This weekend and the last were mostly spent on trying to complete the Sunlight Straight Sword. This was going pretty well until I started to get bubbles on the surface of the sword. Not 100% sure how these occurred, but it may have happened between layers or from friction: these only became visible when I applied some Rub and Buff to the sword.
So I went back and sanded the blade section back down and filled any bubbles after popping them. I was also concerned about the amount of marks I was getting as the Gesso is a little soft. To prevent this I mixed up some resin (XTC 3D) and applied it with some cheep sponge brushes – this is a great way to apply it to a flat surface. Not sure why I didn’t try it before as it minimizes the brush marks and therefore sanding. After three coats I sanded the resin lightly using 180, 400 and 600 grit sand paper. This gave a beautifully smooth finish and no bubbles in sight. So I used the Rub and Buff again and got 2 bubbles GRRRRRR 😡
Although previous projects using Gesso coat have come out okay, following this, I’ll only use resin coats in the future. Although they can take a little longer to dry (4 hours each layer), only 3 -4 coat are needed, the finish is more durable and smoother. This along with the Rub and Buff gives an almost mirror finish to the blade. Overall, apart from the bubbles, I happy with the way this turned out.
Next up I will be finishing the scabbard (using resin coats) and the mask I have also been working on.
Oooooo Shiny
Annoying bubble
CO Art and Stuff 