DIY Crystals for Tabletop Miniatures. Waste of time?

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In this video I sculpt some miniature crystals, create a mold with translucent silicone, and cast coloured crystals using UV resin and ink to use on tabletop miniatures and terrain for games like Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer.
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[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

All 3 Clans are available for purchase right now with a HUGE first week discount, only until December 19th! bit.ly/BMCNidavellir Thanks @LootStudios for sponsoring this video and keeping the hobby awesome! This is the best time to get Journey to Nidavellir!

[@Allan_Lugia]

I feel like a resin printer and some contrast paint is the best option for crystals in multiple colors

[@jimmyolsen4046]

you might want to take a look at your local drugstore for the small syringes

[@alaskankare]

faster curing resin could be used, you would just have to prep a longer mold. maybe 3d printing a longer display of crystals and mold that? good try! great way to find another use.

[@EvanEdwards]

And thank YOU, sir, for making my wife giggle when I called her over to hear the syringe sounds. I have yet to watch the whole thing, but I feel like this screams for outlet channels at the far end that you can later snap off like sprue. That's typical in injection molding, which you are starting to tread into with this project.

[@dylandevious]

The 3d printing issue you brought up, you can print em in translucent resin and dunk them in alcohol ink. Or print them hollow and put a few drops of alcohol ink on the INSIDE only :)

[@nostalgiaflipnfix]

Exactly this! I printed some fake amber pieces and used the alcohol ink method with really nice results. Gloss clear coat finishes things off nicely too.

[@dylandevious]

@@nostalgiaflipnfix yes! I used this method for scatter terrain and for the spiritual gems from Ocarina of Time I printed!

[@RoseKindred]

@@nostalgiaflipnfix How long have you done this for? Have you noticed discoloration even with the clear coat? I've never tried it yet, so I don't know the long-term look.

[@Writh811]

I was thinking this the whole video lol

[@sickviking9892]

He could also print nice and smooth masters to make his mold out of, so he doesn't have to deal with the wood texture.

[@tinaprice4948]

I made a bunch of crystal scatter terrain from clear plastic rocks from Michaels I think that are for putting in the bottom of a vase for flowers. I just glued them together in interesting patterns and then used some watered down paints to tint them, they are still see through. They look great!

[@LathanM]

3d print them in a single color then wash them with inks. They will stay translucent and no vat changes. You can also buy Crystal molds at most craft stores cheaply and they come in a tone of sizes. Lastly clear acrylic rod works too. Just quickly carve and wash with inks.

[@cass9373]

I second this!

[@crucialblue]

This is how I do my crystals as well! Inks/Speed Paint/Contrast Paint/etc, (I used Army Painter's Speed Paint line) do a FANTASTIC job of staining without sacrificing much of the translucency, then just hit them with a gloss varnish to make them even more translucent. I did a quick search online and found a utility to allow you to make randomized crystal STLs based off of parameters fed into the tool. (Crystal height, amount, shape, facet number, etc)

[@immutableimpossible2028]

I really appreciate these “process”-y videos - it helps as a mindset reminder when struggling with projects that aren’t going as planned. Side note: I found that a purple “laser” pointer is super effective for spot-curing uv resin, and really helps if you have a fussy hollow model to cure the insides!

[@natekalenkse4960]

Always love you videos. It's because you narrate your thought process on trying to solve little problems like if your out of material so you pick something else on hand. Instead of just publishing the video of a perfect built without mistakes you show how you got there. Super inspiring for me and gives confidence to just make stuff.

[@Storm-crow13]

There are always the crystal growing kits that may produce a large quantity of crystals for crafting. Or make a larger amount of molds to mass produce with 2 part resin. Also I think using balsa for the crystals probably adds texture to the molds that may make bubbles stick to the inside of the molds. So making the crystal masters out of hot glue sticks may make better molds.

[@greensun5998]

Working with what you have you could try warming the UV resin before pouring to lower the viscosity. It might also be useful to dust the mold lightly with talc to help draw the resin to the points by capillary action.

[@billtempleton2870]

I’ve seen a few folks make crystals from hot glue, which seems like a pretty good option for larger, terrain-scale crystals.

[@Gauldame]

I did it, and with LEDs and inks they look really good. My only caveat is learn from my mistakes, use one of those hot knife foam cutters instead of a regular knife. For terrain you have to cut so many and even with a fresh blade it takes a bit of pressure. Your hands ache after a hot minute, like "I don't want to do this" ache.

[@BionicPerry1970]

Came here to say this. Definitely have seen some good results with hot glue sticks, and you can carve them to size. And doesn't take too long either! I've even seen LED lights inserted in them!

[@seankelley9928]

@@Gauldame THANK YOU. I'm actually having to do crystals for a mining cave encounter, and I have been using the glue sticks method. They look great, but good lord do they make me feel like I'm developing carpal tunnel. I'm definitely using my hot knife withe next batch. Thanks so much for the tip! 😁

[@wapitistablecrafts5515]

Dip the hot glue sticks in hot water after carving. So they get more translucent

[@Primal2229]

Bonus with hot glue sticks is that they can also be dyed. I dropped some in some rit dye just to test and while red was either solid blood red or foggy, the black was like obsidian.

[@RoseKindred]

I like that you are still doing "classic" modeling and techniques. You can make almost perfect crystal masters with the 3D printer, but this still gives a nice in-depth for those who do not have one. Even though I knew how to do this, it was still fun to watch and watching your process, picked up a few tips.

[@AnneIllustrating]

Great video with a fantastic lesson at the end. Thanks for sharing, man. My terrain crystals came from the jewelry section of my local craft store. Jewelry seems to be one of their slowest moving items because they’re always on sale or in the clearance section where I go. Just colored glass shaped into crystals and cheap quartz. They were pre-strung, but the holes are so thin, they’re practically unnoticeable after being based and set with other terrain materials. It’s a decently fast alternative, but not the best when you need bulk amounts.

[@ZethsCraftDesk]

First, thank you for the tip about using the curing station with UV casting resin! I don't have a resin printer running because of my living situation but I do some resin crafting. I have one of those little UV lamps that looks like the lamp people cure nail polish with, but a curing station looks more useful for larger things. As for doing the crystals, here's what I'd do differently: In general, there's actually a ton of different crystal molds on the market anyway for inexpensive prices. Some are actually pretty small since they're intended for jewelry. I'd get a few different designs so I have different styles and sizes. If I made my own molds, I'd probably want to give the master crystals a glossy clear coat so the molds are glossier. If I were using 2-part resin, I mix the pigment into one of the parts before mixing the parts together. This gives me time to make a conce trated mix I'm satisfied with. However, I still prefer the long cure resin if I'm doing 2-part resin because 1) longer cure times makes it easier to get all the air bubbles out and 2) some of the fast cure ones swell up amd yellow faster. For UV resin, I prefer to use the little silicone cups that kinda have a spout like a measuring cup over the plastic cups. The spout helps with pouring them into small molds, and since it's silicone, I can toss it under UV light to cure the remaining resin and peel it out so it's a clean cup. I'll also sometimes use a toothpick to try and help make sure hard-to-reach thin areas don't have air bubbles. Sometimes you can also use lighters above the resin to bring up and pop bubbles, or put the mold on a vibrating surface if you can find/makeshift one and shake the bubbles loose. *** For terrain, you could do a mixed media project. Craft stores sell crushed glass vase filler that works for small crystals. You can also get tiny crushed glass resin fill in the glitter section at Michael's or online. You could start with resin crystals of varying sizes, from the sizes you did to larger sizes (again, I'd probably mostly buy the molds but maybe make a few special ones). Once all the resin crystals are placed, use UV resin to put the vase filler in place. You can also sprinkle in the crushed glass resin filler directly into the vase filler mix or add it after. Then after you do the crushed glass, make a thick paste with glossy or gritty acrylic medium/clear coat and some fine glitter, and work it in around the crevases at the bases of the other crystals. This will trick the eye into thinking it's some tiny "new growth" crystals at such a small scale. Be warned that some of the crushed glass resin fillers do bleed colour when exposed to liquids (including resin), so experiment with each individual component first. I used some molds of basic shapes to make "stepping stones" to test out the crushed glass blends I could make for a couple dioramas I want to do.

[@JKevinCarrier]

Way to make lemonade out of lemons! The crystals look great on the bases. So great, in fact, that I'd be tempted to carve the "crystals" off the minis and replace them with translucent ones. Of course, that would be even more labor-intensive...

[@lennartb]

I 3d printed a few skulls and bones, made one small mold and after casting one set I made two more molds from the prints and the first cast. Now every time I pour resin I use these skull molds as a dump mold for my excess epoxy, and over time I'm amassing a nice collection! You can also make a small incision in the mold so you can pry it open for filling up, at most you'll get very minimal flashing that you can easily get off.

[@lauraevans2104]

Jeremy, thank you for showing a video where it just didn't work out. I think it helps people to know it's cool to have something fail and you can figure out another way or maybe that's not a viable project. Hope you're having a great day.

[@harlandmountain7998]

3d printing your crystals on their sides so the bottoms are open would allow you to then go back and fill the crystals with tinted resin. It would also allow you to make crystals of various sizes. Edit: Also, I'll be getting my first 3d printer soon! The Elegoo Mars 2 Pro. Do you have a master list of all of the miniature companies/Patreons you'd recommend?

[@aaronbono4688]

There are so many companies now, just go out on my mini factory and find the ones you like and see if the designer has a monthly subscription because that's where you'll get the biggest bang for your buck. A lot of the monthly subscriptions are also on patreon.

[@jc7997aj]

Cg trader, cults 3d and yeggi are also 3 good sites. There are plenty of free .stl files put there. Dont feel like you have to start spending a bunch of money. Especially starting out playing and dialing in settings use free .stls. there are even free calibration .stl files. Helps you check your settings.

[@aaronbono4688]

@@jc7997aj the one thing I would caution somebody on though is getting models that are not pre-supported. I would definitely recommend you start with well pre-supported models even if you have to spend a little money at first. There's enough you have to learn in fine-tuning the printer settings that I would not recommend you have to learn how to do supports right off the bat. Personally I love the loot studios models because they're really cool, you get a lot of them for very little money and they do an exceptional job with the supports. Once you get comfortable with doing the printing then you can start looking at doing your own supports which is a pretty steep learning curve for all but the simplest models.

[@JacopoSkydweller]

I went onto myminifactory and just searched free minis. I found about 100 STL's in an hour of searching. Plenty to get started with. Also: MAKE SURE you do your homework on safety (resin printers are NASTY), exposure times, etc. There's some fantastic youtube videos and calibration tests (the cone test is great) that will lead to far fewer failed prints.

[@harlandmountain7998]

@@JacopoSkydweller I was already planning on using the plant based resin just for that reason, plus I'll be setting everything up in my workshop.

[@dougsundseth6904]

Translucent resin set with a UV flashlight can work pretty well to clear up surface textures. Even a frosted surface can often be made more translucent with a clear-resin surface coat. I might have to print those figures in translucent resin and paint the bodies with opaque paints. I've tried that with other figures and it can work pretty well.

[@wizkidd2079]

This video has been beyond helpful for me. I've been wanting to add crystals to my necrons army. Just never thought of a really good way to mass produce crystals.

[@NotOnLand]

I recommend making them all in clear and airbrushing transparent inks over them, then you can get a much greater and more realistic range of colors and gradients. For example, making the bases purple and feathering out to clear at the tips makes a great amethyst look.

[@5udimax]

11:35 At this point you're giving life advice through your videos and I love it

[@Asri_]

You could do the clear crystals and then paint with a glaze medium with a little ink for color. It'd be translucent and glossy. You could also break up clear acrylic sheets and rods and do the same.

[@CoupaTroupa]

If you are willing to use a fast curing 2 part resin, you can mix your pigment into the resin before you add the hardener leaving you the entire work time to pour the resin. From my own experience pouring resin, the best way to prevent having too much excess is to have more molds, honestly. (unless you want to go through the hassle of pouring water in your molds and then measuring how much water it took to fill them and having to math out how much resin to mix) That will also make it easier to mass-produce the crystals. It's more prep work, but it will streamline the actual production of crystals or other things in the future. Thanks for the process video, nonetheless! It's always nice to see what other people are creating and the methods that do and don't work for them.

[@TheRoamingbison]

Lots of great ideas in the comments! I like seeing videos like this where the original plan doesn’t work as you hoped. I might learn more from these than ones that go smoothly. As far as 3d printing anything transparent or translucent, I always stick with a clear resin and color it afterwards. There’s tons of clear paints and inks, and matte varnish works well as a base “primer” layer. Trying to dye the resin in the vat is rarely a good idea unless you are producing a whole lot of the same color. It wastes a lot of resin and requires too much time to clean the vat afterwards.

[@marinasanford8799]

For one of my campaigns I ended up making crystal clusters that had a geode texture by using baking soda and super glue. I made them on baking paper, and cracked them once they were fully cured. It made for some nice jagged edges, and when painted up with contrast paint, and a glitter gloss finish, they worked well, and we're surprisingly durable.

[@Blandco]

For larger stuff like ice spikes I use the dollar store two part epoxy! But still nothing beats cheap clear resin if you don't mind the wait time. I am still angry that my lovely gelatinous cube I made years ago had faded into a yellow color. I used acrylic paint to tint it which looked amazing at the time but now it's a weird yellow. I got some tinting ink for glass and ceramic projects which should work OK as well as some other stuff I can try out. I think I even got some alcohol ink from the Goodwill that will work.

[@AzraelThanatos]

One option for crystal terrain that I've used is to look in the floral section of the craft/hobby store. There are some very interesting crystal shapes (though normally they're made of glass) that you can use some inks to brush on for a good look, and an even better if you go with metallic craft paints to drybrush over it once the ink is dry.

[@iguanian]

I suggest using 2-part epoxy resin for casting. You can get very thin consistency and a work time that suits your needs, say 15 minutes cure. To make sure on bubble being removed (mostly) I use a toothpick or pin to make sure there isn't an air pocket hiding at the pointy parts of the mold. With a fast cure resin, and a couple molds, you could make a lot of crystals over the course of a day. As a bonus, if you made the mold out of something else, you could cast the crystals in silicone instead so they would be flexible and not break. Trick of course would be trying to attach them to anything. :-P

[@watermelonhelmet6854]

If you want to make them quickly in bulk, first step is to make more molds. Obviously it's a little more expensive to make four or five molds than just one, but for the size mold you need, it's not stupid expensive. Secondly, use fast setting casting resin. You can get clear epoxy that will set in less than 20 minutes and is thin enough that you can just pour it without needing to use a syringe. For the different colours, the trick is to tint only one part of the two part resin. Don't mix part A and B, then add your tint. Instead, tint part A, mix it thoroughly, then add part B and mix just before you're ready to pour. Tinting only one side of the resin also has the added bonus of making it easier to see when the two parts are properly mixed and you're not on the clock while trying to get the colour right. The clock only starts ticking when you mix both parts together. Then, you can production line it. Mix your first batch, pour it... then you can prepare your next batch while the first is curing.

[@jerryhartmann4654]

For pour casting, it's best to wash the mold with "wet" water, aka, watered down we jet. Use a toothpick to pop bubbles in the crevices. With the wet jet, if you miss some bubbles, you can pound the table to force them to rise

[@over9000demonfurbies]

So interesting thing, I made some uv resin crystals recently. The issue inused to fix the resin not going into thr tips of the mold was to use a tiny blunt needle. The resin and uses the small surface area snd you can safely and efficiently push the resin into the small crevices.

[@arcanewarsong]

Have you ever added vents into your molds? A small wire or similar that make a shaft to let the air escape out. The key is to get it placed at the lowest part of the mold/highest point of the cast peice.

[@Lawbringer]

I ran into the same issue with mixing inks into UV resin. The solution I finally came up with was casting them clear, right out of the bottle, then applying a very thin coat of transparent acrylic inks. Worked wonderfully

[@jacob6071]

for 3d printing solution, print in translucent resin and paint the crystals with a mix of desired color acrylic and gloss varnish (or floor polish, but ratio might be different) at like a 1:2 ratio (more or less for opacity). matt varnish should also work if you dont want it glossy

[@mtgemperor]

Fascinating video! I know the old DIY trick of using the hot glue sticks (carefully sculpted) and it is refreshing to see another method. You can probably use some of those crystals in stony scatter terrain as unprocessed crystals!

[@mrlicopoli]

Thanks! I may try adding crystals to a clear base that could be added to any terrain.

[@koriesheffer7120]

Oh man, the asbolute optimism... So Canadian of you. I love it! Thank you

[@SpenceBeGarbage]

Clear hotglue sticks. You can carve and cut them into VERY easy, VERY good crystal shapes of varied sizes. Get some thinner ones, get some of the chunkier thick ones, and get to cutting. You can color them with inks, or even better something like Tamiya "clear" paints. Throw an airbrush coat on and you're done. I've done this to great effect and even use leds to light them. Super fun, super easy project. Give it a try!

[@the_black_fire_7496]

I have done something similar using clear 3d printing resin worked really great. 3d printing resin is also uv resin but way more runny so it is easier to get into the mold and it to can be tinted using alcoholinc.

[@dorisschwaner5548]

some tips for you: never pure silicone into a silicone cup! ;-) UV resin gets thinner if you warm it with a heat gun! warm the resin, fill the mold , squeeze it slightly at the tips end , tap it carefully on the table, and remove the bubbles with the heat gun. hope that will help you.

[@antongunther3977]

for UV resin, mix it very well and heat it up. Put the bottle in a plastic bag and add it to hot water for a while, till the bottle is noticeably warm. That should help it run much smoother. I first adapted this technique when I did water bases but now use it for 3d printing.

[@socko47]

Monoject #412 syringe has a curved tip that is small. There used to be available a ring with two tabs that slid over the outside of the syringe to help you syringe thick materials by giving your fingers a better support. The other thought was you need somehow to thin your resin to get down in small spaces. Or maybe wetting a toothpick and trying to paint the small tips of your crystals first before syringing the rest.

[@MeatSim9]

One quick suggestion for the resin printing angle, use one type of Clear resin (I use Anycubic) and then buy a set of resin dyes. This way, you can mix up small batches of custom colors, run quick test pieces to check the color, and then reproduce the results for larger batches. The nicest benefit of this is, because it's all the same Clear resin, you don't have to clean the vat entirely, just most of it. If there's still a bit of remnant left over, it will just add a natural variation to the crystals. Kind of like how the Mystery Dum Dums are just the batch between batches, when they're changing flavors. Another benefit though, is that since it's all the same Clear resin, you can just pour the leftovers into a single bottle of Clear Waste, and use this resin for either a completely random color (Mine is currently a swampy green.) for prints that you don't care what color it is, or that you plan to make a silicone master of anyway. I used this trick when I was printing up the Sage Medallions from Ocarina of Time, but couldn't find clear colors that matched what I wanted, so I had to invent the right colors. Lots of trial and error, but it opens up so many opportunities.

[@XyerDark]

There are some crystal/gem silicone molds that usually get sold for making jewelry which are bigger and might work better if you plan to go big, an alternative might be to not tint the resin but simply using some watered down paint or premade wash to cover the crystal and then applying some clear varnish for protecting the coat and giving it extra shine.

[@strawberrysmoothi921]

I don't know how well this would work/ the chemistry knowledge that would be involved but actually growing crystals could be cool to try as well.

[@Timberwolf69]

For terrain, these crystals could easily be bigger than what you produced there. Think about stalagmites and stalagtites or some larger patches sticking out of the wall. Some small ones could be used to add some flavor to these.

[@jfrognbTTG]

This is great! I'm amazed at how great those crystals look on the bases. The dynamics between the surface textures add some great depth!

[@paulgee1952]

Save your clear plastic sprues or use 3 d prints in translucent style , if casting in moulds without a vacuum chamber still need air to go somewhere so add some toothpicks as air vents at the bottom of your master moulds ,help them fill easier. Hope helps ?

[@Jalyngos]

If you have translucent resin for the 3d printer that will work in those molds also. You don't have to change out vats and it can also be dyed with alcohol inks.

[@JMcMillen]

That's exactly what I was thinking. Printer resin would be more pourable than the stuff in that bottle, which is probably more suited for coating the outside of an object.

[@MajorLandmark]

Best way to mix colours into two part resin that has a short pot life is to add the colour to either part A or part B first. If the pigment is from the same manufacturer they will usually tell you which one is best. That way you can get the pigment nicely incorporated while there is no time limit. When you mix the two parts together you have to mix well regardless so the pigment will be properly distributed at that point. For sealing down the sides of the mould box, or flat model parts to the base (in this case the plastic cup), I've found PVA glue actually works well. It's easier to get off afterwards than superglue and you can brush on a few extra coats if you're worried about leakage. I definitely prefer small syringes with no needle to a pipette as you suggested. Way more control and less likely to draw up air and add bubbles. 5ml ones are usually good for me and you can buy them in boxes of 100. You'd think the resin curing inside them would make them one use but you can usually pop it out out with a pointy tool and go again. The easiest way to reduce bubbles is to warm your mould up in front of a lamp before you pour. Bigger moulds would need something more substantial but a little one is good in front of a desk lamp (assuming they're not LED bulbs which don't really get hot). The warm mould transfers heat to the resin and reduces it's viscosity, which is the main driver of holding air. It will also speed up curing a little so worth bearing in mind. Beyond that you're looking at vacuum and/or pressure set ups, though they're more important for casting minis where you can't really get away with defects as easily as scenic bits. Casting clear parts really benefits from being pressurised when cast for bubble free clear casts though.

[@snipjackson3604]

Have you thought about using crushed glass? Tons of color and size choices. Cost effective to cover large areas.

[@sickviking9892]

A good place to find small syringes (in person, you can obviously order them online) would be Walmarts (maybe target too) pet section. They often have them for feeding baby kittens that won't take a bottle. I've also had luck at pharmacies who will sell you syringes without needles, or with needles that have been clipped by the pharmacist (EvanandKatelyn had good luck with this) you can ask at a larger pharmacy like CVS or one of those places that are just a pharmacy. I'm sure you can ask at a hospital/clinic/veterinary as well, but I haven't tried. Ones with the blunted needle would be perfect for this type of small project! Another good idea, if you plan to make a hoard of these crystals for whatever reason, you could brush on a thin layer of resin to fill bubbles and gloss the outside, making it more transparent and glossy, then recast them so the new mold is smooth instead of textured by the wood. If you plan to make A Lot™️ of these, it may be worth actually sanding them and polishing them before recasting so you only have to do that work to one set. Now you have two molds!: A clear set that you can add glitters or foil or other fun inserts, and a matte set which could be best if you want to light them from below as the matte surface would beautifully diffuse the light. Having multiple molds is surely a must for mass producing. All depends on the scale of production you're after. Unrelated to this specific video, I haven't been getting any notifications for this channel for the last four months or so. I checked and I'm still subscribed and have notifications set to "all". Anyone have any ideas?

[@dartfast]

Gonna leave a comment just to appreciate how you protect yourself with gloves and respirator while working with resins and other chemicals! Would love to see other terrain creators do this, too, you know lead by example.

[@CrixJoki]

(I am a nail nerd) Just throwing it out there, since it´s such small crystals, UV gels for nails, it´s thinner so it will go into the mold easier, there are transparent colors, sure, they might not be as durable as resin and you won´t get much in a polish bottle, but you can get them for a pretty good prize on places as aliexpress. Added bonus, you can mix some clear base/top coat to change the op of any gel :)

[@johndent5004]

I could not help but laugh out loud with the sound 🤣🤣🤣

[@tn5478]

I used to use UV resin a lot and found that it flows a lot better when it is warmed. I knew some people that would keep a hot water bottle that the UV bottle would rest on that worked for them. Personally, I would just have the bottle on my lap while I'm sitting at my desk getting things prepped. Cold UV becomes almost too viscous for a lot of crafters. Also, cold UV holds bubbles more, it's easier to reduce bubbles when the UV is warmer. I will note that when I'm saying warm, I'm not meaning to boil the resin. Just having my bottle on my lap for about 10 minutes while I'm setting up my space was efficient.

[@AlansWay3DPrinting]

For smaller syringes, pharmacies have 10ml ones for children's medicine (or did before the Tylenol and Advil drought in Canada in recent months). You can get them with some liquid medicines or buy them on their own over the counter.

[@geraldeuton2419]

Your video is very helpful for mental health. Often when I try to do some craft and it doesn't work out I feel like I've failed and shouldn't keep trying. But you talk about turning failure into success thank you

[@a_ggghost]

Print 'em then tint 'em. Dye for synthetic fibers like acrylic and polyester works on clear resin prints depending on how much heat the piece can take. Also had a happy accident when I kept the dye bath just below boiling for a while for a deeper color and the cured resin got a real wild crystalline looking crackle effect. Very brittle, though lol

[@arcanewarsong]

I just want to say how good your audio quality is and thanks. It makes your videos very enjoyable.

[@nathanfreund1227]

Had you considered printing clear then painting in a candy paint like Alclad or Splash candy paints? They're pricier paints, but tint clear stuff super well. Great for lenses, windshields, scopes things like that!

[@JackBishopismyname]

I'd try adding a drop of alcohol ink into the mold and then topping up with the clear UV resin. The colour should bleed enough to colour it somewhat, plus crystals often aren't uniform in colour. Alternatively you could mould them clear and then paint them with a mix of varnish and inks or any number of similar things

[@PaigeMustang]

6:50 I laughed out loud 😂😂 I’ve been wanting to make crystals lately too! We’re in a crystal cave in our old school d&d game

[@benweinberg3819]

I wonder if a cheap plastic baggie with a corner cut off, like an icing bag in baking, would help transfer the colored resin into the vessel (just pouring from the cup), have control over the thickness it comes out to reduce bubbles, and easy to dispose of after pouring?

[@Tgauchsin]

I want a video of you painting one piece from each faction of idols. Talk with us and give us tips to stay on theme with your world you built.

[@sharonkay6781]

You could try laying your cut crystals on a side instead of sticking straight up, then the mold would be long and shallow instead of narrow and deep, that would make it easier to pour resin into.

[@andyrobinson6611]

How about just running them with the clear un-tinted resin and then hit the crystals with inks/washes? Also, if you know someone who works in healthcare, ask them to gram a couple of smaller syringes. You could even ask a Pharmacy to sell you a couple that are usually packaged with children's liquid medications. I'm sure they buy them in bulk. Its hardly bulk processing friendly, but when I need large crystals for terrain, I take a chunk of glue stick and carve it to shape. It even lights up well if you put an LED under/in it.

[@UnvarnishedTarnished]

The beauty of UV resin is as long as you're patient and just wait, you can make sure all the bubbles are gone before curing.

[@creepyshadow]

I've made crystals like this for some of my cavern terrain and have used Acrylic Crystals that you can find off Amazon and used a dremel to shape them and held them over a simple candle flame for a second or two to remove any frosting caused by the dremel PMLAND Acrylic Ice Rocks Crystals Gems 180 Pieces Bag on Amazon....

[@Witchlord]

did you think about possibly squeeze bottles like the red and yellow ones that restaurants use for ketchup and mustard? you can get them at walmart and the initial hole is pretty small. it would also be a smaller tip than the "flavor injector" that you got.

[@TheAuldGaffer]

Could you use the same process but lay the masters on their sides on the base for your silicone pour? This would give you a bigger opening and a shallower depth for the resin pour.

[@KiwiTheIguana]

What you said at the start about ideas that seem really good not going anywhere makes me think of a terrain piece I tried to make about a year ago. For a bit of context, there's a map in 40k Dawn of War where you're fighting in a city around a dead titan that's partially buried in the ground, and that seemed like it could make for really neat 40k scenery, which it absolutely would, but the main problems for me were that it would be weird to just have one or two bits of it sticking around on an table of mostly unrelated terrain, and the one part I got close to completing was way harder to store on account of it just being a partially destroyed gatling gun that I'd made out of PVC pipe and other assorted gubbins. One of these days I do want to finish it, because all it really needs is a paint job, and given how old it could be, that could be really easy to do with mostly spray paint.

[@gggfx4144]

I remember that mission, very cool terrain idea

[@Brian_Rogers]

If you want to try the syringe technique with smaller syringes hit up a farm supply store, they usually have all different sizes of syringes.

[@adambaker549]

What about making large crystals and breaking them down to size? You could use any debris as side filler or on bases

[@SableHavenArt]

I'm not sure if your other followers have addressed this or not, but here are a few tips: 1. If you put the bottle of resin in a cup of warm/hot water about 30 minutes before you start, it will be much thinner and easier to work with. 2.-If you pick up one of those like dollar store stocking stuffer style, handheld back massagers they sell(usually a bunch around Christmas time) and gently vibrate the sides of your mold for a few seconds, the resin will debubble and slip into those hard to reach tips. 3. Nelco(another KZbinr) uses UV resin often to fill small areas and they start by using a toothpick with a drop to get the tips and hard to reach areas. 4. Also, I believe, much like if you were using molds by Bruce Hirst, if you give your mold a quick spritz of water that has a drop of dishwasher rinse agent, it will allow the resin to sink to the tips of your mold(I forget the technical term, but has something to do with breaking the surface tension?) I've not tried this one with resin, but the mold is dry when the resin is added, so in theory it should work. Something to try, anyways.

[@sarnett7303]

Would be curious to see what would happen if you filled your crystal mold up with clear resin (that way you could use the bottle to get it in easier), then added color directly into the mold

[@tokagehideto]

You could try to extract bubbles with vacuum, since the resin is viscous and will not cure until you apply uv light no need for a big a** vacuum pump, a simple vacuum cleaner and a sealed jar would probably work.

[@incognitoatunknown2702]

Ha! I was just at Dollarama in Ontario today and found a whole bunch of small crystal making kits in the toy section. They came in various colours for $1.50 each. I bought every colour thinking perhaps they would be useful for a diorama or a terrain piece. Funny that I come home and see the very same thing just coming from a different angle.

[@skiski1307]

Contrast paint on clear resin works great I did that with gem stone Dragonborn miniatures.

[@aldemarranthisspaceintenti9852]

I've had a lot of luck with "painting" translucent plastics with inks. The inks are translucent so you retain that translucent effect while adding color. I use this for elementals and spell effects, but I'm confident that you could get your clear crystals to the colors you want without the mixing. It even provides you the opportunity to vary the intensity of the color where appropriate.

[@helloalicecraft]

I know this is an older video, but UV resin becomes easier to pour if you heat it up first. It also helps combat bubble formation and a host of other issues. Just an FYI you may need for a future project.

[@keeleycarrigan]

What about using a pressure pot when you do the casting? And maybe use some proper casting material?

[@RuthlessMojo]

To make crystals I just purchase bags of mixed crystals and semi precious stones, create a silicone mould for the crystals and then just use 2 part resin tinted with alcohol inks or pigment powders. Really easy method. You can even use geodes and create a silicone mould for them.

[@Craftlngo]

There is another type of resin. It's called _Cactus Juice._ It's usually used to stabilize wood and hardens out only in heat (roundabout 100°C). The resin has a consistency of water, is transparent and can be coloured. But I've never seen someone using it for casting. Since it's not that expensive it could be worth a try.

[@jenniferikelman5516]

Budget friendly crystal build: take glue sticks and carve them into faceted shapes. Put a glob of hot glue down add the crystals in. Paint with translucent paint. Martha Stewart has a line of acrylic paints at Michael's, her sea glass colors would be perfect for this.

[@chandelen]

Two things I thought of if you chose to revisit later, I wonder if the medicine department would have better size dosing syringes, and I wonder how the 3d print resin would handle the casting since its so small of a volume.

[@ParadoxicalLisa]

Your crystals look great, all things considered. You could try giving them a shot of gloss clear coat. It will fill some of the bubbles and surface scratches and really make them clear and gleamie (which is a word now) This is the kind of thing you really need a pressure pot for, to push out all of those bubbles. Maybe with multiple molds to help with the mass production.

[@cyborglarry]

I wonder about some of those grow your own crystals as well, I do know that they would be brittle. But I was more thinking of using them as your masters for making molds.

[@antoniofreitas3019]

great video as always good sir, but next time try printing the crystals in clear resin and try tamiya's clear range of paints through and airbrush... it's worked wonders for me and I think it'll do so for you too.

[@paulschultz2331]

This videos message was just what I needed to hear after 4 failed prints of a small piece for a larger project

[@btheman779]

Ive done this by tinting clean elgoo resin seems to be thinner than the bottle you had but probably more expensive for large batches

[@matthewdellacruz-walwer3608]

Could you make a larger tinted epoxy resin rod and smash it with a hammer? It would be messy, but you’d probably get a lot of shape variation

[@rafamarchewka5821]

I've made some bases of Demon World for my Chaos Marines Kill Team, with green, translucent crystals. How? Silicon cat litter + diluted wash (ink will work as well). And it's looks aweome for me! And one crystal takes... 10s to paint?

[@dragonis003]

I have seen UV resin in different viscosities, so this might have better luck if you found one that was more watery. Also, since the UV resin only cures when hit with UV light, why not use the vacuum/pressure pots to reduce bubbles? Need to find a remote controlled UV light that you can put in the pressure pot so you can turn it on once it gets up to pressure

[@f4lenwarrior]

@Black Magic Craft What about using real crystal growth kits and either using the grown crystals directly or casting crystal cluster results in a large group mould and mass producing using a dyed 5 min epoxy or using the UV resin?

[@Mara999]

Those ended up pretty good for decorating bases. This is something I'd like to try, as I've wanted to make miniatures with crystals on them, inspired by things like WoW and Darkest Dungeon.

[@Iron_Clad_D3]

when I did my crystals I used clear hot glue sticks and cut them to size and shape. Little bit of watered down paint to get it tinted and transparent, and I was done, about 3 minutes per crystal shard. Then I glued them together in clumps.

[@JadeCatMinis]

Just curious could you have made resin rods and carved the crystals like you did with the balsa wood? It might have required polishing each one to get a fully transparent crystal.

[@MPScrimshaw]

Would a thinned down paint or ink over the clear crystals still look translucent? Might be a good option rather than tinting the resin itself.

[@deeahCHURofWyldeWoodStudios]

When I initially clicked on the video, I thought you were going to show using the grow crystal kits as crystal creation. Y'know, the ones you can get at Michael's and other craft or hobby stores. Still a good video! happy holidays!

[@Ashen.Elixer]

If you want to cast resin crystals, and still have them be easy/quick to fill, treat them like casting dice. One of the sides should be the top, which will give a larger area to pour into, and will still be a flat facet