Ardlay Brooch
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| screeen capture of the Ardlay brooch |
One of the most important items in Candy's life is the Prince of the Hill's brooch, which has the Ardlay family's crest. I just needed to make it. I decided to make a mock cloisonné brooch, using nail polish as the "enamel".
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| vectorial design |
I first traced the brooch in Affinity Design, it was the very first thing I drafted in Affinity, while I had the six month free trial license. Once I traced it, I filled an A4 page with the designs and had them printed.
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| paper brooch |
I roughly cut them out, and glued four of them to the back of a cereal box. Then I carefully and patiently first cut out the letter A, one of the oval's circles, and the inner eagle's wings. I glued the cutout roundel on top of another layer of cardboard, and then cut the outline.
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| inner cutouts |
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| brooch roundel |
In order to have the inner eagle wings raised, I cut a second piece of cardboard, just the inner wings piece, and glued it to the back, to raise that part. Then I glued the eagle to a third piece of cardboard, and cut the outline.
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| roundel, eagle and A |
I primed all the pieces with diluted wood glue, and started by painting the back of the roundel silver, with an alcohol based silver paint I have, and the back of the eagle gold, with the Pébèo acrylic paint, in iridiscent gold. I didn't paint the back of the A, no need, as it won't be seen and the glue adheres to cardboard much better.
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| priming with wood glue |
I temporarily glued the A to a piece of paper, and, with a nail art tool, I painted it with glitter red nail polish. It was a delicate process, trying to keep it smooth and not smudging it or filling in the small holes.
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| the three pieces |
But I wasn't very happy with the metallics, neither the silver nor the gold. One day, I went to a Normal drugstore to buy moisturizer, and I spotted these nail rub & buff powders, and decided to try the silver, which was the one I was most unhappy with. Although it's not very easy to have a smooth finish on a complicated design, larger than actual nails, I got such a chrome effect that I went back to the store and also bought the gold, and an iridescent white and an iridescent, very mermaidy, turquoise. I also painted the eagle, with the gold rub & buff, although it's a paler gold than the Pébèo paint. Then, with a turquoise nail polish, and the nail art tools, I carefully filled in the roundel's holes.
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| all the pieces, before glueing all together |
After a few days, to let the nail polish properly cure, I glued the crystals on top of small cardboard circles, to raise them to the eagle's level.
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| finished Ardlay brooch with the rub & buff powders |
I gave the whole thing a final glossy polish coat, which made the chrome effect turn to a glittery finish. I would prefer the chrome effect, and I should have made a test, but it still looks very metallic and, honestly, a bit more realistic.
To attach the bell and the brooch pin, I cut a third roundel, punched two holes for the pin, painted it silver. With a piece of gold wire, I made an attachment for the bell, and glued it with superglue to the back of the brooch.
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| the back of the brooch |
Lastly, I inserted the pin through the punched holes of the extra roundel, and glued it with contact glue to the back of the brooch. I added a final layer of glossy varnish to the back, and it's done!
+ except for the rub & buffs, and the turquoise nail polish, I used all materials I already had, like a ceral box, nail polish, the crystals and the small bell.
- there are a few things I'm not happy about, the uneven surface in all the pieces, the red nail polish is too dark, the varnish fail with the rub & buff, and the gap near the bell attachment.
THE CUNNING PLAN
No more large cosplay makes until November, I need to finish writing the thesis. Then I'll start drafting and sewing Candy's dresses, and taking care of the wig.
