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[ninana]

Hello,

I'm trying to recreate the Flower Tact from Precure Heartcatch. I don't have enough money to buy two on eBay so I thought I'd make it myself! However I'm new to this so I'm not sure what materials would be the best for this project, especially since it's kind of an odd shape. I have looked around a lot at tutorials but I thought it'd be best to ask directly!

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...wertacttoy.jpg
http://images.wikia.com/protagonist/...ossom_Tact.png

[verdatum]

Model magic or if you can afford it, epoxy clay, wrapped around a 5/8'' oak dowel rod. The only sculpting tools you really need are your hands, some popsicle sticks, and various sizes of paper clips bent into various shaped loops.

To get the dimensions right, print out your ref photo life size and use calipers to compare against your sculpt. cheap calipers are available from harbor freight. They're crappy, but they work.

Smoothing can be done after the clay has hardened with sandpaper. Sand up to 400 grit, prime it paint it white (optional if you used a white primer), then paint the accents (the gold and the pink). Painting the whole thing with a clearcoat will make it more durable, but again, optional.

I'd probably buy the rhinestones. There are websites that cater to jewelry makers that sell plastic gems in all sorts of sizes and shapes at fairly reasonable prices. The alternative is to make a latex mold and resin cast them, but that is a sorta pricey process, and without a pressurization vessel, the resin often comes out cloudy or filled with tiny bubbles.

You can probably salvage the glass shield thingy that encases the crystals in the middle from a random soda or water bottle.

[ninana]

Thank you so much! I hadn't considered clay, oddly enough. I looked at tutorials for plastic (wonderflex, friendly plastic, etc) paper mache, craft foam and foam carving.

I have been able to find the large gemstone at the tip but I can't find large enough rectangular ones. The closest I could find were glass chandelier replacements and @_@ expensive! If you have any other suggestions for where to look I'd appreciate it. Casting my own gems is probably too difficult for me right now. Thanks again!

[verdatum]

Pushpops! If only they were available in more flavors...