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If you're interested in pony commissions I have this new sheet for them specifically!
Portfolio site: https://arteroflore.wordpress.com/
My Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/otteroflore
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Would you believe i spent like 5 hours sanding this wax pony today
Sure would gave been faster to just smooth out the clay piece in the first place but at least im learning from this process
She is so smooth. In retrospect i shouldnt have included that glitter crayon because she looks kind of dirty but the specks are just glitter.
☑️funnel/stoppers attached to prototypes
☑️custom sized lego rectangles assembled
☑️small batch of silicone used to caulk cracks
Next is the actual mold pouring! Ill probably pour that in multiple stages too so i dont waste any silicone from any unforseen disasters.
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Would you believe i spent like 5 hours sanding this wax pony today
Sure would gave been faster to just smooth out the clay piece in the first place but at least im learning from this process
She is so smooth. In retrospect i shouldnt have included that glitter crayon because she looks kind of dirty but the specks are just glitter.
Just so everyone knows, I'm not sure how quiet or not-quiet this blog will be over the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to say something because times are weird.
My father's partner of ~15 years passed away yesterday morning, after 2 weeks in the hospital and 12 months of cancer treatments. I was a teenager when I met her but she was a more significant parental figure than my actual step-parents. She was also a great mentor and friend. She was always a great supporter of my art, as well as my professional goals regarding ecology.
You've probably seen me reference her on the posts about resin, which she worked with in college. She worked in art conservation 20-odd years ago, restoring bronze statues and a rocket and buildings where she would salvage tile pieces. For 15 years she worked at a museum doing operations management including things like fundraising and scheduling logistics- things that sound a bit boring but she planned trips to the Peruvian Amazon and met with donors to negotiate million-dollar deals. I met a lot of interesting people through her.
i dont know how to end this post, so here is a photo i took once.
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how i learned to stop worrying and make a horse
Contrast and compare with the entirety of @drawfee
What dose this mean
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Anonymous asked:
Hi, I hope this isn’t a thing you’ve already been asked, but have you considered attempting doing a soft vinyl version of your toy designs?
I recently watched both your video on the Takara ponies and Steady crafts man’s video on his ventures into figuring out sofubi and I couldn’t help but wonder if it would be interesting to you.
Keep up the great work I’m really delighted by your works and progress!
Oh for sure. I LOVE TheCrafsman Steady crafting channel! I talked about this a while ago when I was talking about how it was hard to find resources on casting silicone (not on casting resin from silicone, but silicone-to-silicone casting, which is much harder)
Although he shows a sort of "at home" version of casting soft vinyl, it's still not really appropriate for a DIY setup. He has a studio shed separate from his house, first off, and a dedicated oven for crafts. Vinyl is quite toxic and must be heated and well-ventilated.
I actually have a plan to make and cast something (eventually) based off his video on making DIY sofubi. I have the casting silicone already, Smooth on mold star 15 slow and I hope to make a small mold and cast it with urethane resin, one of the semi flexible types he recommends in that video, and hand rotate it so its hollow.
The materials are expensive though, and although resin is not as hazardous as vinyl you still need a mask and ventilated area. I would either need to clear out a space in my office and set up some sort of fan/extra ventilation system or do it elsewhere, like at my dads house maybe.
Thanks for the ask! if anyone wants to learn more about casting toys you should definitely follow TheCrafsman on youtube.
Adding on for those interested, as well as thecrafsman i recommend robert tolone on youtube for resin tutorials, he has some really thorough ones on casting all sorts of things.
oh! I got the resin for mold casting the other day! ill be able to try casting the lil pony at some point in the near future :3
I’ve done silicone to silicone casting! You need to lightly coat your mold with Mann Mold Release. You’re on the right track with the platinum cure.
oh! Thank you, thats good to know! I am working on getting my molds right with resin first before I try casting silicone but I will have to try that.
I'll have to figure out how to get silicone that isn't pre-color, since most casting silicone is some sort of color (like mine is bright teal)
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Okay speaking of weird things ive seen youtubers do today
...do i not understand UV resin? because as far as I understand UV resin will only cure when in contact with UV light AKA the resin underneath the opaque gem isnt going to cure at all
i mean she does put resin on top at the end and it doesnt look too thick so that should cure fine
but i feel like ive seen so many people using UV resin like *glue* on the internet recently and i genuinely dont get it! am i missing something because it just seems like not a great idea to do that or show people that as a technique. like i guess its probably harmless if its underneath a layer of cured resin but idk what happens to uncured resin if its just... between layers of plastic?
People mishandle resin on YouTube ENDLESSLY and it’s one of my pet peeves. Mostly for safety reasons. That stuff WILL harm you if you don’t have proper PPE. Gloves, paint quality respirator, (properly fitted to your face so you can’t smell things through it!) and ventilation. Change the pink filters on your mask often and keep them sealed in an airtight container or ziplock bag when you aren’t using them.
If you don’t protect your body, the chemicals in it can build up in your system over time, leading to any exposure giving you a rash. Please be take adequate precautions with resin!
Sorry OP, this isn’t aimed at you since I’ve seen you mention doing this stuff in other posts.
A good reminder! I didnt always take resin seriously, i even have a video where i first tried it and i definitely didnt use appropriate PPE. I was using a $5 kit that was targeted at “8+”
Then i talked to my dads partner about resin and she mentioned she would cast resin back in college (20+ yrs ago) and now has a bad reaction to some chemicals that have resin, like some nail polishes for example. She was very serious about being careful with it and that made me take it more seriously.
Also i didnt know i should seal my respirator filters up while not using them! Thats a good thing to know. Mine are fairly new at least.
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Umm im kind of a little bit losing my mind at how well this worked
All i did was stick a metal rod from my dremel into the hot glue gun and it transferred the heat from the hot glue gun really well! The rod itself was a little wobbly so i couldnt do too much but you can see i can make divots in the wax + add drops in little towers.
Ill have to figure out how to secure the metal tip safely (maybe apoxie sculpt around a rod? Might not be removable though and then id need a new gluegun… i could also just get a new gluegun to do this to)
The cheapest wax carving tools ive seen are $30 but they are not the kind i see used for sculpting which are around $50 at cheapest. Id rather buy the slightly more expensive one if im interested in pursuing this. This metal-rod-in-gluegun thing is super fun and like. An actual diy that i havent seen. I cant promise its that safe but it doesnt seem any more risky than using a hot glue gun in the first place. Just in this case, glue isnt coming out.
I couldnt just stop there so i decided to make a test sculpt entirely out of crayon
And i sanded it
Umm im kind of a little bit losing my mind at how well this worked
All i did was stick a metal rod from my dremel into the hot glue gun and it transferred the heat from the hot glue gun really well! The rod itself was a little wobbly so i couldnt do too much but you can see i can make divots in the wax + add drops in little towers.
Ill have to figure out how to secure the metal tip safely (maybe apoxie sculpt around a rod? Might not be removable though and then id need a new gluegun… i could also just get a new gluegun to do this to)
The cheapest wax carving tools ive seen are $30 but they are not the kind i see used for sculpting which are around $50 at cheapest. Id rather buy the slightly more expensive one if im interested in pursuing this. This metal-rod-in-gluegun thing is super fun and like. An actual diy that i havent seen. I cant promise its that safe but it doesnt seem any more risky than using a hot glue gun in the first place. Just in this case, glue isnt coming out.
While at my dads today i kidnapped some legos and crayons from my younger siblings room (theyre like 19 and in college and i asked first promise)
I also borrowed my dads gfs heat gun so now i have all the ingredients for the next stage of the project ready
The goal is to melt a selection of crayons and cast a crayon pony in wax which can then be smoothed and slightly altered using typical toy wax techniques- other than the fact i dont own a machine to easily melt wax, i think i have enough metal tools and access to open flames to make do.
Im sure wax has a different density than clay so im not sure how many crayons to put in. But i weigh them anyways for fun? The resin and clay ponies are around 40 grams. I guess i could try to figure out the volume using my measuring cups but i dont reallt want to get the crayons wet
Bonus:
Dandelion crayon made me think of the famous dandelion crayon girl on youtube who is obsessed with the discontinued dandelion crayon color
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Prototype 2!
So, im definitely going to have to make another mold. The good news is this one isnt a complete bust, i think i can use it to make a cast i can alter for the final, since the original isnt that polished to begin with.
Not sure what to make that second cast out of. Hard wax would be ideal but is expensive. I am considering trying to find an at home substitute like one of several candles im not using. Ive never seen anyone try to use candlewax as toy wax but its intriguing to try to see if its diyable. Might end up gassing the house with the scented candle though 😭😩
Maybe plaster would be doable as well.
...you know what else is made of wax but isnt scented? crayons. i wonder if you could melt down a bunch of crayons for this...