Does anyone know how to make this effect?

[acereplicas]

I am trying to make this effect with casting resin for my Voxophone build.


The brown outer case has some kind of swirl effect to it, like marble almost, and I don't know what I have to do to replicate it.

I was thinking of adding a bit of darker brown pigment to tan pigmented casting resin after it is already poured into the mold, then swirling and tipping the mold around gently until it begins to cure. The only issue with that is my piece is two parts, and there would be a noticeable change in swirl around the assembly line.


Any Ideas? Even a paint technique?

 

[division 6]

Looks like Burl wood.
Probably best to just try and paint the effect.

 

[Luke0312]

Do a search on hydrographic immersion. It's used for a lot of the faux woodgrain dash trim in cars.

Whatever you make it out of would have to be able to stand up to being immersed in water.

 

[mikman42]

Some form of laminate maybe make your cast smaller and make up the difference with the laminate.I'm sure you can buy stuff like that to cover your kitchen tops etc.

 

[Shylaah]

I'd use one of the myriad faux painting techniques used to get a marbling effect. I couldn't find very many web sites that explained it simply enough, they all seemed to want to get all uppity about it for home decorative stuff.....but this one was pretty good at not going too overboard......

Faux techniques

All you really need is two colors of paint, and a "dabber". You can use a sponge, a wadded/crumpled up rag, newspaper, plastic wrap, plastic shopping bag for dabbing. The more absorbent your dabber the softer the effect will be, and doing wet paint onto wet paint will be less crisp than wet paint onto dry paint.

I prefer a dabber of wadded up plastic shopping bag and wet on wet paint especially for small stuff like trinket boxes or picture frames because if I mess it up or don't like how it is coming out, I can just wipe it off and start over. And using wet on wet the dabbing will blend up the mid range colors. If you use wet on dry, you can mix up the mid range colors yourself.

Paint on the base coat--matters only slightly if you use dark or light as base--dark will be a darker overall effect when you finish and a light base, a lighter effect.

Pour a little of the opposite color of paint onto an old plate or something that will not absorb it. Dip your dabber slightly into the paint and dab off some of the excess onto some newspaper. Then dab this paint lightly and randomly over your base coat.

Practice will tell you how much paint and how much pressure to be using to achieve the look you're trying to replicate. Experiment on some piece of cardboard to perfect your technique before you tackle your real item.

 

[Pro Mod]

It looks like Walnut burr timber to me.



You can buy it as solid timber (expensive), or the cheaper way as a thin veneer sheet and glue it to Mdf, plywood, Sintra etc with contact adhesive.
Because it's a natural product you may have to shop around until you find the style your after.

With any laminating you have to glue a piece to both sheet faces on large panels otherwise it warps.
Once it's glued and dried gently sand it to hide the joints and then varnish.

 

[Dracosfire83]

Check out user spraycasso on YouTube and watch some of his tutorials on space paintings. Should give you a cheap easy method or replicating a wood burl look.
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[Propsjonnyb]

Vineer would be my first suggestion, but as stated ( hydrographic immersion) you can create a faux marble effect, you 'll need a bowl big enough to dip your piece in , water and two similar but different craft colours mainly oil based , wash, clean and dry your piece. Mask the areas you want to protect - pour enough water into the bowl to completely cover your piece, use an eye dropper to place drops of the colours over the surface, swirl the water lightly , then dip your piece in as you remove it the swirled colours will stick to the surface producing a marbled effect. Let dry and then spray with a clearcoat varnish to fix the colour to the surface .

 

[johnfields]

I would personaly go with the veneer

Walnut Burl 4 Way Match Veneer Pack, 8x18 4pc - Amazon.com
I think that nothing looks more like wood than wood, it will give your project that special something

 

[modeleers]

johnfields & others who suggested veneer are 200% correct - the best way to achieve that look of wood IS wood!

Especially if this is a hand held prop - which will no doubt experience hands on scrutiny = Wood is the Only way to pass muster, Mister!

 

[acereplicas]

Hey thanks everyone for your help! Great ideas! I will definitely be looking into veneers. Hydrographic immersion sounds amazing too.

Thanks again!