Need to bounce some ideas on a Smallville prop

[replicaprops]

I have been working on the Blue Kryptonite ring from Smallville

I have pretty much settled on making the rings from metal and embedding the blue in the channel. This is what the prop looks like

I made a ring on the lathe and what I was planning on doing was making a temporary kryptonite center from clay, then molding the whole thing.
Then removing the clay from the center channel and putting the ring back in the mold and filling the void where the clay was with clear blue resin.

Also thought of blue transparent vinyl tubing as the kryptonite and blue tinted transparent sculpey.

Does anyone have any ideas for the kryptonite?

 

[misterfusion]

As long as you have your exclusive license, maybe you can just call the production company and ask what their prop company used.

Steve

 

[TridCloudwalker]

How about blue Jello? That way you'll always have a snack handy if you get hungry!


I can't think of any other crafty options. Of those, resin will probably be your best bet. The vinyl, though sturdy, will eventually get dull from abrasion, and can't be repolished (plus you might have to worry about consumers thinking it's cheap). Sculpty is just too darn brittle and unpredictable, and depending on the moisture content in the air, you'd have to deal with shrinkage and/or expandage problems. Not to mention, if you drop the ring on a hard surface, it's more than likely going to shatter. Much less of a chance of that if it's cast in resin.

Oh wait! I did come up with a crafty idea. Go me!

Cut your ring right down the middle so you essentially have two rings. Get a tube of appropriately sized blue acrylic, rejoin the halves with some weld-on slathered on the inside of the acrylic, and voila. Alternately, you could braze the rings back together, or get a thin metal sleave to glue to the inside diameter of the ring.

Man, I'm smart.

 

[replicaprops]

That is actually a really good idea. Acrylic was my first choice but getting in position was the problem.

How about blue Jello? That way you'll always have a snack handy if you get hungry!


I can't think of any other crafty options. Of those, resin will probably be your best bet. The vinyl, though sturdy, will eventually get dull from abrasion, and can't be repolished (plus you might have to worry about consumers thinking it's cheap). Sculpty is just too darn brittle and unpredictable, and depending on the moisture content in the air, you'd have to deal with shrinkage and/or expandage problems. Not to mention, if you drop the ring on a hard surface, it's more than likely going to shatter. Much less of a chance of that if it's cast in resin.

Oh wait! I did come up with a crafty idea. Go me!

Cut your ring right down the middle so you essentially have two rings. Get a tube of appropriately sized blue acrylic, rejoin the halves with some weld-on slathered on the inside of the acrylic, and voila. Alternately, you could braze the rings back together, or get a thin metal sleave to glue to the inside diameter of the ring.

Man, I'm smart.

 

[replicaprops]

Sour grapes much Steve?

As long as you have your exclusive license, maybe you can just call the production company and ask what their prop company used.

Steve

 

[misterfusion]

Sour grapes much Steve?

Hardly. And I'm not even sure why you'd think so. I try to give you a reasonable suggestion and you snipe at me for it. Very neighborly...

It just seems logical to go to the source, especially if you have the connection.

Why try to reinvent the wheel?

Steve

 

[replicaprops]

My bad. :redfaceText can sometimes be inferred the wrong way. I guess you can appreciate the value of voice overs.:lol
I actually did go to the source, but they are not back to work until March 3rd. Writers strike put everyone on a long vacation.

Hardly. And I'm not even sure why you'd think so. I try to give you a reasonable suggestion and you snipe at me for it. Very neighborly...

It just seems logical to go to the source, especially if you have the connection.

Why try to reinvent the wheel?

Steve

 

[ArtisanProps]

I hope I explain this right so bare with me

Take the ring and put it onto a lathe or anything capable of spinning the ring
in a circular fashion.. Mix up some clear acrylic or clear resin with blue tint
mixed in, and as the ring is spinning pour the liquid onto the empty area of the
Ring.. The spinning of the ring should keep the resin thickness very even, but don't spin
the Ring too fast or all the resin will just be flung off, and once you've built up
enough thickness just let the ring finish rotating until the resin is cured..

once cured you can machine the blue resin so it's flush with the rest of the ring

I was looking at this picture and while it's a little fuzzy, it almost appears that
there are symbols underneath the blue Kryptonite.. Is this correct, or am I seeing
things..

 

[juno]

If it was a real piece of jewelry, it'd be an enamel ring like this:

There is a company is near my house that is very knowledgeable: http://www.thompsonenamel.com they could either point you in the direction of someone who could do the enameling for you or tell you what you'd need to get started.

 

[replicaprops]

Thats also an idea. Thanks Tiff

If it was a real piece of jewelry, it'd be an enamel ring like this:

There is a company is near my house that is very knowledgeable: http://www.thompsonenamel.com they could either point you in the direction of someone who could do the enameling for you or tell you what you'd need to get started.

 

[replicaprops]

I actually was playing around with this idea a couple days ago. I used to use this technique with nitro when I did wood spinning.

I used some low temp melt thermo plastic to this method the other day by burnishing the spinning metal with a chunk of plastic. Although I got a coating it was way to thin an the build up was slow.

I hope I explain this right so bare with me

Take the ring and put it onto a lathe or anything capable of spinning the ring
in a circular fashion.. Mix up some clear acrylic or clear resin with blue tint
mixed in, and as the ring is spinning pour the liquid onto the empty area of the
Ring.. The spinning of the ring should keep the resin thickness very even, but don't spin
the Ring too fast or all the resin will just be flung off, and once you've built up
enough thickness just let the ring finish rotating until the resin is cured..

once cured you can machine the blue resin so it's flush with the rest of the ring

I was looking at this picture and while it's a little fuzzy, it almost appears that
there are symbols underneath the blue Kryptonite.. Is this correct, or am I seeing
things..