Ashley Does Art

I won’t lie, it’s a bit expensive. ( Cosplay in general is expensive, but I know some cosplayers out there have a tighter budget than others.) The amount of product you get vs. the price is kind of up there. None of my local hobby/craft stores carry it, so I had to look online and buy it. If it helps, I even had the luxury of trying the Smooth-on product (and by trying I mean buying and going through trial an error). It didn’t go so well...

As a point of reference between the two products, the blue is the Smooth-On brand and the yellow is the Alumilite brand. My first attempt was to cast some buttons as Jeanne’s buttons are an odd shape/ I couldn’t find any online or in-store. As you can see, Smooth-on was a bit misshaped while Alumilite retained shape fairly well. My theory is that Smooth-On is better for bigger props as the mold making product is thick liquid, has a longer curing time, and therefore better equipped for larger products.

Here are the results! (White unpainted and silver painted) I found out later the resin in this kit is fairly soft and was able to sand away the pointed edges with a common nail file. As per the directions/all the tutorials I saw online, I painted the pieces fairly quickly after the cast.

As for the Umbran Watch itself, I first made it out of Sculpty baking clay. I then pressed it into the mold. I will warn you, this is about the largest I would go when trying to make a mold in this brand. (The ruler below is accurate and in inches) Even then there were some imperfections.

  As you can see by the cast (left) it took bits of the mold with it! What wasn’t pictured was the gaping hole in the side that I (foolishly) filled with hot glue but then remembered Molding Paste is my best friend and filled it properly with molding paste. (But honestly, Molding Paste is my best friend and helps fill all my cosplay prop holes) While probably not the SMARTEST way of doing it, I got it in my head that inserting safety pins during the curing process would help fasten it to my cosplay. This was true, however... the Umbran watch was quite heavy and pulled it down. (Causing other problems)