opaque resin?

I'm curious how the texture on the original was achieved.

I still think it was sand cast. You could experiment with Saran Wrap and sand inside your mold. Wet the mold, and just put sand in it. Knock out the excess, use a small paint brush to push a layer of Saran Wrap into the crevasses, then press in your clay. You might even get away with not using the Saran Wrap and just brushing the sand out of the clay/resin once it's cured, if it doesn't get too embedded that is. Better yet, use sugar! It'll dissolve out/off of it with water. If regular sugar was too fine, you could crush some rock candy if you can't find... whatever you call that large grain type of sugar. I found it, raw cane sugar.

The set was actually at Star Wars Celebration!

One of these years I'm gonna have to check it out, it always looks like everyone has a great time!