How to make a fake glass of milk?

Funky

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Or to be more specific, I'm looking to make a fake White Russian to go with a Big Lebowski display.
So, I have fake ice cubes, glass and the cocktail straw, but now what? Do I just use epoxy? And if so, how do I get the 'milky' effect?
Any ideas or suggestions are very welcome!
 
smooth cast 320 does cure white. it's very opaque though. i would maybe try a clear resin with a small amount of white color tint.
 
If I was to do it, I would use regular white paint to coat the glass, then when it's dry fill it with resin or whatever, then a bit more white paint on top.

I assume it's going to be in a glass...
 
candle wax? you can froth it whilst pouring so it looks 'creamier' i.e. less like normal wax.

my mother owns a candle supplies company and used to make novelty candles; they were awesome.. cocktail glasses with gel wax mains and normal wax fruit in it, coffee candles, Guinness glasses, etc.. all with the correct scent :)

could do something like that (perhaps) then seal it and voila..
 
Whoa, just discovered this 4-year-old thread and it has some awesome ideas! I'm currently trying to come up with a more permanent White Russian prop, and the wax idea was a perfect suggestion. I started working on them last week and think it's the best way to go. My first attempt turned out well, but I can do better after tweaking after trial & error learning.

The next attempt will be using some "pizza saver" plastic pieces glued together to create a table-like insert on which i can attach acrylic "ice cubes" to before pouring the wax, so I don't have to layer & cool before adding the fake ice cubes and then pouring in more wax, which can lead to a lot of mistakes. fyi -- keep the cost down by buying unscented candles. white pillar candles, brown votives since you don't need a lot of brown.

i also suggest playing around with the right balance of wax colors for the desired look. White Russians aren't very brown, think single shot grande latte (a creamy light beige) rather than chocolate milk color. ratios may vary depending on the darkness of the brown candle and how it mixes with the white wax, but i've been doing around a 6:1 ratio, which has been too dark. I'm going to try an 8:1 ratio on my next attempt.

Prior to this, I've been doing a gelatin prop for the last couple of years, but its longevity isn't much when it's sitting out for 10+ hours. Two days at a con is about all it can take before i either need to replace it or change to a diff prop / costume. (i can post my "recipe" here if anyone reads this and wants to try it out)
 
Or to be more specific, I'm looking to make a fake White Russian to go with a Big Lebowski display.
So, I have fake ice cubes, glass and the cocktail straw, but now what? Do I just use epoxy? And if so, how do I get the 'milky' effect?
Any ideas or suggestions are very welcome!

What are you curing this in? Be careful that most of these resins are exothermic and get pretty hot as they kick. If you are wanting to do this in glass, then you will need to do it is stages. You can pre-tint say part B of say epoxy, so you get uniform colour. But you will need to layer this or exotherm will crack the glass.

Smooth Cast 320 from Smooth-On cures white... at least it use to.

It might, but won''t look like milk. Tinting a clear resin would work best.

D65 has been suggested but to ensure that turns white when it cures requires a slightly more B (clear) and than A (amber) or it may cure with a slight tan. You can add white pigment.

To get the froth, do your pour in layers and add 10% per volume of water to last layer only and you will get an almost milkshake look. May or may not work for you. Just a suggestion based on a learning curve I had using the stuff.
 
I've been working on wax versions for the last few months and finally managed to get some that turned out well. Never having worked with wax before, I wasn't expecting some of the problems like sink holes from cooling, banding lines from not heating the glasses first, and so on. As mentioned above, I used a plastic "pizza saver" (those little white things they put in boxes to keep the lids from sticking to the pizza), some acrylic ice cubes, a mix of brown and white waxes, and added in a bit of coffee scented fragrance oil more just to have a nice aroma while carrying it around all day more than for practical effect.

Here's some tips I can recommend for doing your own...

- Don't heat the wax too hot or you'll have issues from cooling, such as the sink holes I mentioned. You also don't want it too cool where it starts thickening in the first 10 seconds or so after it's poured.

- Heat your glasses! This will help avoid weird horizontal "banding" lines from appearing along the glass. Most bar ware isn't microwave safe so I use a crock pot filled with heated water to set the glasses in. Don't get the insides of them wet, though, since water is heavier than wax and will collect at the bottom of the glasses or create water pockets on the sides of the glass. [see below for dealing with this if it happens]

- Don't place in a cold area when cooling, such as a fridge or freezer. The wax will condense faster and cause issues.

- Never worry about getting wax on the glass where you don't want it. You can always clean it up later.

- You'll likely want to fill in three layers. The first is bulk of the pour. Let it cool for several hours (overnight is best) then pour the next layer to cover up any sink holes. This should be about 1/8" or so below the desired fill level. Let that cool again for a few hours, then top them off with just enough to create a nice layer that will cover up any more sinkage but enough that spreads around to give an even end-to-end layer. This takes some attempts to get the feel for it, especially if you are using fake ice cubes and are trying to get a "floating" look for them. Getting wax to set properly around the cubes can be annoying but manageable.

- I recommend using a small-tipped funnel and a spoon for the final layering so you can get wax into tighter areas or fine-tune where you pour. Just be wary of wax buildup in the funnel's tip.

- For touch up work on both the wax and glass, you should be able to remove the wax after it completely sets (give it at least 12 hours just to be safe). Twisting the wax with your fingertips should be enough torque to loosen it. If not, heat for a few minutes in hot water (or 15-20 secs in a microwave if the glassware is microwave safe) and then give it a twist. Don't heat it too long, though. Once you remove it from the glass, feel free to clean off any excess or spilled wax, polish the glass with a soft rag or chamois cloth, and trim off any excess wax from the body of the "drink" itself with either a sharp blade (x-acto knife) or plastic non-serrated edge (i use the plastic clasp from loaves of bread, heh).

- If you happen to have any water in the glass after the wax sets, removing the wax as mentioned above will help with that. Be sure to let the wax thoroughly air dry (at least 4 hours) before putting it back in the glass. Wipe out any excess water in the glass with an old lint-free rag or chamois cloth.

- To reset the wax back in the glass after you've removed it, simply heat the glass back up just a bit (not to the point where the wax starts to get soft), same as before when you loosened the wax to remove it. It won't be as tight of a bond, but it will help. If you heat it up too much, you'll get sink holes forming again as the wax cools.

- One final note... This is deceptively harder than you'd think! If you screw up, it's only wax! You can melt it all back down and try again. Don't feel bad if your first few attempts don't turn out well. It probably took me 20+ attempts of trial & error plus researching wax and candle-making before I figured out how to do this right. I know I can still improve, too. Don't give up and don't expect success on your very first attempt if you rush into this. Patience and knowledge is the key in the end.

Wax White Russians.jpg

(the lighting in my house gave the wax a pinking tint, but it looks more white/brown than shown)
 
Some acrylic fake ice cubes from amazon. I think it was $10 for a bag of 20. To keep from wasting money on ones that you'd never see in the center, i bought a stack of pizza savers (also from amazon; $7 for 100 i think?). Depending on the height of your glasses and the pizza savers you use, you'll likely want to trim off 1/4" of the legs of the pizza savers otherwise you're filling almost to the rim of the glass to get a decent look for floating ice cubes.

Below in the photo I have Elmer's Glue but i would NOT recommend using it at all. The glue melts if you need to melt the wax down, and then you get glue sediment at the bottom of the glass and some nasty looking stuff with it.

To get around that and so the cubes would stay on the stand, i poured wax high enough on the first pour to above the top of the stand, then let it cool to the point where it was starting to soften but still malleable. Press the cubes into the wax for the desired locations, angles, etc. Pour another thin later of wax to help secure them in place, and then let the whole thing cool before tackling the sink holes as mentioned in the above post.

cubes and stands.jpg
 
BUDGET FRIENDLY VERISON:
You could fill a cup with school glue (clear or white) and mix it with a few drops of food coloring

Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk
 
Careful man there's a beverage here!

Would it be at all possible to make a double skin glass, so you can have an actual liquid that moves about when looked at from the side, and still put the wax and ice cubes in the middle?
 
Over the years in the film business I have been asked to make various "fake" foods. My first response almost every time is, go to Iwasaki Images, in Gardena California, you can't make it better or cheaper. In most cases, for less money than the cost of materials, they have perfect replicas. Here is their beverage page. For $24 they have a perfect glass of milk.

We did make a fake Turkey once for the movie "Kuffs", as it had to bounce down the road, then get run over by a truck.
 
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