Help in making an Angel Tablet from Supernatural?

[ToastyTofu]

Hello! This is my first post so please let me know if I'm in the wrong section!

I've previously made a replica of the Angel Tablet from Supernatural for a con using styrofoam and covering it with air dry clay (crayola) to get the shape and to carve the detail writing on it. It turned out wonderful but the clay started cracking and falling apart half way through the con.

I would like to remake it again but I'm not sure where to start? I was thinking of this time carving the writing directly into the styrofoam (the type you can buy at Home Depot) before applying something to harden and strengthen the styrofoam like Durham's Water Putty but am afraid the putty would fill in all the carved writing. Another idea of mine was to cover a piece of styrofoam or wood with water putty and then carve the writing into the hardened water putty. I've also seen people making it fully out of air dry clay or sculpey but am unsure about the durability of it.

Your help and input would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!

here's a screenshot of what the tablet looks like:

http://supernatural.wikia.com/wiki/The_Word_of_God?file=DemonTablet.jpg

 

[Madd Dogg Burns]

Personally i think going with a strong base such as wood is advised as it would suck dropping it and shattering it into a million pieces because it was made of clay. If you are good with wood you could carve it with a dremel and then add multiple layers of clay or putty over the writing so as to get the texture right. It all depends on how accurate, how much money you want to spend, and how skillful you are with whatever material you decide to work with. I'm a huge fan of supernatural (have the tat on my my arm etc), i would love to see an accurate one but that's just me. Hell if you wanted to get really creative you could layer it with a plexi glass but leave enough space for led lights under the plexi glass and then layer it with the clay accurately so that it glows like in the picture when you want it to. The thing is huge so you have plenty of room to work with.

 

[ToastyTofu]

Thank you for the reply! I'm a huge fan of Supernatural as well and cosplay as Kevin Tran. I might try doing the wood one. I've never carved wood before and don't own a dremel so I'm a bit nervous, Do you know if it's possible to carve water putty, especially detail work? I'd love to make a light up one but I've never worked with lighting for a prop and I don't think my skills are up to par yet!

Here's what my first attempt looked like before it fell to pieces.

 

[Mike J.]

This is Hydin's replica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7R6bGtY60U

I would recommend making it of one single solid material; that would be less likely to come apart.

Actual Cuneiform was made by pressing a wedge-shaped stylus into wet clay. With a sharp, hollow, V-shaped chisel, you could cut similar marks into wood or foam, I think.

 

[ToastyTofu]

Thank you for the reply, Mike!

I watched the video and the replica looks great and I see that it's made all out of clay. Is there a certain brand/type of clay that you would recommend that's more durable? Also, if I were to make it out of wood or foam, what type of outer coating should I put on it to make it look more like stone? Thank you for sharing your expertise!

 

[Mike J.]

I really don't have any experience regarding sculpting large objects out of clay : /

If you carve it out of foam, like the insulation foam available at the hardware store in big sheets, the foam will have a subtle porous texture that will be 'like' stone.

Real clay might have a smooth surface, if hand-finished while wet, or a rougher, more porous surface if broken.

My friend Propnomicon describes making a faux stone tablet out of paper clay here: http://propnomicon.blogspot.com/2012/10/faux-clay-tablet.html



-MJ