Schattenjager Talisman Replica

[Quelea]

...Did I spell that right? Hope so, because we're off to a rough start if I didn't.

I’ve decided to try and make an accurate (relatively, and to the best of my ability) replica of the Schattenjager Talisman from the Gabriel Knight games. I haven’t made anything like this before, but I thought it would be fun to try, as I have a lot of free time at the moment.

My plan is to make the first version from polymer clay, and if it turns out well, to make a mold from that and cast a final version in a more durable material.

To start, I decided to make a vector drawing outlining the different parts of the talisman. I grabbed a bunch of reference pictures* and used a freeware program called Inkscape to draw an outline. Vector drawings are useful because I can easily change the size or colour of individual parts at any time. I hadn’t used a program like this since high school (which is not a too distant past for me, but long enough), so this took time. Here's what that looks like:

http://i.imgur.com/UO2lEwQ.png

I’m using this drawing reference for scale, not detail. On the topic of scale, I got stumped trying to figure out how big this thing should be. The details of the talisman are pretty consistent across the official art, but the size is not. And the reference for size is usually either someone’s chest or hand (big man-hands, no less), which is difficult to use for measurement. So in the end, I just guessed  . The outside diameter of my talisman is 11cm, and all the side bits are each 3cm.

To sculpt out all the different parts, I will first print out that part of the drawing in black. I tape a sheet of wax paper on top of it, because wax paper is transparent and the clay doesn’t stick to it. Then, I can shape the clay on top of the wax paper, using the printed drawing as a reference for scale.

Hopefully posting this thread will help me feel motivated to finish this project, and I will post pictures when I have progress to report.

*Most of the references I’m using come from The Pendulum of Life fan-site. The guy who owns this site actually made a 3D mesh of the talisman, which would probably be helpful, but the file ends up corrupted every time I try to download it. Too bad!

[Signore Buchelli]

...Did I spell that right? Hope so, because we're off to a rough start if I didn't.

In German is exactly "Schattenjäger"; 2 dots above the 2nd "a" -> ä

but the file ends up corrupted every time I try to download it. Too bad!

I've downloaded the file and extracted the inside files with WinRAR. See the attached image.
I've uploaded the .RAR file to my Google-Drive. I hope that you can download from there.

Nice project!! I would love to have that replica at my room ... 

[Quelea]

I've downloaded the file and extracted the inside files with WinRAR. See the attached image.
I've uploaded the .RAR file to my Google-Drive. I hope that you can download from there.

Cool, I will give that a try.

Didn’t work on it much last week because the weather was great, so I spent a lot of free time outside. But these two pieces are coming along and fairly close to being finished. Not too exciting, but hey, it’s something!
 
http://imgur.com/0f5Izem

This part (and its twin) are still a work in progress, but you can see what it'll look like.

http://imgur.com/aRzQE9O

I'm enjoying this so far.

[Signore Buchelli]

these two pieces are coming along and fairly close to being finished

How will you assemble the pieces?

[Quelea]

these two pieces are coming along and fairly close to being finished

How will you assemble the pieces?

Ideally I'd use something that is specifically designed to bond pieces of clay together, like Sculpey Bake and Bond, but it's fairly expensive on Amazon. I'll see if I can find it cheaper in a store, and if not, I'll use something else. I know I have contact cement around here somewhere.

I was really busy last week, but I had time to work on it this week and made some progress.

http://i.imgur.com/ZKJg859.jpg

These two bits are pretty much finished. I'm not going to make the green and red gems right now, but the final version will have them. There are a lot of different tutorials and methods people use to make gems for projects like this, and I haven't figured out which method I'll use yet. As you can tell, I'm in no rush.

http://i.imgur.com/JPelHdH.jpg

I started working on the centre details of the talisman, which is the most detailed and time consuming part of it. As you can see, I made all the parts separately, so it looks like a weird jigsaw right now. I tried making it in one piece at first, but it didn't work out. When I put all the pieces together, you can see how it's going to look when it's done.

http://i.imgur.com/i3Xvb0m.jpg

All of these parts have been baked, so they're solid and can easily be carved and sanded down. Doesn't mean they're finished, though. Regular sandpaper doesn't work well with polymer clay (even when it's dry) because the clay gets stuck and ruins the sandpaper after a single use. Fortunately, someone suggested I try using drywall sandpaper instead, and this works much better. One of the many reasons why it's good to be friends with carpenters.

See this little thing? Guess how many of them I have to make.

http://i.imgur.com/qPu91ri.jpg

The correct answer is 24. This wouldn't be a problem, if not for the fact that each one is smaller than my thumb nail. Gotta squint real hard to make these things. 

[Signore Buchelli]

I'm very impressed!  It looks really wonderful. Are you a true artist? Eye care, do not go to finish as Numbers.

Keep updating, please. Every time I'm more and more interested ... 

[Quelea]

The month of July ended up being way busier for me than I anticipated. However, I've gradually made some progress.

I had difficulty with the base part of the talisman. To put it bluntly, making a circle is hard, even with guides and measurements. I made three attempts at it before I got a result I was happy with. Is it a perfect circle? No, but it's probably as close as I can get doing this by hand. Besides, Plato believed that there's no such thing in the universe as a -truly- perfect circle, and Stephen Hawking agrees.



Anyhow, it's coming along. At this point, I'm working on small details and trying to make everything smooth. I'm excited to move onto the next step, which will be to create a silicone mold of the clay version, which I can then use to cast a durable resin version of the talisman. I have the supplies ready to go whenever I get there.

In any case, the next update will probably come sooner than this one did.

[Signore Buchelli]

Is it a perfect circle? No, but it's probably as close as I can get doing this by hand. Besides, Plato believed that there's no such thing in the universe as a -truly- perfect circle, and Stephen Hawking agrees.

In my humble opinion, it looks perfect, though I do know nothing about those works of art. 

Can you use the silicone mold more than once? Or, after the 1st use, the mold becomes unusable?

[Quelea]

It will be a mold that can be re-used many times. An infinite talisman generator. Good thing mine isn't actually magic, because that would be a dangerous thing in the wrong hands.

Putting pieces together now. Still having a lot of fun doing this. I took a photo with me holding it this time to show the size.

[Signore Buchelli]

Good thing mine isn't actually magic

I'm not so sure. Whenever I look at the last 2 photos of your talisman, I feel a special emotion.

I'm a little confused about it. It isn't a joke.

[Quelea]

I'll pay close attention to my dreams, and be on the look-out for any strange happenings.

I meant it when I said the next update would be sooner, but I started a new job this month, so I've been busy.

Last weekend, I created the mold. First, I put the clay talisman face up in a plastic container. I secured it to the container with hot glue. Next, I made the silicone mixture. This was done by mixing two chemical compounds together. Then, I poured the liquid silicone mixture into the container, on top of the talisman, and let it cure for 24 hours:



The next day, the liquid had cured into a flexible silicone. I pulled it out of the container, then removed the clay talisman from the mold. I was careful, but the clay talisman still suffered collateral damage:



RIP clay talisman. Clay is very fragile. That's the whole reason I wanted to make a plastic version.

Luckily, the silicone cured properly, and the mold turned out well.

Yesterday, I decided to take the next step. I mixed two compounds to create liquid plastic, then poured it into the silicone mold. This mixture cured much faster than the first one:



After just a few hours, I removed the solid plastic talisman from the mold:



...Hey, it worked! I'm pretty pleased with this. The plastic version is lighter and more durable than the original. I don't have to worry about breaking it.



It looks cool held up to the light, too:



The next step will be sanding down those rough edges. Once that's done, I can get to painting it.

[Signore Buchelli]

That was a wow! Very interesting. The process has reminded me a cool puzzle from Broken Sword 1.
The talisman looks too mysterious and magical with the lamp behind it.

RIP clay talisman. Clay is very fragile. That's the whole reason I wanted to make a plastic version.

Oh, my! I see the evil forces (Gedde, Black Wolf & Vampyres) rearing up their ugly face behind you. Be careful! 
Anyway, as Wolfgang broke his heart in order to help Gabriel becoming a true Schattenjäger, the clay talisman has sacrificed its life for its great descendant.

I meant it when I said the next update would be sooner, but I started a new job this month, so I've been busy.

Best of luck! 

[snabbott]

Very cool!

[Quelea]

I am still working on this! I've just been busy with my job. I'm not used to working long hours like this, so it has been difficult to adjust. It's hard to find time for video games-related things. Here's hoping things slow down as winter comes around.

Not much to report, but I've started to paint.

First, I painted the whole thing black, because gold looks better on black than it does on white.



Next, I applied two coats of gold paint. It was too shiny for my liking, so I've been darkening it with more black paint. That's what I'm working on now.



I've yet to start making the gems, but I've figured out how I'm going to do it. I'm going to see if the materials come on sale during Black Friday.

[Signore Buchelli]

Cheer up!  You're very close to the end and the talisman very close to the original. It looks fantastic, actually!

Meanwhile, I posted about your talisman at Facebook (Sierra Chest). I earned 27 "Like"s, my personal plusmarca.