Gem Casting Basics

We broke out the molding and casting supplies to cast some gems! Our buddy loves Final Fantasy XIV so we're making him Azem's Crystal.
Punished Props - How to Make a Mold
www.punishedprops.com/how-to-...
Dangerous Ladies - Azem Stone - 3D Model
dangerousladies.ca/collection...
The Pen Habit
/ @penhabit
Tools and Materials:
Mold Max 29NV - Silicone
www.smooth-on.com/products/mo...
Vacuum Chamber - Amazon
amzn.to/2HBmyXG
Double Stick Tape - Amazon
amzn.to/35iPJFv
Battery Powered Hot Glue Gun
surebonder.com/collections/gl...
Smooth-Cast 325 - Urethane Resin
www.smooth-on.com/products/sm...
Mixing Cups - Amazon
amzn.to/3y94tKA
So-Strong Tints
www.smooth-on.com/product-lin...
Cast Magic Powders
www.smooth-on.com/products/ca...
5 Gallon Pressure Pot
www.finishsystems.com/collect...
NOVUS Plastic Polish - Amazon
amzn.to/44vfdiu
Tamiya Paint
www.tamiyausa.com/shop/paints...
Punished Props Mission: Transforming passionate fans into confident, skillful makers. Find out more at www.punishedprops.com
Fun ways to help our channel:
Join our Extra Credit Club! www.punishedprops.com/extra-c...
Buy our books! www.punishedprops.com/shop
Share your projects with us on twitter!
/ chinbeard
Music from www.epidemicsound.com/
Disruptive Storms - Martin Klem
Just the Banjo - Pearce Roswell
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

[@BatbugDoodles]

Without going too far into spoilers; I'm not sure if you've realized but you've given your friend an item that has a very significant meaning towards someone who is traveling a great distance away from those they care about. It's a perfect choice for a going away present

[@punishedprops]

That's so great

[@MattArmstrongMusic]

Thanks again, you guys. And thanks for the going on 17(!) years of friendship as well. You better come visit the next time you're in the area!

[@punishedprops]

We will Matt! You’re the best

[@stewy6784]

OMG THE AZEM CRYSTAL?? THAT'S SO PRETTY

[@punishedprops]

Thank you! ❤️

[@ordnaelshideout]

That's one of the nicest gifts you could give to a FFXIV-loving friend who's leaving town: with the Azem crystal, he's going to be able to summon you whenever he's going to need your aid, no matter the distance (nor whether you're alive or not)! 🫶🏻

[@punishedprops]

Awe! ❤️

[@yayrayday]

As an FF14 player, the moment where you receive Azem's crystal and first use it is a really impactful and badass scene and this lil prop piece is worthy of that moment for sure. It's an important and recurring symbol in the last leg of the current game, and I'm so delighted you made one. I've always wanted to own my own version, so maybe I'll make it myself

[@punishedprops]

That's so cool to know

[@Reinetier]

The crystal of The Traveler, Shepherd of the Stars. The perfect gift for a Final Fantasy XIV nut who is moving.

[@lonewulf0328]

Perfect gift for any warrior of light

[@Ryotsu2112]

This crystal is huge in the game lore. Amazing work!

[@punishedprops]

Thank you! We tried looking up the lore and it's a rabbit hole--we'll just have to play the game ourselves :D

[@ordnaelshideout]

​@@punishedpropsJUST DO IT, you won't regret any instant of it. And no spoilers!

[@Ryotsu2112]

@@punishedpropsYeah it’s a journey for sure!

[@ElisaShaffer]

I love the homestar runner reference “get it off, get it off, get it off”

[@punishedprops]

There’s a sock on my head?

[@dapperprops]

What a nifty little project. EVERY TIME I see someone make pressure pot gems/crystals/anything I want to go out and buy one! lol What a lovely gift for your friend. 💛

[@punishedprops]

Awe thanks!

[@TheDisturbed0Angel]

Ohhh, I can't wait to share this one with all my FFXIV friends! And to hear more about this on TMS of course!

[@punishedprops]

I’ll chat Scott and Brian’s ear off, for sure 😁

[@MissMerc]

The color you got was so very near that of Fire Opal! Beautiful!! Imagine floating one of those wireless LEDs in this... Now all I need is a fan of the game in my life who'd want such a thing! This was amazing to watch, thank you~.

[@SolarBlademaster]

A friend just shared this with me, and the timing was perfect as I had printed a self-made model of Azem's crystal a few months back and had been holding off on painting it due to laziness. I'm inclined to give this a shot as a weekend project soon!

[@punishedprops]

That’s great! Painting could look really cool, too.

[@maxs-lz4pn]

Best of luck! Hope it turns out well!

[@deanmpatton]

Should note, for best results on clear objects, both the casting *and* mold should be pressurized. And if you plan to reuse buckets, label what was in it previously - a container that was used for tin silicone will not behave nicely with a platinum in the future and vice versa.

[@matthewkapala9243]

That's a cool project and the final result looks great. Coloring the surfaces between grits is a clever trick!

[@bruinflight1]

This is so awesome! Great to see you Bill and Britt, thanks for another great hangout I love watching you build stuff The sign switch to 0-days glitter-free broke my brain ^_^

[@deanospimoniful]

Fine work, Bill. I'm sure your friend will love it. BTW, if you ever feel like it, I'd love to see more props from FFXIV sometime.

[@punishedprops]

The art from Final Fantasy is so beautiful.

[@TheBigRedSharkable]

always a pleasure to spend some time you you two. keep up the great work

[@Tardisntimbits]

Very envious of your friend, it turned out gorgeous and worthy of any WoL!

[@SlytherinReviews]

To stop the item from moving around, you could do an indent in the foam itself or you can get the pick-pluck foam to do the indent for the item to sit in

[@DarthG33k]

That is gorgeous. I've done some similar polishing with resin prints. Made a pendant for my mom with the norwegian flag in transparent red resin, and then painted the white and blue lines. It came out fantastic, especially after polishing the outer red portion!

[@JoinTheDeadArmy]

That novus product saved a ps1 disc that had a huge big scratch in it, also happened to be disc 2 of 4

[@mmseng2]

Ditto. It saved the rather delicate polystyrene sheets on some cheap frames I bought, when I inadvertently scratched them up with a vacuum brush attachment. It does take a lot of elbowgrease for an area that large, and I eventually got smart and used a buffing wheel and a hand drill.

[@punishedprops]

That’s great news!

[@itsagundam79]

My red So Strong pigment also had a massive leak, the only color in the 10 pack to really go everywhere. My black in the 4oz dropper bottle is really messy under the cap, but it all stays under the cap. Sometimes I leave a little flashing around the lip of the mold. It's my sign not to overfill. If the flash moves up, I've added too much. You can actually paint the mold before you add the resin if you have parts that need it. It'll impregnate into the resin and not need to worry about additional sealer or getting the paint damaged. I believe Willowcreative uses this technique to paint blades.

[@punishedprops]

Awesome, that’s good to know!

[@aprilblackregentart6647]

Bill, you make me want to try all the crafty makey things, even though I have no tools or equipment. That was really sweet of you to make that for your friend

[@punishedprops]

I live to inspire creativity ❤️

[@brendanmcclelland3156]

I like the more frequent uploads!

[@ConnorSinclairCavin]

On the sanding i do a similar thing but i use a tiny watered down alcohol ink wash, using a sponge applicator and give an object a light bath so i make sure not to miss and spots, tho i always check anyway with close ups and lights

[@punishedprops]

Oooo, I like that---thanks for the tip!

[@ConnorSinclairCavin]

@@punishedprops soaking a pre-buff wheel in the stuff can similarly help work down high spots

[@TheTaylorwailer]

EEEEEE! The seat of Azem!!

[@Warhawk76]

You friend Matt is smart to get the hell out of this horrible place. Great project, you always do an awesome job showing your work process.

[@MASI_forging]

The shape looks cool. You did a great work 👍👍

[@TheRealAlpha2]

Casting videos are always so relaxing and satisfying to watch. Great job as usual!

[@maxs-lz4pn]

I'm a simple man. I see pretty shiny gem, I click.

[@grahamwinter4665]

All making is different levels of sanding.

[@punishedprops]

Truth

[@SkyeSalindar]

Beautiful work!

[@pompompom2018]

A very neat and clean project indeed. That's a sweet gift. Gratz 🙂

[@ZelosDraconis]

This makes me want to try to make the rest of the job stones in resin, now to get the supplies XD

[@Velocity_AU]

When i saw the glitter, I was just waiting to see the sign go back to 0

[@punishedprops]

I went to put the 2 back on the sign today, but the number has a finger print of gold glitter on it. Stuck at zero for now 😆

[@Velocity_AU]

@@punishedprops Its trapped you in a glitter incident timeloop, you can never escape

[@YetiGT]

should have been named "Airy Poppins" 😂

[@punishedprops]

Bahahaha

[@Justrex01]

So very shiny. Is there anything you guys don't know how to do and look amazing? Thanks for sharing with us!

[@RealAndySkibba]

Really fun build!

[@Demonskunk]

Oh my goodness, I WANT ONE!

[@seekertosecrets]

Someday this week, I'll make own mold.

[@ConnorSinclairCavin]

Never can one have too many gems

[@AzraelThanatos]

One thing that can make the gold work easier is to go with an alcohol based gold paint marker, then wipe away the excess with either a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol or a wet wipe. And for gems, if you are working on a gem that is going to stay in a display setup rather than handled, you can massively up the sparkle effect with some of the nicer chrome paint on the back side of it.

[@punishedprops]

Great advice!

[@AzraelThanatos]

@@punishedpropsYou might also consider a light layer of a high gloss spray for a more gem like look, perhaps more than one if it's meant to be handled. A lot of resins end up scratching and showing dust a lot more than they should there

[@SonofDadSC]

Would be great to see a side by side comparison with a direct resin casting with transparent resin.

[@HawkWorley]

That looks so shiny!

[@Jeefer_Gary]

23:35 Me too Bill. Me too.

[@lamius]

The gluegun looks to be a Surebonder brand, I didn't see it listed in the tools section, but am sharing in case others are on the hunt for one.

[@punishedprops]

You called it! I'll add the glue gun to the description.

[@philippecharitat467]

I'd buy a full set of the Convocation of XIV gems from you.

[@Omnivore42]

Awesome demo for mold making! But where did you get those mixing cups?

[@punishedprops]

We get our bigger cups from Smooth-On or TAP Plastics. The smaller cups were bought on Amazon: amzn.to/3y94tKA

[@DafyddRoche]

amazing work - but silly question - how did you avoid the resin print from inhibiting the silicon curing?

[@punishedprops]

Tin silicone doesn’t get messed up by much. Platinum silicone is the one that hates many things: 3D printing resin, latex, the cold, etc. Tin silicone isn’t as long lasting and has more shrinkage than Platinum.

[@andybobandy641]

Why not vacuume the clear resin out too? Does it only de-bubble with pressure?

[@punishedprops]

You can totally put mixed resin under vacuum, but the working time of the resin we used was only three minutes. One of the quick cure time benefits is that the sparkles get locked in place before settling.

[@ConnorSinclairCavin]

The forbidden orange soda…

[@segafan2437]

Well that thumbnail caught my attention.

[@edburdo]

The leftover "junk resin" from the bottom of the cups... have you considered saving and sending that to someone like Nick Zametti or Peter Brown to try and dump into another bucket of resin, and then turn it on a lathe?

[@peters7413]

For 25.48 my mind went on a vacation 😘

[@zephiel70]

Yay gems!

[@letstrycosplay]

Resin Caster math: It’s hard to mix small batches of resin, so any resin used to make more stuff is basically free. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@punishedprops]

Haha we did go to art school.

[@thedoctor755]

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiinteresting!

[@PinkThorn242]

Do you have any recommendations for people who don't have access to a pressure caster for things like this?

[@punishedprops]

The resin we use cures super fast, but if you get a resin that takes over night to cure, the bubbles will have enough time to escape. The down side is the glitter might settle before curing. We used 325, but 326 and 327 have a longer "Pot Life" (how long it says liquid and bubbles can escape) www.smooth-on.com/products/smooth-cast-327/

[@tatwho]

Oooo are the hems splendor related?

[@GrizzleMakes]

I’ve been meaning to make a mold of my gems. Hi-yoooo

[@GrizzleMakes]

Sorry. I’ll see my way out.

[@punishedprops]

Hahaha 😆

[@anthonytesta3716]

Hi, Fellow maker Punished props maker. I saw you use a white try transfer decal on a Nuka Cola blaster gun. I am looking for a supplier of try transfer decals. Do you make them yourself? Where can I find a supplier? Thanks A.

[@punishedprops]

Hello! We design our decals in Inkscape and cut them out on our vinyl cutter. I imagine Etsy has vinyl decal sellers for popular logos.

[@anthonytesta3716]

@@punishedprops ok thanks.

[@anthonytesta3716]

Always beautiful work !

[@MickTee2k]

Was there a reason you didn't use clear printer resin?

[@punishedprops]

Glitter messes with the 3D printer’s resin layers curing properly. Tinting clear resin in the 3D printer is totally an option, though! It’s a great way to get those orange grips on the Blade Runner gun.

[@MickTee2k]

@@punishedprops I have seen people use various additives and glitter in resin prints (although I have not done so myself) but wasn't aware it had any significant negative impacts. I do understand that there will be a strength/bonding issue as printing resin is not designed to adhere to anything other than itself but that is not a concern in this case, and should be easily fixed with a minor additive. Thanks for the response :)

[@billbucktube]

👍👍‼️

[@SkeggoxWorkshop]

could you do a full tutorial on making a pip boy from each of the games for those who cant afford the upscaled price of the replicas or the new one from bethesda? solely for cosplay purposes

[@noneyabidness9644]

That Zelda item obtained sound effect seems out of place in a FFXIV video. 🤣

[@punishedprops]

I should have said "Kupo!"

[@TheRealAlpha2]

Especially these days, Nintendo might DMCA you. lol

[@tiffanysandmeier4753]

​@@TheRealAlpha2I am pretty sure a vocal recreation of the sound that is just a few seconds would fall under fair use. I know copyright is broken, but if that isn't fair use, I don't know what would be.

[@blizatrex]

The gem looks awesome. The gold glitter sort of radiated out for an interesting sunburst effect.

[@punishedprops]

Thank you! Yeah, it's like the resin cured before the glitter could settle--super cool effect!

[@sidevon6819]

Could have got it done a lot quicker if they had just 3D printed in a clear resin they had dyed to the right colour.

[@punishedprops]

But then it would have the sparkles! Glitter prevents the resin print layers form curing.

[@cwyvern4861]

Looks like amber a bit

[@eetdotcom]

This is sooo cool, would love to see you try to make some/or all of the Job Stones from FFXIV.