Happy New Year! It has certainly been a while since I shared anything new. The truth is that I’ve probably started too many projects during the past few months. Printing has eaten up a fair chunk of my free time, and I’m still working on the balancing act. Anyway, here's one done!
“A relic of a bygone era…”Mandalorian SarcophagusThe Clone Wars: Season 7, Episode 11 “Shattered”
Composition: Resin, acrylic, leather, magnets, LEDs. All seven pieces (main bed, front lid, rear lid, muzzle, right and left binders, and base) are attached using N52 magnets. The base 6” file that I built upon to create this piece is offered by Nic Audino (IG: @thizzolas).
Process: This project has been in and out of development for quite a while. I adjusted, rescaled, added detail to the figure bed of the file this past August for a fellow customizer, then suffered a complete hdd loss shortly thereafter. I have rebuilt many of those files since then and decided to give the vault another go.
The original 6” version has cutouts and is intended to be backlit. They are tiny, and mostly filled in when I first printed the vault at 3.75” scale. This time when I resized it, I decided to fill those spaces completely with raised light veins that could be painted and added meshes for the light piping that runs along the bed. I added more detail to the front lid, reshaped the bed, and designed a rear lid. While waiting ages on certain supplies, I also decided to create binders, muzzle, and base since the vault hovers. The muzzle was originally designed in two pieces as it appears in the episode, but they were tiny and difficult to fit properly so I decided to combine them. The effect is the same when closed.
I had no intention of lighting the sarcophagus after printing the first three pieces, but decided to give it a shot after a conversation with a friend. I had never incorporated lighting into a custom before, and still consider myself a complete novice here. Searching for what I needed was becoming frustrating, and, were it not for the advice of JDeck and Clonehead here, I may not have lighted this project at all. JDeck’s excellent suggestion paid off, and I picked up and (I hope) successfully wired the vault using product from
Evan Designs. I was able to fit their LEDs, on/off switches, and tiny coin batteries/holders all into the reverse cavity of the vault. I’m pleased I gave the LEDs a chance! The temple lighting for figures inside the vault is a striking effect.
Painting was mostly quite enjoyable, aside from the light veins in the walls of the bed; those were a headache. I decided to add one more level of complexity after Chris shared an awesome glowing Dagobah fusion furnace that he had cast. I ordered glow powders and paints from three different vendors in the hope that I would be able to create a similar effect for the vault’s light piping. In some places I applied 5-10+ layers of the stuff. The effect seems to work, especially with a blacklight, but attaining an even, bright glow may have eluded me on this project.
The lighting effects were difficult to capture properly, and I do feel I could have taken better photos. Overall, this one was a journey that I am pleased to have taken.
Edit:
Process Photo GalleryFile Edits
Fresh Prints
Wiring Circus
Test Fitting a Captive
...and testing muzzle size & fit.
Endcap
