Custom Sculpey S.H.I.E.L.D. Badges!

[Roswellianism]

Hiya, folks! Welcome to my first-ever build thread. Hope it's up to snuff!

So I've been hooked on Marvel's cinematic endeavors since Raimi's Spider-Man (his SP2 remains the best Spidey IMO), but since they started tying everything together, I've been champing at the bit for each new release. The Avengers remains my favorite, but the Captain America films are running a close second.

But lately, what's really kept my attention going has been "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." on ABC. It's become my new favorite show, one I make it a point to sit down and watch live every week. There's been something about it that's really kept me going and made me more and more eager for Marvel stuff.

Last year, I missed out on the spectacular S.H.I.E.L.D. badge at NYCC, but I still want one. I found a replica online and ordered one, but I still wanted to make one myself. I'd picked up some Sculpey last month to make a Ghostbusters badge (similar to another poster's over on GBFans), but not having any experience with actual sculpting, I wanted to start off with something simpler.

Enter my new fandom, and next thing I know, I'm making my own customized S.H.I.E.L.D. badge. First things first, I picked up a few of these pewter keychains:

I snapped off the chain, and started sculpting the clay around it:

After a few mistakes, I ended up with this:

I tried to replicate the raised edges as on the official badge...

...but I hit a roadblock. I suddenly had no idea how to do the lettering. The script on the official badges is tiny as hell, and the sculpey wasn't strong enough to support such tiny lettering, especially with my skill level of zero.

Stumped, I mentioned this on Facebook and an artist friend of mine offered a suggestion: letter stamps. They're available at Michaels, so they shouldn't be too pricey. Last week, I stopped in and hunted around all over the store for the stampers. I found some in the clay aisle, but they were too big. There was no way I'd fit the entire "STRATEGIC HOMELAND INTERVENTION LOGISTICS DIVISION" on the badge with 1/4 inch letters.

Luckily, fortune favors the, well, doggedly determined, and I found a smaller set in the dollar bin. Happy with my prize, as well as some Testor's model paint matching the original pewter fob, I purchased and bopped on home to work with my new plunder.

Unfortunately, the letters were still too large for what I had in mind. The full wording still wouldn't fit. I screwed up with the stamping and had to start from scratch. After a few hours of wrestling the clay back into shape, I had my badge crafted:

The scripting around the badge reads: FIELD AGENT - PGH - S.H.I.E.L.D. I was happy with how it came out and got super-stoked to toss it in the oven and get it all baked up.

Until... this happened.

Wrong temperature. Accidentally had the oven set at 350 instead of 275 like it's supposed to be. Instead of baking properly, it kinda... It kinda became this crazy cookie-like... thing. The script was still there(ish), but as a badge? Nooope. At least the added mini-shield emblem in the middle came out okay. But... back to square one.

Today I started again, and instead of free-handing, I used a screw-on lid from a Parmesan cheese container to ensure the perfect circumference of the badge instead of it looking all wobbly when I did it by hand the first time.

Take two:

Once I got that taken care of, I whipped up a second one for my girlfriend. I ended up having to bake them a bit longer than written on the packaging due to the age of my family's oven, and they look even better than they did the first time.

Next step is getting 'em painted up. I'll post the finished results tomorrow.

 

[Sphyderman]

Ha ha, love the shield cookie, looks delicious! Can't wait to see the finished version!

 

[Roswellianism]

Thanks, Sphyderman! I had a blast working on this project and learned a LOT from working with Sculpey. I intend to buy more to work with it in the future on more projects down the road.

Last night, I broke out the Testor's paint and started working on getting the badges painted up. I wasn't sure what the base was for the paint, acrylics or oil or what, but after some digging online, discovered the Flat Steel color I picked up was acrylic. A successful pick, as it works well with baked Sculpey.

A few hours after I picked up the paintbrush, I had these:

I'm really happy with how they came out. They're not exactly the same shade as the pewter fob from the keychain, but that's quite all right. There's a dullness to it that gives it a bit of character.

Today, not long after I got a new job (an end to unemployment, huzzah!!), I opened the mailbox to discover the badge I'd ordered online arrived! It made it several weeks before Amazon said it would, which is pretty damn awesome. There's some minor scuffing on the badge itself, which is all right. I actually like having weathering and scuff marks on my props. Hell, that's the only reason I've hung onto my old, ratty combat boots for my Ghostbusters uniform. My dad gave them to me, and they've seen a lot of mileage in the twenty-plus years they've been in the household. They're not perfect, but makes it look like my character has been around the block more than a few times.

But, back to the badge, and after inspecting it, there is NO WAY in hell I'd have been able to craft letterwork THAT DAMN SMALL.

Custom on the left, metal on the right. Look at how tiny that script is!! Maybe, like, after a few years, sure, but at this time? Nooooope. I need a lot more XP before I can attempt that.

But, I dig the metal badge. I like the size of it, the weight. It actually has some heft to it, which is nice. According to Amazon, it's made from copper, so it's a nice decent size. Now the next step is finding three badge wallets for these. Two for myself and one for my girlfriend. Anyone have any good leads on one that's pretty similar to Coulson's badge wallet from the show?

 

[Sphyderman]

Got a picture of the wallet you're after?

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

 

[Roswellianism]

This is a pic of the actual wallet.

I'm wondering if it may be easier just to make one instead of trying to find one from, say, Smith & Wesson that would work with the badge the way I want it. A lot of the badge wallets I've seen online have the badge offset 90 degrees. That wouldn't be so bad, but the replica I bought has the pin situated vertically instead of horizontally. With the badge wallets I've found, it would be set the wrong way.I

I'm still doing a bit of hunting to see if I can find something...

 

[NX01JB]

Great job on the badges! Where did you find the keychains?

 

[Roswellianism]

Thanks, NX01JB! I found them at my local F.Y.E. for about six bucks each. They were on Amazon for ten, but they were cheaper to pick up in person. I'm considering getting the Avengers "A" keychain as well to monkey around with. Not sure what kind of thing I could make with it, though...

 

[antwayne]

This is a pic of the actual wallet.

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/SHIELD-Badge-ID.jpg

I'm wondering if it may be easier just to make one instead of trying to find one from, say, Smith & Wesson that would work with the badge the way I want it. A lot of the badge wallets I've seen online have the badge offset 90 degrees. That wouldn't be so bad, but the replica I bought has the pin situated vertically instead of horizontally. With the badge wallets I've found, it would be set the wrong way.I

I'm still doing a bit of hunting to see if I can find something...

I just ordered a wallet from an ebay seller who calls himself mrsavings123. For a 60 mm size badge (which I think is the size of most SHIELD badges on ebay. Measure yours to be sure.), he told me the correct cut out should be 2 3/8". I ordered what he has listed as Police Recessed Shield & I.D.Holder Badge Universal Circle Cut Out Medium but had to contact him to let him know which size cut out to send me FIRST. I should have mine Wednesday night and will let you know how my badge fits. At $11.95, it is also the best price I've found,

 

[Roswellianism]

Woot! Thanks for the heads-up, antwayne! Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out!

The metal badge I ordered off Amazon is definitely 60mm. I think that might be the standard size. My custom badges, they're a little bigger than that, but not much. I'll have to re-measure them to make sure.

Sorry for the lack of updates. The project kinda fell by the wayside as I got a new job a few weeks ago and that's taken up most of my time, what with doing extra work for the store I'm working at.

 

[antwayne]

Woot! Thanks for the heads-up, antwayne! Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out!

The metal badge I ordered off Amazon is definitely 60mm. I think that might be the standard size. My custom badges, they're a little bigger than that, but not much. I'll have to re-measure them to make sure.

Sorry for the lack of updates. The project kinda fell by the wayside as I got a new job a few weeks ago and that's taken up most of my time, what with doing extra work for the store I'm working at.

My badge holder arrived and the 2 3/8" cut out is the right size for a 60 mm badge. Here is mine.

 

[Roswellianism]

Sweet deal! Thanks for the heads up, antwayne!

 

[Fetts.Sobriquet]

I have a leather stamp for the top of the wallet. I used it to make my Nick Fury wallet.
I have an actual wallet that I got from NYCC (Left) and the one I made (Right)

my Nick Fury Wallet

 

[wolfwalker]

Fetts,
Who did you go through to get the stamp made and what was the cost?
I'm planning on making my own badge case and I'm trying to find the stamp.

 

[Fetts.Sobriquet]

I went through a local maker with a CNC machine to make mine out of brass. There is a guy on etsy that will make them if you send him an illustrator file or vector PDF. Costs about $90 for the size stamp you will need. https://www.etsy.com/shop/LWleatherworks?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Just be prepared to start stamping every leather item you have with SHIELD seals.

 

[wolfwalker]

Thanks Fetts.. I'll try going through him.
BTW...kind of new to computers. What would be the easiest way to make the computer file for him. I have one of the ebay badges that is 60mm. Could I do it with that?

 

[Fetts.Sobriquet]

I didn't use this guy. I just know someone that has used him for other leather stamps. His etsy page says he will make the file for you for $10ish.

 

[Roswellianism]

So not only have I made my own S.H.I.E.L.D. badge, but I'm putting together a whole outfit. Ideally, I want an actual uniform, something akin to what the active agents have been wearing in Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan's "Deadpool" and the current Ales Kot and Michael Walsh's "Secret Avengers."

So this past weekend, I found a broken NERF Stampede for ten bucks at the Steel City Con, and figured I'd finally found the gun I've been looking for to complement the "active field agent" look of the uniform.

For reference, the Stampede:


Holy moly, there are a ton of screws in this thing. Taking it apart was an all-day job. The kid who had it before was very rough with it, running around outside and dropping it in the dirt. Mud and dirt clogged the screw access holes, which prompted the use of a ton of Q-tips and rubbing alcohol to get rid of it. Once I FINALLY got that taken care of, it became a hunt to even find the right kind of screwdriver. They keep going missing in my family's home, as my dad keeps taking them and making them disappear.

But, I finally found one, and got the gun taken apart. This isn't my pic, but this is what it looked like when I finally got it apart.

The next step (aside from cleaning the dirt and cobwebs outta the damn thing) was sanding the NERF and the STAMPEDE ECS logos off, which was accomplished with a Dremel. I've taken some of the internals out, but I think I'm going to leave the motor inside for now. I like the heft it has with that weight inside. I may remove it later on and replace it with metal washers or coins (as I've seen Lord Draconical do on Youtube) to give it that extra weight, but for now, I like it as is.

I'll be keeping the clip mechanism, along with an 8-dart clip, as I like the look of it. Plus, ejecting the clip and slamming a fresh one in is really fun. I'll be adding lights as well. The gun has this neat little window on one side, and adding some internal lights there, and along some of the barrel would add another level of "Hey, it looks like the S.H.I.E.L.D. R&D did make this!" I'm not entirely certain what color I'd be putting in there, but I'll be finding that out. I think whatever light kit I do get, the deadspace in the HUGE battery compartment (this beast takes SIX D-cells!) will be utilized for the battery pack. Where do I stand now?

My workstation (sort of), with all the screws and bits and bobs taken out of the gun.

Gone is the NERF logo...

There's that window, just above the motor, and a HUGE empty area (lower right corner) where the battery pack goes.

Not sure what color I want to paint the gun, but I'm thinking I'll pick up some of those Warhammer paints I've been hearing about... If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em!

 

[TheFrankTurk]

OK -- I have spectacularly-bad news for you. There is a method much easier than this to make these badges, and they will be actual metal when you;re finished.

The method is salt water tin etching, and all you need for it is:
-- a power supply 12V 1 Amp
-- 2 pieces of tin, 6x6 inches
-- a Laser Printer
-- some sandpaper
-- a 1-gallon tub which is at least 7" deep
-- about 2 tablespoons of salt (which is way more than most people will tell you to use)
-- a toothbrush you will never use again
-- a small amount of paint thinner/mineral spirits
-- this graphic:

-- a page from a 4-color print magazine

I have a 4" version of this in the etching bath tonight, and when it comes out in the morning I'll post pictures and give the rest of the instructions.

Seriously: this is stupid easy.

 

[TheFrankTurk]

For those who are dying to stay up all night and try this yourself, here's the tutorial which taught me everything I know about this process:

http://steampunkworkshop.com/etchin...lectricity-compliment-steampunk-bible-article

 

[TheFrankTurk]

Sample - a magnet I etched to look like the Comics Code stamp