Making an Indiana Jones Grail Tablet, painted and weathered

[starks]

I bought some laser files and thought I would have a crack at making a Grail Tablet.
Working with foam is quite new to me so Im trying to learn how to use it, what I can and cant do etc.
I bought a sheet of XPS board and laser engraved it. Looking at what photos I could find I have shaped it somewhat.

I'm in two minds how to proceed. I don't know whether to make one only or use it as a plug to take a silicone mold from and pour a few up in plaster or resin for myself, friends family etc. I need to coat it in something either way and thats where Im getting a bit stuck. I read I can use Polyurea or epoxy resin to give it a good solid coating.
if I just want to make a respectable plug to mold from is there other options for coatings that are more cost effective and allow me to get a better finish for molding?

Cheers,
Josh

 

[starks]

Well, after destroying the first plug, I've come up with this.
I've given the tablet a couple of coats of PVA with a brown wash to seal it off. I'm waiting on the rubber to arrive now to take a mould.
I've tried to keep it a bit thicker as per the original which was about 4.5cm from memory.
Again from memory the original was cast in plaster so I hope to do the same. It will be heavy but at least realistic.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[kevin926]

Looks great

 

[starks]

Looks great

Thanks mate!

I managed to get the mould done this week. Seems to have turned out well.
Next week will be onto plaster.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[starks]

Managed to get my first plaster pulls done.
The first 2 had a few issues I had to work through but the third is getting better. It will be interesting to see how it comes up with some washes and paint.
Cheers,
Josh

 

[JANDERS10]

This looks fantastic. Is it solid plaster or have a core of foam etc?

 

[starks]

This looks fantastic. Is it solid plaster or have a core of foam etc?

Thanks bud,
This is solid casting plaster but going to try some with a core of foam as you said, keep the weight down. This is around 2 inches thick in the center so thinking I can use a core of 3/4 to 1 inch thick and should still be enough for a solid pour.
On the plus side it's as heavy as a legitimate stone tablet. Also I can step up to dental plaster/ hydrocal.

I am interested in some opinions of final colour. On screen the tablet looks very browned out but in the archives photo and prop store pics the tablet was very yellow. I've given this a good brown wash today and a scotchbrite to highlight the highs and edges and give it a bit of a patchy appearance (it's probably somewhere between the screen vs real images). I could scotch this really heavily and knock the vast majority of this brown back to the plaster's sandstone colour. So I'm very interested in feedback of which way people feel the colour should go.
Cheers,
Josh

 

[sleepless]

Looks brilliant mate

 

[starks]

Looks brilliant mate

Thanks mate!

 

[Brendan]

Beautiful work! My opinion is that the original prop is more grayish brown and although I can’t be certain, I believe the yellowish cast in the Archives book is more a feature of the lighting and printing.

 

[starks]

Beautiful work! My opinion is that the original prop is more grayish brown and although I can’t be certain, I believe the yellowish cast in the Archives book is more a feature of the lighting and printing.

Cheers!
Yeah I was beginning to suspect something similar. I suppose if its quite yellow underneath with a grey wash, a camera flash may well be causing the yellow undertone to show through.
Plus many of the other props in that book look yellowed so perhaps the lights they used were not quite white.

Had a crack at pouring a tablet with a foam core today. Failed miserably. I set up this elaborate contraption to hold the foam at a certain height in the mould...and the foam wanted to keep floating to the top of the wet plaster LOL. So I need to devise a way to hold the foam in place.

Cheers,
Josh