STARGATE SG-1 - Zat'nik'tel Gun

Original Prop :

I made a first quick mold in order to pull out one casting i would make pristine :

Mold v1 :
I was still on the beginning steps of doing matrix mold, so i ended up making a better one, the process is as follows ;
- Simulating the first half of the mold with clay, so i wrapped up the zat in plastic, shaped clay around it, and inserted cardboard tube to simulate pouring hole for sillicone
- I trenched what i thought would be good locking key
- Poured few layers of resin tinted black charged with shredded fibers
- Once cure i repeated the processes above for the second half
- Once cure, all got open, and clay removed
- The pristine zat is put back into the resin shell with plastilina clay on one side
- Shells are clamped together and silicone poured through the holes
- Once silicone is cure, shell is open, plastilina clay is removed, release is applied to the fresh silione, shell is clamped back and silicone poured through the holes
- And tadaa

So , why did i need to make another mold ?
While the process used was good, the urethane shells and the locking key weren’t really relevant. After some castings they weren’t locking properly, shells were breaking bits by bits because they weren’t really flexible, and doesn’t meant to be in the first place

Mold v2 :
So i made a new mold with epoxy this time :
So the process is about the same than previous ;
- Clayed up the zat and shaped the future silicone mold with locking keys
- Cardboard tubes for the pouring holes
- Brushing epoxacoat epoxy resin from Smooth-On
- Putting mat fiber on that fresh coat
- Then brushing epoxamite , along with fiber
- Once cured, flipped the mold over and simulating silicone again with clay
- Epoxy systems application like above
- Detaching the epoxy shells from one another
- Putting back the zat in it, with platilina clay to hold it in place, while making keys into the plastilina
- Pouring silicone
- Flip over
- Removing plastilina clay
- Pouring silicone, and done

Because there was already classic paint zat on the market (black and bit of bronze weathering), i wanted to make something else, so i went with the colors of the first seasons
Behind the scene pics from MGM :

Finished replica :