# Mad Science Display Jars part 1 of 3



## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

*Part 2 of 3*

Step 4 Casting The Bolts

This is a good time to get to the nuts and bolts of the project, as it were.








Personally, I scrounged around in my garage looking for a couple of nuts that I could pair with screws or bolts for an interesting effect. I found two screws with heads that I thought would look cool. They were way too small for the nuts, but the heads of the screws did not slip through the center hole, so I hot glued them together and called it good.

I planned to use two methods for making the bolts. One was sandcasting, and the other was using clay as a mold.

My coarse sand was good enough for bigger projects but not good enough for the details of these bolts. Floral sand would be much better. Anyway, here's the basic idea of sandcasting:

Put sand in a container.
Get it wet.
Press the object into the wet sand.
Pack the sand around the object down.
Remove the object.
Fill the depression with hot lead or hot glue or whatever medium.
Let it cool or harden, then remove the cast and knock the sand off. No release agent necessary.








I actually ended up using the bolts molded from plasticine clay. As expected, the hot glue softened the clay up quite a bit and it stuck to the finished cast. Still, it worked. I did use oil as a "release agent" to try to prevent the sticking. It did not help at all.

Next time I will use Home Made Sugru Substitute for the mold. It worked well for other projects.

Step 5 Painting the Bolts


After the bolts are removed from the mold and cleaned, they need painting. Remember this is supposed to be a mad scientists' demented experiment, so pretty is NOT the goal. The crudely casted (is that a word?) bolts need to look fairly realistic, but not "just went to Ace Hardware" clean.

I first spray painted them flat black using the cheaper paint. It sticks just fine to hot glue.

When that was dry, I sprayed some metallic silver paint into a plastic bag and dipped a paper towel into that paint. I brushed the silver onto the top and sides of the bolts. The idea is to make some contrast between the high and low points to bring out some detail.










I should mention that while I was "dry brushing" the silver on the bolts, I decided to do the same with the blisters all around the jar. I thought it would make a nice contrast.

Step 6 Adding the Bolts to the Painted Jars

By now, my jars were dry and ready to get their bolts.

I simply decided where the bolts would look good, and hot glued them to the jars.

I was a little worried about whether gluing over paint would work, but it did. Otherwise, I would be advising to glue the bolts on prior to painting the jars. I'm glad it worked, because I am new to painting, and ti would have been harder for me to get the bolts a different color from the jars that way.

I think they look pretty good.


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

*Part 3 of 3*

Step 7 Begin the "Weathering"

Since I wanted to give the impression of a brass/copper metal, I started the weathering with a turquoise acrylic paint. It looks just like the color I have seen on tarnished copper. 

I thinned the paint a bit with water to help get it all around whatever "joints" or transitions existed in the jar.

Once I knew I had paint where I wanted it, I thinned it enough to really run and brushed it on pretty liberally so it got on the bolts and in the crevices. I used paper towels to dab the excess off and tone it down.










Step 8 Finishing Details


To finish up, I used a combination of red, brown, and metallic acrylics to add whatever oxidation and grime I thought appropriate - or cool - or creepy.

Then I pulled off the masking and added some goop in the appropriate places. 








The jar with the screw on lid got knocked over while the spray paint was drying and cracked the corners and one of the faces. Remember I wanted to use that one with liquid? So I hot glued the cracks and even built up hot glue in the broken corners. Since that would never look like glass, I did not try to hide the glue. I went for a vein / growth look, and painted the glue green with acrylics.









For the heart jar, I put some red acrylic paint on my brush and splattered it around on the inside of the jar.

I finished the whole thing with a thin wash of water and black acrylic paint. I just poured it on and let it run everywhere. It was very thin. I dabbed it off with a paper towel and ended up with what I think are pretty grimy looking jars without losing the details or obscuring the contents.

Step 9 Display The Finished Product

At this point, you can put your atrocities on display!

As I mentioned, I intend to light these jars from below as part of my mad scientist scene on Halloween. I have not built the actual display yet, but perhaps when I do I will add even more pics. In the finished display, there will be several sources of ambient lighting, but nothing very bright.

Still, I like my props to withstand observation even under daylight conditions. Technically, it is only necessary to hit the "High" notes with the painting. Contrasting copper and silver with red and green goop would look just fine under Halloween lighting.

I left the screw on lid more or less untouched here. I'm not sure if I need to incorporate tubes to blow air into it for bubbling liquid or to add random tubes and wires, or just leave it as is and put it on a back shelf.

The pics show the jars in various lighting conditions. I'm sure your imagination can supply you with test tubes, a Jacob's Ladder, and other necessary equipment!






















As an aside, I don't know what's up with my camera. 5 year old boys have better focus.


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

*Additional pics*


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## tlc102462 (Nov 2, 2008)

Great ideas - I might steal a few - fantastic detail!!!


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

tlc102462 said:


> Great ideas - I might steal a few - fantastic detail!!!


Thanks for the comment! Please "steal" as much as you like - and post pics of what you end up doing.


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## hallorenescene (Dec 28, 2007)

they turned out very nice. interesting concept


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## JustJimAZ (Jul 26, 2010)

hallorenescene said:


> they turned out very nice. interesting concept


Thanks! I am glad you liked them.


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