Tomb Raider (2013) Ice Axe Build

[JennCroft]

I have decided to go ahead and start producing replicas of Lara's ice axe from the new Tomb Raider 2013 game. Mold was made from two different brands of silicone; Pinkysil and I don't even know what the blue part is. I think it's generic from Barnes.com.au. I first tried casting them out of epoxy resin but failed miserably due to the incredibly long set times and amount of heat required. I switched to a polyurethane resin (4PU from barnes) with a work time of 5 minutes and set time of 30 minutes and it has been working great. Less bubbles as well, due to the thin oily consistency (unlike the epoxy, which had the consistency of tar or syrup).

Here are some pictures of the official render and progress of the build. The finished product will be weathered just like the render. So far I'm up to the detailing and weathering on the first axe, after the black handle paint sets better, of course. This is my first time making a mold, casting resin, and producing a replica so please don't tear me apart. :angel:

 

[SEBRET]

Looks great so far. Pretty darn good for a first time deal.

 

[TheShinyOne]

And that's your first time? ...I can't wait to see what skill-level you reach when you master this, 'cause you're starting of pretty damn good.

 

[merkymerx]

Wow! Amazing job!

If I may ask, is this cast from the actual DMM Rebel? Would you consider offering raw castings / kits in the future? Big fan of the new game

 

[Lysia]

Hi guys! I'm Shona and I've been working with Jenn on these axes.

We have indeed made the mold from the original DMM Rebel axe (the one used in-game) which Jenn already had. This picture shows the original axe in the mold box, ready for the first half of silicone to be added:

I'd only made one other mold before this one, and it was very small so it was easy. Working with something this big has been a bit of a challenge, and we've been learning a lot along the way which has been both frustrating and fun. Finding out that our original epoxy resin wasn't curing properly was the biggest frustration of all, as originally we thought that we were making a mistake with either measuring or pouring so we lost a lot of time waiting for a couple of axes that never set properly.

I took a molding and casting workshop recently to learn how to do all of this, and our original idea was to make an axe for me, since up until now I'd been borrowing Jenn's axe. But quite a few people have expressed interest in them which is great (especially as the cost of materials used has turned out to be more than if I'd bought an original axe for myself!). And merkymerx yes, we're planning to offer a resin kit pretty much straight from the mold.

 

[jollyskeleton]

Looking great Jenn and Shona! Nice to see you here on the forums! Have been following your Fb page for a while now

 

[JennCroft]

Wow! Amazing job!

If I may ask, is this cast from the actual DMM Rebel? Would you consider offering raw castings / kits in the future? Big fan of the new game

Yes, it is. And we plan on offering raw castings as well as the finished axes for sale when our Etsy and Store Envy shops go live next week.

Thank you everyone, for the nice words! It's reassuring to hear we're doing things at least mostly right.

Here is the first weathered axe!

 

[The Schlitzie]

Very cool, let us know when your Etsy store opens!

 

[pinder91]

That looks great! I wondered if you were going to show up here. Welcome to the RPF!!

 

[JPH]

Dat looks great!!!

 

[CeSquared]

Hard to believe that's resin!

I'm playing the TR reboot now. Very well done game. A bit too much like the Uncharted games but considering how great those were, it's a minor complaint.

 

[Sundowner]

Hard to believe that's resin!

I'm playing the TR reboot now. Very well done game. A bit too much like the Uncharted games but considering how great those were, it's a minor complaint.

Like Uncharted you say? I'm sold, thats all I needed to hear!

I'm sure I'll want one of these after playing the game, it always happens like that.

 

[CeSquared]

It's very much like Uncharted. In fact, if they were to give Elena Fisher a game, it would probably be this.

BUT, it's beautifully done. The graphics are incredible even though it's only in 720p (I was disappointed when I saw that on the box), the combat system is really good (better than Uncharted), voice acting is great, background sounds are great (I literally thought there was a bird outside my window while playing but it was just the game) and they have a nice feature called "Fast Travel" that allows you to go back to old "camp sites" (checkpoints) to explore without having to backtrack in the game.

It has some of the same infuriating parts like TR 1 and 2 where you die over and over and can't figure out why. The QTEs are particularly annoying. I died literally 11 times in a row and had to finally pause the game and look it up online to see if it was a glitch.

Overall though, if this is the future of the TR franchise, they have a winner. I've played for about 6 hours and am 30% done.

 

[CeSquared]

When you play, let yourself die a few times. The death scenes are absolutely hysterical.

There is a Youtube video of the "Best Lara Croft Tomb Raider Deaths."

 

[Lysia]

The deaths are brutal but hilarious. I killed Lara a bunch of times just to see what happened! I just beat the game last night, it was pretty awesome.

Very cool, let us know when your Etsy store opens!

We can do that! It will open this Friday at 12pm Australian eastern daylight savings time (Melbourne time). Just one thing: because we're both new members here, the rules of this forum seem pretty strict about new members trying to sell things. So are we allowed to link to our store this early? Maybe I'll throw a link into my signature if nothing else!

 

[merkymerx]

Can't wait until it becomes available! Hoping it'll be within my price range. It's a really awesome casting! Will be keeping an eye out

 

[Lysia]

Thanks! I'm so happy with how they've turned out

The finished axe will be USD$99 while the resin kit will be USD$75. Both plus shipping and handling (from Australia).

 

[The Schlitzie]

I don't think it would be kosher to link a sale in this thread outside of the JY, maybe posting a link to your etsy page in your sig, or PM.

 

[Strickler]

Soliciting sales outside the JY is a definite no no. But like Schlitzie said, either post a link in your sig or pm members about it. Looks fantastic btw, and great to see more aussies here.

 

[Lysia]

Ok thanks. I'll post a link in my signature when the stores open, and if anyone is interested in one of these, please PM me and I'll send you all the information you need! We're mostly here to show these off, but since quite a few people are interested in them now, of course we'd like to make them for you!

(And now I'm wishing I had joined up years ago instead of just browsing so then I wouldn't be considered a new member right now!!!)