Watchmen Comedian Pinback Button: Realistic Comic Version

[SquidMan]

I've loved Watchmen since I first read it but have never really been a fan of the movie, and didn't like the change made to the Comedian's bloody button. The comic version of the blood droplet was meant to look like a clock hand/arrow and mimic the repeated imagery of the Doomsday Clock in the story, whereas the movie version just makes it look like a regular droplet that doesn't line up with the position of a clock arrow (the streak doesn't reach the midpoint of the button):

However, I always wanted to make a version of the pin that combines the look of the comic and movie version: one where the shape of the blood droplet is accurate to the comic, but looks like a realistic surface blood stain and not cartoony and printed-on like many Watchmen buttons sold online.

Screen-used movie version:

I want to make mine have a similar bit of subtle blood spatter and look like a three-dimensional stain on top of the button like this one, but in the arrow shape of the comic version.

Anyone have any ideas of what I can use? Not sure paint would work as it might look obviously "painted on" rather than an organic but still accurate looking drip.


I picked up a few buttons that look almost perfect to use as the base, but they're a little too glossy/reflective in a way that many handmade/cheap buttons are nowadays. It looks unlike vintage buttons (a look I want to replicate since the character started wearing this button in the 70s), which are glossy but not to such an intense degree:

First two photos are of my buttons, the third is an authentic vintage button from the 70s/80s. Is there any way to subtly reduce how glossy the mylar surface of the button is without damaging it? Sanding it, for example, would leave scratches, which I want to avoid.

 

[HeadMan90]

I do a lot of model and miniature gaming painting and i use Testors lacquers a lot to add or take away a shine on the surface of stuff. They make a few different varnishes in spray can and bottle form you could try. They have a gloss, semi-gloss, and flat. As far as blood you could look into Citadel's "Blood for the Blood God" glaze. Its a pretty good substitute for fake blood but you just paint it on so it might not be what you're looking for.

 

[Mike J.]

I was thinking you could 'draw' several blood drops with some clear, quick-setting epoxy and a toothpick, on a disposable surface like wax paper, and then choose the best and paint it later.

Entirely speculative on my part, however.

 

[SquidMan]

I do a lot of model and miniature gaming painting and i use Testors lacquers a lot to add or take away a shine on the surface of stuff. They make a few different varnishes in spray can and bottle form you could try. They have a gloss, semi-gloss, and flat. As far as blood you could look into Citadel's "Blood for the Blood God" glaze. Its a pretty good substitute for fake blood but you just paint it on so it might not be what you're looking for.

Since the button's smiley face image is below the mylar surface, would Testor's varnishes work without making the mylar surface cloudy/opaque and so make the image less clearly visible? Because I want to reduce the gloss of the button without sacrificing the image's visibility.

 

[Dope]

Since the button's smiley face image is below the mylar surface, would Testor's varnishes work without making the mylar surface cloudy/opaque and so make the image less clearly visible? Because I want to reduce the gloss of the button without sacrificing the image's visibility.

I think you're gonna have to do a little trial-and-error with this one. But I agree with the gist of it, some sort of satin clearcoat could help take down the gloss a bit without really changing the visibility of the graphic underneath.

Dope

 

[SquidMan]

Finally finished this, over a year later!

I ended up reducing the button's gloss with sandpaper and decided that I'm okay with some scratches and scuffs, since the button in the comic is discovered after having fallen onto a sidewalk from a tall building, after all. Plus the sandpaper didn't damage the button too much.

Thank you to @HeadMan90 for suggesting the Blood for the Blood God paint! It turned out to be absolutely perfect for what I was looking for. The paint retains its shape and turned out subtly three-dimensional, and really looks like fresh blood. I used a toothpick to draw the comic-accurate splatter, and added some stray droplets for realism, like in the movie version.

Here's my button compared to a store-bought movie version button:

 

[spaceman4]

Well done!

 

[cavx]

I really want one of these. THE WATCHMEN movie is probably my favorite of all the Zac Schneider films.

 

[HeadMan90]

Congrats man! That turned out fantastic. Glad everything seemed to work for you.

 

[Jedisushi]

Wow, this is fantastic. I love the RPF.

 

[h1gg1n5]

Great Work! That blood of the blood god paint looks spot on.