Cosmos Jewelry part 2: The Spaceship of the Imagination

When I saw Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, I knew I wanted to sculpt the Spaceship of the Imagination.  If you haven't seen either of the series, the spaceship is a magical creation that can travel anywhere, from distant stars to subatomic particles.  In Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, the ship appears as a ball of light or we see the bridge.  This time, Ryan Church designed a beautiful, sleek oblong ship that ushers us along our journey with Tyson.

My original inspiration was an amazing steampunk choker that I picked up at SoonerCon from C.C. Guice of A Wench in the Gear.  I loved the cascade of chains from the bottom and the large focal point and the buckle closure in the back.  It's one of my favorite pieces to wear... I get compliments on it all the time!

This project hasn't gone as well as I hoped it would.  My original intention was to cast this piece, but my molds have all been consistently crappy.  It's been 15 years since I made a mold using sillicone, and despite all the YouTubing, I've been unable to get something that works using homemade soloutions.  I broke down and bought some mold putty, which will hopefully allow me to cast this in resin like I want to.  I may need to phone a friend.  (the link contains nudes and may be NSFW)

Since I wanted this project to be ready by the time I publish the blog, I tried to turn "Frusturating failure" into "happy accident".

Sculpting the space ship

I used sculpey and a marble to make the ship.  Pile clay on and move it around and remove it until it looks like how you want it to.  Since this is supposed to be very smooth and shiny, it's a project that takes a lot of little adjustments until it's as perfect as you can get.  I found leaving a thicker edge to be removed later easier than a thinner one that curly and crimped.  Take a look at the object from as many angles as possible until it's as smooth as you can get it before baking.  Getting the overall shape is more important at this point, but make sure it's as close to your idea as possible.  It'll make the sanding easier.

Bake according to the clay's instructions.  This piece is pretty thin, so it took less than 15 minutes in a warm oven.

I prefer to sand by hand when finishing up a piece, even though it can take quite a bit of time trying to get every little detail perfect.  In this case, the ship needs to be as smooth as I can make it with no lumps or bumps from any angle.  Look at the piece from all angles and refine a little at a time before checking again.

To give this piece more strength in the end, I coated it in a thin layer of Bondo and then sanded it smooth a second time.  I ended up losing some of my detail, but it still gave me the right shape that I was looking for.  

Painting the Ship

I'm using spray paint for a quick and even coat.  First, I went over the entire piece with black for a primer coat. Let the paint dry completely between coats to keep drying times to a minimum.  I put 2 coats of black on before following up with the silver metallic spray paint.

Since i suspended this piece to paint, I had some problems with drips at the base of the ship.  I used a popsicle stick to pick up the excess paint by gently touching it to the drip.  

If you've still got lumps and bumps that you're not happy with, sand the piece and then paint over it for a smooth coat. 

Assembling the choker

 While waiting for stuff to dry, I cast two stars from a silicone fondant mold, painted them black, and then went over them with a light coat of silver Rub N Buff.  I drilled holes in the leather choker I made last week and the resin stars in order to attach them, one hole at the top and one at the bottom.

I poked holes at the center for the ship, about 3 finger widths away from the center for the stars, and then another set at equal distance for chains to attach to.  I added both black and silver chains to the base of the choker and then finally added the spaceship.

And this is how it looks once it's all done!  It was a frusturating project, since I failed at mold-making, but I like how it turned out in the end.