Making 3D earrings

[WGemma]

Hi, I’d like some advice about making some 3D bumblebee earrings please.
What do you think the best way would be to make them? I was thinking perhaps I could cast the actual body of the bees and then cut thin metal for the wings and attach them....
but do you have any other ideas? I haven’t actually cast anything before (but have a delft clay kit I haven’t used yet) so wondered what the easiest method would be?
Thanks,
Gemma

[Dennis]

Hi Gemma,
You can make the wings separately, but I see no reason why you cant cast the whole thing and save work. Why not have a go?. Dennis.

[alastairduncan]

You will need make a pattern for casting.

Here is a video that demonstrates casting a bee:

https://youtu.be/O8SkURuokXY

[WGemma]

Ok thanks! Was bought a delft clay kit a while back but haven’t tried it out yet but will give it a go! I guess I was just wondering whether this method works if there is an undercut...thought it would mainly only work for fairly flat designs...
Probably just need to practice/experiment though!!!

[Dennis]

True, you can't have undercuts, but if the wings are folded flat, and you set it in the sand upside down, there should not be many undercuts to block out.
Keep the sprue, short and thick, and make plenty of air escape channels. Dont take the heat away when pouring. Dennis

[alastairduncan]

If you make the wings thicker and either set them in to the body where they attach or fit them to the body so that the top of the wings is almost flush. Then you can make the mould join in the centre of the body and there will only be a small undercut to deal with under the wing. If you made the wing thicker nearer the body you could probably eliminate the undercut. The legs will be the trickiest part. You will need to thicken them up and perhaps shorten them a little - artistic license ;-)

[MKeila]

BTW, what would be the best software for 3D modeling?

[alastairduncan]

Many in the jewellery trade use Rhino, this is not cheap, there is a free trial version. A free 3d package is Blender with the jewellery addon. Josef uses Rhino. There probably are lots of others out there which can be used.

[ps_bond]

Rhino is one of the least expensive commercial packages out there. It can do everything that Matrix/MatrixGold et al can do, although it'll take more time.
For modelling/sculpting, there's ZBrush and 3DCoat; there's a free reduced-functionality variant of ZBrush (ZBrushCore) although I haven't had time to try it yet.