Raw Fabrication
Nearly all parts of Stygius were 3D printed. The blade and flame laurels were subdivided into smaller prints for ease in painting later. The rune panels were laser cut from acrylic sheet through Ponoko.
3D printed parts were finished with sanding and filling with XTC-3D up to 400 grit before applying paint. Acrylic was lightly wet-sanded with 2000 grit and then re-polished with Novus plastic polish to remove small melt marks at the edges from the laser.
Test assembly of blade
Test assembly of flame laurels
Painting
The paint layering for each part is below. All paints are from Createx unless specified.
All paint applied with airbrush.
Blade
4 coats Alclad Gloss Black Base (allow 24h to dry)
Wet sand 2000 grit, then polish with Novus #2
4-5 light dust coats of 4104 Quicksilver
4 coats UVLS Gloss Clear
Dry sand 2000 to remove dust
4 coats Alclad Klear Kote Gloss (allow 24h to dry)
Wet sand 2000 grit, then polish with Novus #2
Rune Panel
4-5 light dust coats 4014 Quicksilver (plastic is already gloss black)
4-5 coats Candy2O Blood Red
4 coats UVLS Gloss Clear
Dry sand 2000 to remove dust
4 coats Alclad Klear Kote Gloss (allow 24h to dry)
Wet sand 2000 grit, then polish with Novus #2
Chevrons
3 coats UVLS Gloss
4-5 coats Autoborne Sealer White
3 Coats Metallic
Chevron 1 - Mix (2 : 1) Platinum Metallic : Silver Metallic
Chevron 2 - Silver Metallic
Chevron 3 - Charcoal Viola Metallic
Chevron 4 - Black Pearl
3 Coats UVLS Satin Clear
Skull
3 coats UVLS Gloss Clear
4-5 coats Autoborne Sealer White
Contour airbrushing to emphasize the curves and ridges of the skull
Various Wicked Colors paints, light browns and grays
Dark browns/blacks for eyes/nose. Mask these areas.
4-5 coats UVLS Gloss Matte
Flame Laurels
3 coats UVLS Gloss Clear
5 coats Autoborne Sealer Red
4 coats Mix Candy2O Blood Red : Quicksilver : Bleed Checker (1 : 1 : 1 ratio)
4 coats Bleed Checker
3 coats UVLS Satin Clear
Gold Pommel
4 coats Alclad Gloss Black
Wet sand 2000 grit, then polish with Novus #2
4-5 light dust coats of 4105 Gold Plating
3 coats UVLS Gloss
Dry sand 2000 to remove dust
4 coats Alclad Klear Kote Gloss (allow 24h to dry)
Wet sand 2000 grit, then polish with Novus #2
Resin Casting
The runes on the blade and the gems on the pommel were resin cast to change their optical properties. The runes should evenly diffuse light, and the gems should be translucent.
The runes were assembled from the cutouts of the rune plate. These cutouts were glued to a plastic backing and then molded. The gems began as 3D prints, smoothened to 400 grit, then coated with Alclad Gloss Black. After dry, they were wet sanded with 2000 grit and polished with Novus #2 before molding.
All molds are simple one-part molds using Mold Star 20T.
The runes were resin cast with Smooth Cast 326 with a small amount of Ignite Green and So-Strong White. The white provides the diffusion quality.
The gems were also cast in Smooth Cast 326, with either So-Strong and Ignite Green or So-Strong and Ignite Red. The Ignite pigments are fluorescent and give an ethereal brightness to the gem, particularly in the sunlight.
All molds and castings cured under 50 psi pressure to eliminate bubbles.
Molding and casting the runes