Hello, you may recognize my work from the original Gearbox forums where I was posting under the handle of Machinist-Psycho. I love Borderlands and have been making props based on the series for almost a year and a half now. My first approach was the Krieg Buzzaxe. I did a sculpt from aluminum and cast urethane copies from the molds I produced. The final product looks like this:
While a full paint of the kit looks like this:
I feel great about this piece as my first attempt at bringing the awesome cell shaded work of the folks at Gearbox and 2K to life. That being said, it was a first attempt and as time wore on I wanted to improve on the design, functionality, and in-game accuracy of the prop.
So here I am, in phase two.
I took one of my more flawed pulls from the first run and (after correcting flaws) started shaving down and building up the various aspects of my original design that I saw as unfit. I also reworked the blade to have the proper shape and number of teeth, as well as the axle hardware to match the style and detail in the game. Here are some photos of the resulting components prior to molding:
Bodies Left and Right-
Axle hardware-
I will be molding these components as well as the new blade blank over the next week or so.
With the components to be molded ready for process, I began with the blade blank and hardware molds. I’m not going to go into too deep of a description of the process on these parts. I employed a simple technique to execute these molds: build a little/big box close to the size of the parts to be molded, seal the box, affix the parts within the box using non-sulfuric clay, and pour the silicone. I will show photos of the molds when I get to the pulling casts stage.
For the main bodies of the prop I am employing a mix of techniques, a combination two-part & jacket/mother mold. I embedded the piece part way in clay on a nice flat piece of 1/4" (7ga) aluminum leaving 3/4 to 1" of overage to allow for the keys on the edge of the mold. This I hemmed with a small roll of clay to minimize spillage and allow for a thicker edge without much trimming. I used small (3/8") metal studs for keys. They are a nice shape and have two prongs on the bottom that help hold them in place. Here is a close photo of one half all “clayed up” and ready for molding.
I have completed the molding process for the two halves. I employed a silicone jacket mold with a hard plaster mother. This is a long process that is detailed in many videos by many authors out in the ether of cyberspace. Here are a couple photos from the process:
This is what I ended up with:
I started pulling casts and playing with colors and ratios in preparation for painting.
Here is one mocked up with a raw handle, roughed in blade, and steel hardware. The axle assembly on the final products will be urethane resin.
Things are progressing swimmingly. I have commenced the painting process in preparation for my giveaway and start of orders on the axe prop. I have decided to do a game themed paint for the prize.
The purple version in the back is a personal paint job. I’ll post pictures when its all said and done.
I started (and now finished) a fresh batch of handles. I use reclaimed hardwood for this application. Here is a shot of the progress from raw template (the two on the left), roughed in with 36 grit on a grinder (the next one), and a semi-finished sand to 80 grit on an orbital sander (on the right).
I added the mismatched “toxic aqua” color splatterns with the aid of some frisket and delicate hands. In this photo I had barely applied the first layer of weathering to the new color.
After some extra detail sanding and shaping I gave the handles a nice coat of chestnut colored stain to bring out the natural beauty of the wood. I then topped that all off with two coats of matte clear lacquer and a top coat of Permalac matte.
The wrap detail is done with actual bandages adhered to the handle and weathered with a series of acrylic washes. This too gets another layer of clear lacquer to seal the deal. I made a repeatable template to add the splatter detail to the blade and hardware and weathered them accordingly. With all the little ends worked out I took some shots of the finished parts disassembled…
… and fully assembled before delivering unit 01 to my client.
The total length is around 28" (71 cm) and the weight is right at 5 lbs (2 kilo).
I had a lot of fun making this prop and hope you enjoyed seeing a little of the process behind it. Of course I will be taking orders for completes, so P.M. me if you are interested.
, how much?