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vintageaerith — Tutorial: Cosplay Jewel-Making
Published: 2009-03-23 23:31:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 162876; Favourites: 4786; Downloads: 2621
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Description
Painless, and hopefully profitable for the cosplay crowd out there. I have to cast a large quantity of half-dollar sized dome jewels for Nia, and the experience has been kinda fun, so I thought I'd share it with you all. ^^Thanks to HCC Cosplay for inspiring/instructing me to make them, though I found my own method, which is what this tutorial illustrates.
Aaaand thanks to ~spiked-stock , who pointed me in the direction of that site AND is keeping me sane while I make my Nia costume. x3 And is the best sewing teacher ever--I crashed her room for five hours the other night to make my skirt.
Hope this is helpful! Post if you have any questions!
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Comments: 472
Thank you very much! I hope it's useful!
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.////. this... is BEAUTIFUL!!!! OMFG WIN >w<
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could you use silicon molds maybe?
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Possibly? However, be aware that polyester resin creates an exothermic reaction while hardening (aka, releasing heat). This has been known to melt the mold to the resin on contact and basically fuse the two together. I'm not sure if EasyCast (a less intense version of traditional resin casting) creates the same amount of heat, so I would use something cheap/replaceable if you're going to test it.
Let me know if you have success so I can update the tutorial!
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thanks. whenever I get around to it, I'll let you know how it comes out.
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That would be great, thank you so much!
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This is just what I've been looking for! I'm cosplaying as a character who has diamonds on her wings, and I wanted them to be jewels. Making them the diamond shape will be tricky though..
Thanks! ^^ Will definitely be using this. ♥
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Try cutting them with extra sharp scissors while they're still a little soft and pliable!
No problem, I'm glad it will be of use~
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do you know where I can buy that resin online (and cheap)?
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I tried... it is tough to find
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Thanks for sharing! I'm sure this will come in handy in the near future.
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No problem at all! I hope it serves you well~
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Making jewels has always scared me, but this tutorial seems like it's not so hard. what are other good brands of epoxy or should I try to find the one you used because it's easier? Also would rubber or plastic ice cube trays make a good bowl thingy or are the plastic pallets the best bet?
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Hmm, the one I showed you is easiest, because it's a 1:1 ratio of hardener to resin. The real resin deal is harder, and to be honest, I'm not sure it's all that much *better*? In the description of the tutorial, you can find a link to that method.
Ice cube trays....perhaps. The thing you have to be worried about is corners (the resin will not come out if it gets itself wedged into straight corners), and also the thickness/thinness of the mold, because anything thin will melt during the exothermic reaction that takes place when the resin hardens. 
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Thanks so much for the extra help. I'll hopefully find the brand you used and let you know how the ice cube trays go, I'll just get dollar store ones so no big if they don't work. Hmm, though as I think about it they might be shaped weird... Maybe just for the experiment I'll do it. I'll for sure let you know how it goes.
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Cool, they look so shiny. But can you use melted hot glue sticks instead of epoxy?
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UMMMM.....I'm pretty sure melting hot glue sticks is slightly dangerous? So be careful. I would say that method has little to nothing to do with this tutorial, so when doing that, I wouldn't know what to tell you for how to treat the material.
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cool thing this tutorial! I will try this out for my next cosplay! thanks for making it!
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No problem at all! I hope you find it useful~
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Someday...
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I'm glad!! You had success with it?
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hooooo thanks a lot It will be usefull!!!
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Is there a way to colour the casting epoxy so that it's completely opaque?
BTW NICE TUTORIAL LOL
<83c
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HMMM. I would think with enough dye or paint thrown in, it would turn opaque. Sometimes, mine have without me WANTING them to. xD
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Lol, yeah I figured paint would be the solution. Just average acrylic or tempera would work, right?
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I would think so, yup! I found that acrylic sometimes causes the jewels to rub off color onto other things, but that could have been the gelator food coloring I tried mixing in and then didn't like how it was dispersing--I didn't have trouble with the last few jewels I cast, in terms of it rubbing off.
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Ahhh, that's great, thank you so much! ;_;
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very nice tutorial very helpful
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No problem! Thank you!
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I have a question~ Have you ever dealt with custom molds? What I need I'd imagine doesn't come in a very usual form, so I figured I would ask, haha.
Regardless, thank you so much for simplifying this! It really is helping me get my thoughts on the right track XD
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Custom molds, hm. I'm guessing you mean ones you create yourself, by casting? The only thing I can tell you is that I've been told the epoxy creates exothermic heat while setting (although I think to a lesser degree than real polyester resin) and that anything less sturdy than the paint palettes or resin molds will melt, or fuse to the jewel. So as long as it's flexible and not too thin, I would think you'd be fine. Does that help at all? I'm sorry xD;;
No problem! It took a lot of trial and error and wading through unnecessarily complicated instructions, so I figured I'd show people what they mean in laymen's terms, and that the same thing can be accomplished without real resin~
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this is awesome o_o! Never thought something like this exist D: ...w-wow....
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Thanks so much! I hope it's helpful!
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Haven't tried it yet, but I'm not sure, if I can find all that stuff in germany ;_;'
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This is an awesome tutorial, thanks!
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Thank you for creating such a helpful, detailed, and patient tutorial.
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