Magnavis
Sr Member
Hi all,
Been a while since I've posted a make on here. I put the finishing touches to this one this morning, so thought I'd share it here.
So I started with a search on Etsy for a piece of Obsidian, as I thought this would provide me with the best base. After finding a listing which was actually selling the piece that was pictured,a £9 purchase later, I awaited the postman. (It took a month to travel about 50 miles...)
When it finally arrived, I grabbed some silicone (Polycraft K4 Translucent Addition Cure Silicone Shore A40), and went about making a mold jacket on the 3D printer, ready for casting. I did a little shaping to the obsidian before casting, which mainly involved hitting it with a hammer, and hoping too much didn't break off...
The casting process itself was pretty straight forward. I used the handle from an old paintbrush, and hot glued it to the back of the stone in a convenient little nook. I then used this as the pour spout, but also to suspend the stone into the mold jacket, ready for the silicone.
I then poured my silicone, placed it into the pressure pot, and left it overnight.
getting the mold free from the jacket was more of pain in the bum than I expected, but eventually, I got it free, and was then able to cut the stone free, using lines on the stone to hide the seams.
My first cast was a little too bright, so I had to do a second, in which I used a little extra red tint. You can see the difference in the picture below.
All that was left to do then was to print a base for the glass dome I bought (which also took a month to arrive - yay for postal strikes..), sand it, paint it, and then cut a few pieces of brass to prop the stone on-top of. Easy!
In the end, I came in ~£30 less than the £85 price of the Noble piece, which was pretty great, I thought. I also now have a ready to go mold should I wish to do a limited run in the future.
It was a fun little build, even if it did take a lot longer than intended due to postal strikes, and resin cure time in this relatively cold time of year.
That's all for now!
Been a while since I've posted a make on here. I put the finishing touches to this one this morning, so thought I'd share it here.
The Build
Whilst putting my Potter collection together, I realised that I didn't have a rather key prop from the series - The Philosopher's Stone. I did look at the Noble Collection stone, and though the price wasn't too bad overall, the maker in me thought "I can totally make that myself!" I set myself an additional challenge too; I wanted to make it for less than the £85 price of the Noble prop.So I started with a search on Etsy for a piece of Obsidian, as I thought this would provide me with the best base. After finding a listing which was actually selling the piece that was pictured,a £9 purchase later, I awaited the postman. (It took a month to travel about 50 miles...)
When it finally arrived, I grabbed some silicone (Polycraft K4 Translucent Addition Cure Silicone Shore A40), and went about making a mold jacket on the 3D printer, ready for casting. I did a little shaping to the obsidian before casting, which mainly involved hitting it with a hammer, and hoping too much didn't break off...
The casting process itself was pretty straight forward. I used the handle from an old paintbrush, and hot glued it to the back of the stone in a convenient little nook. I then used this as the pour spout, but also to suspend the stone into the mold jacket, ready for the silicone.
I then poured my silicone, placed it into the pressure pot, and left it overnight.
getting the mold free from the jacket was more of pain in the bum than I expected, but eventually, I got it free, and was then able to cut the stone free, using lines on the stone to hide the seams.
My first cast was a little too bright, so I had to do a second, in which I used a little extra red tint. You can see the difference in the picture below.
All that was left to do then was to print a base for the glass dome I bought (which also took a month to arrive - yay for postal strikes..), sand it, paint it, and then cut a few pieces of brass to prop the stone on-top of. Easy!
Final Piece
In the end, I came in ~£30 less than the £85 price of the Noble piece, which was pretty great, I thought. I also now have a ready to go mold should I wish to do a limited run in the future.
It was a fun little build, even if it did take a lot longer than intended due to postal strikes, and resin cure time in this relatively cold time of year.
That's all for now!
