The Boy in the Iceberg (AtLA-inspired) Pendant
Introduction: The Boy in the Iceberg (AtLA-inspired) Pendant
The inspiration for this pendant struck during a rewatch of the opening scene of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It might appear to just be a cute silhouette of <PERSON> and <PERSON> before they're broken out of the iceberg, but have an extra surprise with <PERSON> entering the avatar state when it's seen in the dark!
Supplies
Materials:
* Black polymer clay
* UV resin
* Blue glow pigment
* Resin pigments in various shades of aqua, blue, and white
* iridescent glitter
* Cap bail / bead cap (jewelry findings)
* Bake and Bond or liquid polymer clay
* Superglue
Tools:
* Oven
* UV Lamp
* Gloves
* Toothpicks
* Sphere silicon mold for UV resin
* A surface to mix resin on (I use the bottom of another UV resin mold)
* Craft knife
* Needle tool
* Sand paper or sanding tool
* UV topcoat (or a cheap paintbrush)
Step 1: Aang and Appa Silhouettes
* Roll out a sheet of black polymer clay
* Trace a rough outline of Aang and Appa with your needle tool, following a reference picture
* Cut them out with the craft knife
* If needed, use the needle tool and craft knife to adjust their shapes to make them look more like the silhouettes
Tip: It won't be seen in the final product, but I add some texture to outline Appa's legs, horns, and fur to see if the proportions look right
Step 2: Add Glowing Avatar State Details
* Mix a drop of liquid clay and a small scoop of glow powder.
* Use a needle tool to 'paint' on <PERSON>'s tattoos and eyes with the liquid clay
Step 3: Bake Polymer Clay
* Bake according to the directions on your package of clay. The clay I use is baked at 110 C or 230 F, for 15 minutes.
Tip: It might take a few tries to get the resin part right, so you may want to make a few sets of these
Step 4: Resin Layer 1
* Take out your sphere mold
* Mix UV resin and a pinch of iridescent glitter to make the first layer. Do this slowly to avoid air bubbles, and pour it into the sphere mold.
* Cure it with the UV lamp.
Step 5: Resin Layer 2
* Pour a thin layer of UV resin into the mold
* Place Appa and Aang into the mold, making sure that the glow-in-the-dark side of Aang is facing downward. Arrange them with a toothpick, if necessary.
* Cure this layer of resin with the UV lamp. Check that this layer is fully cured so the pieces won't move around later.
Step 6: Resin Layer 3
* Pour out a few dots of UV resin, one for each color of pigment (I'm using four)
* Mix in a bit of glow powder and iridescent glitter in each dot of UV resin.
* Mix in a bit of pigment to each dot.
* Use the toothpick to add the colored resin to the sphere mold, alternating colors one drop at a time.
* Fill in the rest of the mold with resin, and swirl the colors around with the toothpick.
* Cure with a UV lamp
Step 7: Resin Layer 4 and Unmolding
* If there is a small dip in the resin after the last layer has cured, top off the mold with more resin and cure.
* Turn the lamp to the other side of the mold as well, to make sure that all the layers are cured fully before you unmold the sphere.
* Remove the sphere from the mold.
* If there might be some pockets of resin uncured within the sphere, continue to place it under the UV lamp until the entire sphere is fully cured.
Step 8: Troubleshooting
Here are some photos of things to look out for as you're completing the resin steps. 95
The individual photos are annotated with what went wrong with each attempt:
1. This sphere had too much fine glitter, and the glow pigment was mixed into the top layer so <PERSON> and <PERSON> aren't visible except in the dark.
2. The silhouettes are hidden; there is too much glitter. <PERSON> had also moved because the second layer was too thick and didn't cure fully until the final curing step.
3. There is an air bubble in the first layer and too much glitter.
4. This one was finally a good attempt, where both silhouettes are clearly visible and have the right placement. 406