50 hour Daedric dagger prop

 Based on a real time frame, the idea was to create a hero prop and multiple other props for varied use in different materials within 1 working week as part of my studies for FMP along side my 1:8 scale lotus exige. Having done similar work in the past on various movie sets but nothing purely off my own back, i decided from my mock interview that it would be great to broaden my portfolio and demonstrate a like for like model which i could be asked to make working as a professional in the film industry. I created the sculpt in around 1-2 full working days from start to finish from y2k le beau touche automotive modeling chavant. The wooden and wire armature along with the durability of the clay gave enough strength to withstand detail and fine/ thin parts for the blade where water based or wed could not have. I created a 2 part mdf/silicon slam mould, identical in spec to the ones created for axes on Thor : The dark world, as this would later enable a number of processes. This type of mould meant i could base paint and/or select different materials for different parts of the prop the quickly slam the mould together with t bar locators and fill the mould with another desired material. i could control different appearances and weights of the prop as well as the vulnerability to breakage if needed for a breakaway prop. For my hero dagger i buttered the handle with a polyurethane gum foam, which is a self skinning expanding foam used widely throughout the prop industry to create soft props and guns for stunt scenes. This gave the handle a leathery wound texture with a bit of give to it. I layed up Fast cast resin with black pigment and aluminium powder in the blade for a darkened metal and then filled the core with pigmented black fast cast. When painted and aged this dagger will look great and this project just goes to show the real scale working times of the industry. If necessary i could successfully complete this or similar projects in my professional career and cast multiple props for various uses. i intend to follow my hero prop with a breakaway version cored with biscuit foam and spaghetti. When splintered in slow motion cinema this gives a great realistic sharding effect.