I know I haven't been posting a lot lately. This is due to a combination of burnout from internet news and doing other stuff offline anyway. And here is one such project.
This experiment involved three different hobby products to replicate a game piece for my niece. She lost an acorn or two from a simple squirrel-themed acorn collecting game, and I finally got around to this messy process.
Step one: mix some two-part green stuff putty. It stays slightly flexible once cured. I used it to make a mold of half the acorn.
Step two: I poured Oyumaru over this for the other half of the mold. Oyumaru is a thermoplastic that reminds me a bit of hot glue. It becomes very pliable, almost liquid, when boiled in water. It then hardens as it cools to room temperature into a flexible, clear plastic. In theory, it can be reused indefinitely, but this mess may have ruined this lump.
Step three: mix Milliput two-part putty. Unlike green stuff, this cures solid. It is also a lot messier to work with. Cover your work surface with old newspaper and wear gloves!
The results were imperfect. Milliput adheres to almost anything and it was a pain in the neck to break it out of the mold. The first acorn also took a few chunks of green stuff with it, while also leaving behind some pieces of itself. Fortunately, the hardened product can be carved and sanded smooth, and imperfections can be filled in and sculpted with new Milliput. I also used a toothpick and fresh Milliput to sculpt in some acorn cap texture that stayed in the mold on the first attempt.
I just need to slap on some cheap craft paint and these are ready to go! Once my sister is willing to lift her own quarantine protocols, that is. No real hurry there, I'm afraid.
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