Doctor Strange - Eye of Agamotto

Hi everybody, thought I'd post some images of a prop replica I've been working on for Halloween 2015. It's the 'Eye of Agamotto' from the Doctor Strange comic book. I wanted to design something that was inspired from the comics, especially the Ditko/Englehart era, but I also wanted to not be bound by the designs. I saw a version by Joy Sutton Props that had some nice functionality that I liked and wanted to incorporate as well.

I started by making a design in Illustrator and looking around for several weeks to find things that might work to build the prop from. I looked for little round beads that would be the right size for the outside, but nothing seemed to work. I finally found a link to a company called Plastruct, that sells plastic hemispheres of varying sizes and decided that plastic would be the best option.



I decided to go with 12 domes around the outside edge, with the center Eye being the 13th, as that's a nice mystical number. Since I could buy the domes in lots of 5, I ordered extras in case I screwed up. Knowing that I would be using 3/4" hemisphere's and a 2 1/2" eye, that dictated the size for the Amulet backing, which was just just over 4".

I also knew I wanted to make an 'open' and a 'closed' eye. The closed one was pretty easy, but for the open eye, I knew I'd have to be trying several things I had never done. I was able to get a 2.5" dome and a 2.25 dome, both made from clear plastic, with the smaller one fitting inside the larger. Using my design as a starting point I figured out how much I wanted the 'open eye' to be open. I used string as a pattern to trace the line, which I then dremel-ed out from the larger dome.

Printing out my design, I was able to trace the spots for the domes evenly around the 1/16" sheet styrene, which saved a lot of measuring. I also used tape on the inside of the smaller dome, to mask off everything but the pupil of the eye. Using a black spray paint, I painted the pupil. Painting on the inside of the dome would give me the high gloss I was looking for in the eye, without having to cast in resin, which would add to the weight significantly.



In deciding to have two eye structures, I needed a way to interchange them. It was easy. Magnets, yo! I cut a circle of super thin sheet styrene (.10 I believe) and taped a small magnet on it for positioning. I also glued down the mini-domes on the main amulet form, and cut some thin strips of styrene to use as eyelid edges. You can see on the closed eye, that I glued the magnet inside the structure so it is hidden. I then glued the styrene strip across the middle of the closed eye to indicate where the eyelids join. On the the open eye, even though I sanded the edges, a strip of styrene on the top and bottom gave a nice even eyelid edge.



I had continued to mask the eye, further out for the Iris and spray paint that red. I completed the eye with a white spray paint for the cornea. You can see, if you look closely that the tape did not give nice edges, and bled a little, plus the red did not cover as well as I hoped, so some white was able to bleed thru, and make it patchy. I did a test fit with the open-eye to make sure everything was set appropriately. I purposefully made the eyeball off-center toward the top so it appeared to be leering out from under the eyelid. I then set up everything to get painted the same colors.

I started with a summer squash yellow, which had primer in it. In the end it gave me a texture that I really liked. After that dried I covered with a gold metallic, which I purposefully did not attempt to get 100% coverage. It ended up giving a sort of mottled look.



After painting the various pieces, and another thin circle for the back of the open eye (also with a magnet inside it) I glued the open-eye pieces together. I added a magnet to the back of the Amulet base, and two bent paperclips to hold my chain (a find in the chain section of Joann Fabrics, that is too perfect!) and tested it out. Everything fit, and the magnets are strong enough so I'm not worried that the eyeball is going to fall out. I can now walk into a party with the closed eye on the chain, and then at some point swap it out, and everyone will wonder how it opened!

I'm not completely happy with the eyeball, since I had problems with the spray paints, and have made a replacement that I'll try to post some images of later. I am hand-painting the next one, so it should look much better.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like what you see!
--Jay

this came out beautiful!!!!!
i collect dr strange comics so i share your love for this project!
welcome to the site!:cool

Thanks Ultraman. It was really fun to put together.

Also, In asking my local comic shop owner, if I should now make a giant axe* to go with the Dr Strange costume...he said "no." Hahaha!

*For some reason, the new Dr Strange comic has him wielding a giant axe!

I know of the eye from comics and I think you did a great job. Great item to add to a costume.

As I mentioned in my post above, when I got thru with the first eyeball, I was not completely happy. The masking tape did NOT live up to it's name! So I decided to order a new interior dome and had paint with model paint (truth be told my wife told me to do it that way to start. yes, she's always right!)




As you can see in the closeup of version 1, there's white blotches and jagged edges on the Iris (red part). Pic #3 above shows the new version 2 on the left and version 1 on the right. A HUGE improvement. I used two colors of red. The first being laid down in a dry brush type method radially from the black. The darker red, to fill in the iris. I think it gave it a lot more dimension as well. I also cut a new orbit, but made the eyelids a little more open than on my first design. I really liked the way the eyelids interacted with the eyeball on V1, so I cut the back off and managed to salvage the outside of V1 and insert the new V2 eyeball within.



So I tested the fit and then had all the pieces ready to glue. I realized then, that I did not like the blank background of the Amulet. Not that it would be displayed without an eye, but i felt it needed 'something.' I decided to add the design as seen on Dr. Strange's window (from his Sanctum Sanctorum) and also from his ring in the 1978 TV movie. It was a pretty simple design that I traced to sheet styrene and then used a radial knife to cut out and test fit.



Cutting something that's only 2.5" with lots of intricate detail is tough. Laser cutters would be so much easier! I spray painted it the same two-tone squash yellow and metallic gold and glued it down. I taped the eyeball into the orbit this time. When I glued V1 together everything shifted on the base, and since I'm using ZAP-CA to adhere these I don't have much time. This allowed me to treat the eye as 1-piece when gluing to the back.

And here's the final versions. I'm really happy with how these came out. It's light enough that I don't fear it breaking off the chain. The magnets allow for some really fun 'playtime', and are also strong enough, even with the additional .10 think styrene. And in my test fittings with the shirt I'm using, it really pops! I'll be posting pictures of the costume over at this thread. Thanks for reading!

I'll take one. Kthx.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

Hi all. First picture post, hope if formats OK.
I also wanted to make a new Eye of Agamotto. I had made my first one using Sculpey molding clay. It turned out OK, but I thought I'd try and make a "lighted" version and eliminate the bumpy edges that nobody saw but me.

I started with the same base idea that JovialJay suggested, going to Michael's and getting 2 different sized clear xmass ornament containers. I used a dremel to cut an eye opening gap in one, and then for the eye-lid, I cut a piece of wire insulation down the middle and glued it over the edges without the wire of course. I then painted the entire thing with a coat of white primer paint to better hold the metallic color. This added texture I decided to keep versus a smooth style...maybe a bad idea, but too late now! I painted the inside of the center piece to keep the smooth shine and added texture there too. I then purchased a 30mm Glass Eye off Amazon (MegansBeadedDesigns) (this is also what I used on my Sculpey version). I had to cut the top to fit it on correctly, and then glued in place.



I cut the base out of plastic pieces and glued the pieces together. Then I found a 24 LED xmass light kit that already had the pretty round lights that fit what I needed from Walmart for $8. I drilled holes in the plastic and set the light bases in. Of course the bases were too long, so I cut them. I just used these to keep the two wires easily separated. Then I added some red and yellow LED's to the eyeball part, so it would have a slightly different glow to it. I manually soldered the wires together to keep it "small" and easy to squish so it would fit on my collar. Looking back, I should have made an edge so I could cover the entire back in plastic - doh! I ended up covering it in black leather.



I added an extension cable so I could wear the battery pack on my hip, and that was it! Oh sure, sounds simple, but it took me forever. You true crafters are amazing in what you whip up in a weekend! lol. I connect it to my collar using magnets, so it's easy to put on and pull off. I set them towards the top so it wouldn't hang funny.