The Last Christmas Story!

With the mold for the crosier finally finished, we cast up a couple of them in rigid white plastic. For added strength, we added a metal armature inside the mold. When the resin locks onto the metal, it should be almost indestructible! We also cast 2 additional crosiers from softer rubber. These will get the same finish, but will be softer in the combat sequences, in case of any accidental mishaps during the fight scenes.

The second crosier was cut in half, as per their request. This is so FX can make it look like it's been buried into someones chest! Mmmmm...........Nice!

With the castings cleaned up, and primed, they all got a glossy coat of black paint. This is the first step in our buffed metallic finish!

We let the finished pieces sit for awhile to dry before we packed them up and headed out to deliver them to the Art Director in Toronto!

I might cast an extra one for myself to settle any traffic disputes that might arise on the way to the city. The DVP highway can really bring out the worst in commuters!

8)
JWO

A Christmas Horror Story!

Fedex picked up our 2 huge crates on Friday that are off to California. That left us to work on the crosier death weapon for the film A Christmas Horror Story.

I never had any intention to 3d cnc the Christmas Tree spike of pain at the top of the crosier. This was laser cut from 3/16" acrylic. This will get glued up and a 2 part mold cast. We'll cast this, and add it on after.

I added rubber feet, suspended into the silicone rubber, to act as locator keys for the two mold halves. This should allow the two mold halves to lock together, insuring proper alignment.

The crosier got multiple coats of primer, and sanded smooth. We made a simple mold box, and will only fill it half way. Once the first half cures, we'll pour the rest of it. This should give us our 2 part mold we need to cast this.

I also added suspended rubber feet on this part as well. Again, allowing us to key together the 2 halves. I'll cut in a pour spout at the top after the rubber hardens, and the part removed. It's hard to see in the image, but I glued a small section of 1/8" brass rod to connect the very bottom piece of scrollwork to the rest of the model. This should prevent any trapped air, which would result in a void in the casting. This will get cut off, and cleaned up on the final castings!
8)
JWO

Santa's Bringing a Little Death This Year!

While were working away on our various NDA jobs, we also started a new job for a film.
I do believe the title is "A Christmas Horror Story"
One of the items they need is Santa's crosier. This however will be a gold crosier of death.

I modeled this up in Hex for the art directors approval, based on a couple of quick sketches they supplied me. Notice the Christmas tree spike at the top? That's what I'm talkin' about!

I imported the model into Aspire for machining. I set the model in the center of the working plane, as I plan on machining this side, and a mirror copy for the back. I decided not to double side machine this as one part, as I wasn't quite sure which direction we would be going when it comes to casting them.
Were casting them, as they need a hard version, and a softer rubber-ish one. I'm also going to cast the tree at the top of it separately, which is why it's not included in the Aspire model.

We're cutting this from 3/4" 30lb HDU. I didn't run a roughing pass, even though I was cutting with a 1/16" tapered ball nose cutter, with a 5% stepover. Total time per side was only 22 minutes.

The final pieces fit perfectly, as usual! Tomorrow I'll get it primed and sealed, ready for ripping a mold!
8)
JWO