You can get a two part spray that gives you a real silver metal coating over plastic, which can give you a good mirror finish. I think it would be cool to see you try that on another project
You can also use a sputtering furnace or focused ion beam to deposit metallic vapor onto material if you ha e access to a crazy laboratory haha. Those get really mirror like finishes.
came to mention this same thing. I saw another video on here about adding the silver finish to 3d printed models. Also if your really committed maybe try electro plating
I have 2 suggestions. 1) If you were to try this again, maybe try sanding the black inside dice before putting the chrome paint on them to make a super smooth base layer 2) For nail art, they make chrome powder. Essentially, when using them on nails, you make your base coat as smooth as you can possibly get it, then buff the powder into the base with an eyeshadow sponge thing. I'm wondering if resin would be the right texture to allow you to buff that powder on and get the same effect. Then you would just have to "seal" your dice with some kind of clear coat paint/spray/resin.
I can see the chrome dust in the paint slightly separating and causing the dullness he has. I think the chrome powder might have the same issues because chrome nails also go dull in the same way with the wrong top coat.
I second this!! If your base isnt smooth you never gonna have a good reflextive dice! And i would never have thought about the chrome powder but thats a awesome idea
Yes! I'm curious about the chrome nail powder too! Especially since it works best with gel polish, which I think is a kind of resin? (it undergoes a curing process - it feels similar, even though the different chemicals might not be the same)
Those nail powders are very particular about how you seal them. You can't use a regular clear nail polish as that breaks the smoothness and makes it look like particles. You have to use either a gel top coat, which cures under UV light like UV resin, or a water based top coat to get a similar effect. I don't know if that would be much more reflective than the air brushed chrome paint was before it went into outer layer of resin, but maybe it's a hint to how to coat them to protect the chrome pigment either before doing the outer layer or skipping that. And definitely any mars or imperfections in the surface will show through the chrome and whatever you seal it with.
So actually in the resin community, a lot of people will take chrome powders and "buff" them directly onto smooth silicone molds before pouring and clean up the raised bits of the mold with a q tip and rubbing alcohol. I don't recall how smooth it can get, but the surface layer stays pretty well
As an avid lover of silver, I think this set looks awesome, even after the clear shell dialed down the reflectiveness. 😁 Mayhaps there's a super shiny gold paint that can be airbrushed on, thus creating a golden set worthy of the Rybonator's gold fancy? 😆 I'd totally wanna see that video if possible! (Also waitin' on the next episode of "As the Skillshare Turns"...or is it maybe "The Skilled and the Restless"...? 🤔)
In my experience from miniature painting, if you want to preserve the characteristic mirror shine of good metallic paints, you can't really put anything on top of them. No paints, no inks, not even clear gloss varnish (which will make it look like metal wrapped in plastic). It just always changes the finish. I think the same thing happened for you when you encased your dice in that clear resin. That said, there is a product by Vallejo called Metal Varnish, which I have not tried myself, but which apparently preserves the metallic finish. I think you will have to put some kind of coating over the liquid chrome because it's really not made for miniature/dice painting and rubs off pretty easily. I think you had the right idea applying it over a glossy black surface. That generally gets the best results. Maybe consider priming the blanks to help it stick better, though? There were some visible imperfections on the chrome finish even after you let the paint dry for so long. Another tip that I have heard is that liquid chrome should be applied wet through an airbrush, with the surface of whatever you are air brushing getting visibly glossy from the paint building up. Apparently, the paint is self levelling and will dry to a smooth finish. Or you could go a completely different route and try out Green Stuff World Pure Metal Pigments. They are a dry pigment for mixing your own metallic paints, and those turn out super reflective. I think they might be better for mixing with resin than the liquid chrome since you don't have to worry about the paint medium messing up the way the resin cures. The "downside" is they only come in gold tones.
I feel like I'm in the majority when I say: these and great, 10/10 would roll again. Also, the quest for mirrored dice must continue until you achieve proper reflective gloss.
My friend came up with a cool idea for dice, so I figured I’d share the concept and see if it’s possible. So, what if you made a liquid core d20 but made it like a snow globe? It’s probably too late to make them before Christmas, but Rybonator is master of RUclips algorithm and definitely knows when to release seasonal content! 😂
Just to clarify as it seems that people have misunderstood - I didn't sand the inserts because they were ALREADY at a glass like polish. Only the edges of a single surface (the surface that touches the cap) would have excess resin, but the rest are fine. Sanding them further would have only led to the exact same result. So sanding the inserts any more wouldn't have done much to change the outcome :)
I'm not going to have my blank inserts for dice for a while, so I think you should try out silver leaf on the inside blanks and then cast them in a clear shell. It may just come out looking exactly same but then we'd know! Thanks for sharing!
As somebody who does a lot of painting on plastic surfaces with shiny reflective metallic paints and kandy paint , surface prep is everything. Sanding the inserts with high grit sand paper before painting may help keep it more reflective, and once painted cover them with a box to keep dust off while the paint dries fully, but I don't really know. Just some thoughts I had. Seeing how the dice turned out is giving me ideas for some of my stuff.
The inserts were already at a glass level reflectivity except for a single face that had slight excess resin on the edges. That's the only part I WOULD have sanded if I was gonna :/
Although they didn't turn out the way you expected, they still look amazing! I love the look of metal dice, but don't like how destructive they can be on dice trays/tables/etc, so these would be a perfect fix for that!
As an owner of 'Mirror', I can say pretty safely that it's probably about the same, quality-wise. It'll require about the same drying time, as both of them are solvents and will smear easily if not fully dried. Like Rybonator said, they're really just best with an airbrush, though Mirror's not bad with a paintbrush as long as you have a plastic one you don't mind throwing away. (No. You cannot get it out of paintbrushes, I've ruined several trying.)
I just wanna thank you for being so thorough and inspirational in your videos! I had decided to get a friend of mine some dice in the color scheme of his patron, but couldn't find any that worked. Thankfully your videos gave me the courage and skills to re-ink the numbers of a normal set with Nail Polish and they look great! Thanks for being educational and encouraging us to try new things!
If you have any interest in trying something like this again, you should try hitting the liquid chrome painted portion with the finest two grits of Zona papers after they dry. I think just super lightly sanding down that layer might polish them to get rid of those fine imperfections you can see in the close-up shots. And an afterthough, maybe the same with a clear varnish airbrushed over top and sanded? Might keep whatever dulled them from happening again. Great work as always Rybo, keep it up!
@@Rybonator there are small polishing brushs for the dremel. Maybe apply them softly to get it polished up and more shiny and then coating? Residues of the polish paste on the dice shouldn't be a problem for the resin.
You could try nail chrome powders on the inner cubes, they're made to go under resin and look shiny like metal and come in ton of colors. You will need a clear no wipe gel topcoat to make the chrome work but a thin coat on the inner pieces should do the trick.
I actually said "Those are super legible already" out loud before you mentioned making the decision to not ink them! These actually turned out really nice even if they aren't what you had hoped for! Also gonna add my obligatory request for a resin brand/type comparison! Not stopping until I get it.
it's quite common even if you use special industrial grade chrome lacquer with the clear coat they recommend that the reflections aren't as nice after the clear coat. had to do it once for work and it was let's say not fun^^ so I do think you got the best possible result and they still look awesome
So happy to see more of the mirror paint, i love my molotov pens. You have the patience of a saint..2 weeks is insane... worth it though cos they turned out incredible. The matte black ones even looked great.
I paint miniatures by hand only (no airbrush) and I always paint high gloss black first before any metal. I believe when they paint cars they do the same except gold they paint over glossy red. I would definitely keep making them black first in future trials!
Very cool. About the only thing left to try would be to do a normal set with the black resin but first use the air brush to paint a good few coats of the chrome pen inside the mold before pouring the dice. You won't be able to polish them up much if at all but you may get that mirror look you are after.
I wonder if it would enhance or detract from the final look having a little liquid glitter in the outer shell 🤔 either way this is a cool unique little set!
I love these! Even if they didn't turn out how you planned. :D TBH, as a crafter, I'm really curious how yarn or beads would work inside of one of these dice. Maybe even something knitting? I'd be willing to send you lace weight knitted inserts if you can't access them on your end. :O Like, something like a cubic right angle weave insert in d6's or peyote stitch 3d triangles? IDK, but I could send those, if you wanted lol.
These turned out great! Since they are resin dice that look like metal I wonder if it would be fun to create other illusion dice that look like they are made out of other materials
Rybo, what if you zona paper sanded the inner flat dice before airbrushing? That would probably make them so smooth and shiny! Maybe you can even sand/buff the painted dice to get them super smooth before putting them in a shell?
I too also think that not sanding the inner dye before painting it was not the best choice. The dice are still amazing the way they are, but the goal was mirror not aluminum foil. The thing that helps make glass so reflective is because it's very smooth in one plain.
I agree that wet-sanding the black would help to enhance the reflective effects on the chrome. But that paint doesn’t break down into small enough particles to get that smooth surface. I tipically use alclad paint for this reason in airbrushes.
I’ve seen chroming once before, but it would take you a large amount of time. I think the way to go about it is spray multiple coats of the chrome and sand it smooth with ultra-high grit paper.
Those came out really cool and I'm very quickly going to dive into those videos you mentioned on making the two-part molds. I just attempted my first set of resin dice this past weekend. They came out quite good for the very first attempt, but a number of lessons learned for sure.
There are some pretty expensive setups for the automotive industry to simulate chrome. Basically what you're doing black background with a mirroring finish. Culture Hustle (where you got the black ) has some good mirroring paint as well. The biggest drawback, as you eluded, is topcoating. Putting anything over the mirror effect to protect it dulls the shine. I like the way these turned out; I would roll them any day! Cool breakdown well done.
It is looking less like a mirror and more like metal dice which is awesome as well i would love to see a set made to look like every type of metal, gold set, copper set etc
They were already at a glass like polish (besides a small amount of excess resin on one face of the dice where the cap lid meets the bottom.) Maybe I overdid the paint, and subsequently textured it by accident, but my testing showed that the MORE paint I put on, the better the results were.
Silver mirrors are also given a layer of gold or copper behind that silver. To counter that blue green color of glass, which resin wouldn’t need. Resin may need a blue metal layer to counter the yellowing as resin ages. Anyways, what I’m getting at is there are multiple layers of metal before they paint it with black or a dark pine green, to protect the metal layers and block light from passing through the mirror. Getting a really opaque black before the chrome and sealing the chrome first with a layer of UV resin to protect it’s shine during the curing of the regular resin may help greatly with the shine. Chrome though however is never suitable for anything but a finishing layer aa anything else on top would interfere with it’s appearance by dissolving some of it.
yes it looks good without ink! it has a nice 3d effect for nail art there are chrome powders that you burnish onto uv gel polish so maybe the mirror effect of these powders could work with uv resin?
Wooow, they turned out sooo well!! I'm in love w them 😍 I think it was a good decision to leave the numbers like that bc they can be read well. I must say I know there's some gold reflective paint that might fit w your style even more, but, hey, silver is cool too!! Keep it up, I love your dice!!! 🤩
If you polished the surface of the black dice so they are smooth, and use a spray mirror finish, and maybe buff that out, if you're able to lay down an actual mirror finish on the dice instead of just what the air gun lays down, you may have a more reflective result.
Model painter here: A mirror finish is something that's almost impossible to get with paint. Alclad Chrome looks amazing, but it's so fragile that if you even look at it too hard you'll damage it, and any clearcoat you put over it always dulls down the reflectivity. Mirrors are mirrors because they they reflect close to 100% of the light that hits it, but are also completely flat.... so spraying what are essentially tiny metallic flakes onto something then covering it with any sort of protective layer is never going to leave that perfectly flat surface.
I'd like to see you use metal leafing foil to wrap the inner dice with. There's a ton of cool colors, and a LOT of chrome/mirror finishes you could play with!
I know there are plenty of pigments out there that are typically used for nail art. It's a powder that you buff on and then put on a top coat. Maybe that would work better, since nail polish is closer to resin?
I'd love to see this redone with a patina style... 💚✨ I also wonder how well it would go if you mixed a small amount of Chrome pigment into the black and then buff a powder Chrome or airbrush the chrome on the inside on the mold. You could even try lightly buffing the outside of the dice with sandpaper and seeing the result that way!
Yooo Rybo! A real good way to do this is with our blanks, and our silver dice wraps!! Theyre cut to fit our inserts, and give you this effect, but full mirror shine! Loved the video, my guy!!
Hi Rybonator ! More than a dice goblin, you're a dice genie ! You were right not to ink the dice. They look like brute pieces of polished chrome ! I have an aluminium die that's very similar, but less shiny . You rock, Rybonator ! Have a good day !
Very cool! I think the reason for them not being as reflective as before is that you are looking at the surface of the clear resin, and not to the surface of the chrome. Even though it is see through, the surface reflects the light differently than the liquid chrome. I believe Alclad sells a chrome paint and a varnish that supposedly gives great results, but I don't know how good that would work on dice that you constantly throw around..
Another way to get a great chrome look is by doing a VERY light dusting on a polished black surface- you'll be very surprised how far a little paint can go (definitely test on spoons or scrap first), and the shinier the black the more reflective the mirror finish. That's how prop studios paint "chrome" props like the mando helmet and terminator skulls-and that way you don't have to wait so long for it to dry, and it gives it a darker chrome ( you can keep dusting it to get it more and more silvery, but the more you do the less "chrome" you'll get and the more polished metal look you'll get.) Maybe that'll help it stay reflective after the resin, but a problem everyone runs into with painting props/objects with any chrome or metallic paint is that any clear protective spray (or resin, in this case) will usually dull the shine- not exactly sure why, but clear coats/resin pretty consistently dull the shine on chrome paint (unless it's a clear coat specifically made for chrome paint, which they make.)
I love the experiment! One thing that might potentially have an impact OR Improve your results, are polishing your inner dice. They came out clean, but take them through your zona papers to a mirror shine, as smooth as you can possibly get them. Protect them from dust and debris and any other elements. There are some good comments on other chrome finishes, or potential application methods. But mirrors are perefectly smooth. So the more smooth and flat you get the better your chances I THINK based on knife making I do and hand sanding to mirror 3000 grit finishes. I love how your dice came out, I am hopeful for the next video too!
Looks great! Would you perhaps be able to polish the chrome painted surface? Also, perhaps if you coat it with transparant lacquer then the mirror will be less affected by the resin?
I like those. If you want a true mirror the key is a very smooth surface. You'll want to sand/polish the black dice before painting them, apply several coats of paint knocking down bumps between coats, and then sand/polish the final paint surface to a mirror shine. You should be able to get an actual mirrored surface. I have thoughts on how I'd experiment with the materials and techniques but I'm not an expert and don't have specific experience polishing flat resin (I've done it with rounded acrylic using a Dremel and polishing compounds but that may not be a good approach for your project). I lean toward trying plate glass under a soft plastic film or paper to embed the polish, progressively higher grit polishing compounds, and a rotating figure 8 pattern moving the die on the glass. It's fine to use sand paper if you can get high enough grits, but it will clog quickly if you're too aggressive. Practice with a D6 to get the materials and techniques dialed in.
Such cool dice! Even if they’re not perfectly reflective they look so good! For some reason they make me think of someone snagging a set of dice from the Chrome coated SpongeBob future.
Another mirror option would be to use silver leaf over the black blanks which you can then really buff to a perfect mirror finish. Speaking of leafing, another cool trick to do with the shell molds would be to use copper leaf and then give it an aged patina with ammonia before shelling them.
I would be very interested to see a version where you coat the inner dice with that metallic foil, in one piece as possible on each face so that no reflectiveness Is lost. It would be very tricky and require a lot of patience, but that’s the exact kind of project I always decide to take on myself; I just don’t have your supplies or skillset, so I leave it to you. Imagine a set of reflective gold dice! 😍
Another method you might want to consider trying is using graphite powder - basically, you rub the powder into the surface of an object and it gives it a chrome effect. The problem with a lot of chrome paints is that theyre very fragile, and I wonder if the resin's curing process had a hand in reducing the reflectivity of these dice. Just a thought!
Just a small thing, you could try getting your hands on a storm lighter! The heat is higher and more directional, should make it a lot easier to pop the bubbles!
The next step is actually getting a tollens reaction to coat your dice in elemental silver. I am sure Nile Red would collab with you on this one :D Basically use ammonium solution and silver nitrate to coat stuff in silver, but NEVER mix the nitrate until the start of the experiment, silver nitrate will form silver nitrite which can explode (hence my recommendation for a collab). I am not sure if the silver would form on plastic, but why not try? I guarantee the coating will be the most mirrorlike you can possibly get and is, in theory, even polishable. Now I cant say if the coating will oxidize or react to the resin and I don't think glass dice are a good idea, but the test tubes I still have fro, my chemistry experiments are still absolute silver/mirror like. Edit: this might be the only time I would suggest putting in gold xd
Tollens reaction is a great idea here, and I can confirm the Tollens reaction will produce a silver plating on plastic just as well as it will on any other surface. The silver coating also shouldn't oxidize or react with the resin, so it would be an excellent thing to try.
@@isaacmoore2083 that wasmy only doubt, lets hope rybo goes for it. Sadly I have no more wish spells and tollens can be a tad bit intimidating, due to the silver nitrite buildup
Would have loved to see you try to polish one of the center pieces with some really fine grit AFTER painting... probably wouldn't have worked, but on the off chance it did, it might have made the final result more mirror-like! Now we will never know (unless... :) )
I have an idea... Use the black resin... Put a little bit off color change powder on the insides of the inner die mold... Then when you make the outer die mold but some star shaped glitter in the resin. This will make starlight dice and the small amounts of powder will make it look like a nebula.
You can try using chrome powder for nails. They are super reflective, and come in different colors of chrome including holographic and dichromatic. There are a lot of YT videos on how to apply them.
It normally would, but the surface I applied to was already as flat as I would have been able to get, and then sanding afterwards would have essentially just rubbed the paint off :/
Sorry, what I mean is - sanding dice before coating, so that reflective coat would go on a surface as even as possible. Mirroring coat is too thin to have a proper surface tension, so no auto-leveling
Just recently found your channel and just finished binge-watching all your dice videos. Was sad once it was over but quickly got excited with this upload! Thanks for the content my guy, might have to give this dice making thing a try
I use silver nitrate if I want to make something mirror-like. The problem is the silver sticks to everything and ruins my beakers. So I tend to not do that very often.
@@Rybonator Search for Tollens' Reagent. It's a pretty easy thing and the chemicals aren't that hard to come by. Fair warning though, it stains like hell (so gloves are absolutely necessary, unless you want black spots on your hands) and it sticks to absolutely everything. I did it on some 3D prints with photo resin, and it worked out. For mirror finish, you have to polish the dice before though. Don't worry that stuff will stick. Since most plastics are very resistant to polar solvents I guess cast epoxy resin should work.
Only two possible improvements I can think of, though they might be slight- sand the inserts to a mirror finish, the chrome really highlighted every slight imperfection- then vacuum chamber the outer shell, even the slightest microscopic bubbles are going to create light distortions and mess with the shine for your mirror.
Would love to see this redone but have you do a thicker coat of liquid chrome, then sand them juuuust a little to give them a super smooth finish before putting the shell on. It might help with the reflections once the shell is on
I airbrush moltow chrome and it’s easier and more durable if you thin it with Tamiya lacquer thinner. It will dry quickly when thinned. You may be able to maintain the mirror finish if you coat it in a gloss varnish before using resin? Also I would ensure the black blanks are very clean before spraying the chrome. Perhaps wipe them with alcohol and handle with gloves.
Sanding the black dice before air brushing them silver would probably give a better result. It's also possible that it would then be too smooth for the paint to stick, but it' worth a shot.
Never made dice or worked with resin or anything, but i have a possible idea to help improve the reflectiveness? I dunno if it'd work, but basically do all the same stuff you did in this vid, but with the inner part of the dice, before you airbrush on the liquid chrome, sand them to a pretty shine first. i don't know whether it'll help or not, but it might help remove some tiny imperfections that're causing the light to scatter more, so the final result might be closer to what you want. i really don't know if it'll make a difference one way or the other though, just an idea
I wonder if sanding/polishing the dice before the liquid chrome appication woukda made them shinier? And possibly a light polish after applying the chrome
Can you sand the liquid chrome to get a better finish? Alternatively, gallium has a low melting point of about 30°C so you could probably cast that in a dice mold. Obviously you'd want to have the outside resin layer so that it doesn't melt in your hand.
You asked for it, so here it is :) Took weeks to get the paint to dry to properly do these dice, and a few failed sets. So I hope you enjoy!
Yes! Beebs is happy. I’ve been waiting so long 🥰 it’s worth it, so so worth it
I love these so much!! Another airbrush paint for chrome could be SprayTax Chrome! It's very nice!!
Thank you for this video 💚
Can you post the failed sets as a YT short or on your twitter? im curious to see the results.
What are the dimensions of the dice?
You can get a two part spray that gives you a real silver metal coating over plastic, which can give you a good mirror finish. I think it would be cool to see you try that on another project
I can look into that :)
You can also use a sputtering furnace or focused ion beam to deposit metallic vapor onto material if you ha e access to a crazy laboratory haha. Those get really mirror like finishes.
came to mention this same thing. I saw another video on here about adding the silver finish to 3d printed models. Also if your really committed maybe try electro plating
Or very much over-the-top; a hollow dice filled with gallium.
@@joshuahancock2079 colab with Thought Emporium lol
I have 2 suggestions.
1) If you were to try this again, maybe try sanding the black inside dice before putting the chrome paint on them to make a super smooth base layer
2) For nail art, they make chrome powder. Essentially, when using them on nails, you make your base coat as smooth as you can possibly get it, then buff the powder into the base with an eyeshadow sponge thing. I'm wondering if resin would be the right texture to allow you to buff that powder on and get the same effect. Then you would just have to "seal" your dice with some kind of clear coat paint/spray/resin.
I can see the chrome dust in the paint slightly separating and causing the dullness he has. I think the chrome powder might have the same issues because chrome nails also go dull in the same way with the wrong top coat.
I second this!! If your base isnt smooth you never gonna have a good reflextive dice! And i would never have thought about the chrome powder but thats a awesome idea
Yes! I'm curious about the chrome nail powder too!
Especially since it works best with gel polish, which I think is a kind of resin? (it undergoes a curing process - it feels similar, even though the different chemicals might not be the same)
Those nail powders are very particular about how you seal them. You can't use a regular clear nail polish as that breaks the smoothness and makes it look like particles. You have to use either a gel top coat, which cures under UV light like UV resin, or a water based top coat to get a similar effect. I don't know if that would be much more reflective than the air brushed chrome paint was before it went into outer layer of resin, but maybe it's a hint to how to coat them to protect the chrome pigment either before doing the outer layer or skipping that. And definitely any mars or imperfections in the surface will show through the chrome and whatever you seal it with.
So actually in the resin community, a lot of people will take chrome powders and "buff" them directly onto smooth silicone molds before pouring and clean up the raised bits of the mold with a q tip and rubbing alcohol. I don't recall how smooth it can get, but the surface layer stays pretty well
As an avid lover of silver, I think this set looks awesome, even after the clear shell dialed down the reflectiveness. 😁
Mayhaps there's a super shiny gold paint that can be airbrushed on, thus creating a golden set worthy of the Rybonator's gold fancy? 😆 I'd totally wanna see that video if possible!
(Also waitin' on the next episode of "As the Skillshare Turns"...or is it maybe "The Skilled and the Restless"...? 🤔)
I've heard that you can do a layered approach and paint it yellow then chrome to get a good gold ;D
The Skillshare Saga season finale comes 12/18 ;)
@@Rybonator I think a brown or orange base, chrome on that and a yellow clear on the chrome would make a really good gold.
Gold leaf on the inner part would look cool af
"A very scientific amount, that should do it!" got a legitimate laugh from me. Thank you :)
same ahahah
In my experience from miniature painting, if you want to preserve the characteristic mirror shine of good metallic paints, you can't really put anything on top of them. No paints, no inks, not even clear gloss varnish (which will make it look like metal wrapped in plastic). It just always changes the finish. I think the same thing happened for you when you encased your dice in that clear resin.
That said, there is a product by Vallejo called Metal Varnish, which I have not tried myself, but which apparently preserves the metallic finish. I think you will have to put some kind of coating over the liquid chrome because it's really not made for miniature/dice painting and rubs off pretty easily. I think you had the right idea applying it over a glossy black surface. That generally gets the best results. Maybe consider priming the blanks to help it stick better, though? There were some visible imperfections on the chrome finish even after you let the paint dry for so long. Another tip that I have heard is that liquid chrome should be applied wet through an airbrush, with the surface of whatever you are air brushing getting visibly glossy from the paint building up. Apparently, the paint is self levelling and will dry to a smooth finish.
Or you could go a completely different route and try out Green Stuff World Pure Metal Pigments. They are a dry pigment for mixing your own metallic paints, and those turn out super reflective. I think they might be better for mixing with resin than the liquid chrome since you don't have to worry about the paint medium messing up the way the resin cures. The "downside" is they only come in gold tones.
Oh I might have to look into that varnish! Valejo makes quality stuff, so that could be exactly what I need. :)
The one i've heard works over this Liquid Chrome is that Alclad Klear Kote one
I'd like to see you collab with NileRed and make literal mirror dice. I think it would look amazing in the clear shell.
I would love to see them with mirror foil
I feel like I'm in the majority when I say: these and great, 10/10 would roll again. Also, the quest for mirrored dice must continue until you achieve proper reflective gloss.
THE SEARCH CONTINUES :D
You always figure out how to be innovative. It’s impressive.
Thanks Ant! I try not to post the same techniques over and over, so it means a lot that you think that :)
My friend came up with a cool idea for dice, so I figured I’d share the concept and see if it’s possible. So, what if you made a liquid core d20 but made it like a snow globe? It’s probably too late to make them before Christmas, but Rybonator is master of RUclips algorithm and definitely knows when to release seasonal content! 😂
Yesssss! Return of the mirror paint. I love it.
It's such good stuff, I had to!
Just to clarify as it seems that people have misunderstood - I didn't sand the inserts because they were ALREADY at a glass like polish. Only the edges of a single surface (the surface that touches the cap) would have excess resin, but the rest are fine. Sanding them further would have only led to the exact same result. So sanding the inserts any more wouldn't have done much to change the outcome :)
Misunderstood - More like I explained myself poorly haha.
The black dice alone look so cool!!
Tho they give me forbidden candy vibes
Right? So secretive...
I THOUGHT THE EXPERIMENT FAILED SO YOU BURIED IT OMG
I'm so glad to see it's here
It failed a lot, but finally got it working :)
Shiny clicky clacks! I love them! It’s so wonderful! The sounds, the look, the everything! So perfect! You make wonderful dice!
I'm not going to have my blank inserts for dice for a while, so I think you should try out silver leaf on the inside blanks and then cast them in a clear shell. It may just come out looking exactly same but then we'd know! Thanks for sharing!
Hey it's worth a shot :)
As somebody who does a lot of painting on plastic surfaces with shiny reflective metallic paints and kandy paint , surface prep is everything. Sanding the inserts with high grit sand paper before painting may help keep it more reflective, and once painted cover them with a box to keep dust off while the paint dries fully, but I don't really know. Just some thoughts I had. Seeing how the dice turned out is giving me ideas for some of my stuff.
The inserts were already at a glass level reflectivity except for a single face that had slight excess resin on the edges. That's the only part I WOULD have sanded if I was gonna :/
Although they didn't turn out the way you expected, they still look amazing! I love the look of metal dice, but don't like how destructive they can be on dice trays/tables/etc, so these would be a perfect fix for that!
Curious if Stuart Semple's "Mirror" paint is as good as he says, if so it'd be cool to see a comparison with this liquid chrome stuff
As an owner of 'Mirror', I can say pretty safely that it's probably about the same, quality-wise. It'll require about the same drying time, as both of them are solvents and will smear easily if not fully dried. Like Rybonator said, they're really just best with an airbrush, though Mirror's not bad with a paintbrush as long as you have a plastic one you don't mind throwing away. (No. You cannot get it out of paintbrushes, I've ruined several trying.)
I just wanna thank you for being so thorough and inspirational in your videos! I had decided to get a friend of mine some dice in the color scheme of his patron, but couldn't find any that worked. Thankfully your videos gave me the courage and skills to re-ink the numbers of a normal set with Nail Polish and they look great! Thanks for being educational and encouraging us to try new things!
If you have any interest in trying something like this again, you should try hitting the liquid chrome painted portion with the finest two grits of Zona papers after they dry. I think just super lightly sanding down that layer might polish them to get rid of those fine imperfections you can see in the close-up shots.
And an afterthough, maybe the same with a clear varnish airbrushed over top and sanded? Might keep whatever dulled them from happening again. Great work as always Rybo, keep it up!
I would be affraid of just rubbing the paint right off the surface :O
Thanks Michael :D
@@Rybonator there are small polishing brushs for the dremel. Maybe apply them softly to get it polished up and more shiny and then coating? Residues of the polish paste on the dice shouldn't be a problem for the resin.
You could try nail chrome powders on the inner cubes, they're made to go under resin and look shiny like metal and come in ton of colors. You will need a clear no wipe gel topcoat to make the chrome work but a thin coat on the inner pieces should do the trick.
The chrome dice look Awesome! Too be honest the sold black dice look really cool too.
Thank you! And right? I was surprised at how nice just the black turned out.
I actually said "Those are super legible already" out loud before you mentioned making the decision to not ink them! These actually turned out really nice even if they aren't what you had hoped for!
Also gonna add my obligatory request for a resin brand/type comparison! Not stopping until I get it.
Great minds think alike! I will make that happen in the new year :) promise
it's quite common even if you use special industrial grade chrome lacquer with the clear coat they recommend that the reflections aren't as nice after the clear coat. had to do it once for work and it was let's say not fun^^ so I do think you got the best possible result and they still look awesome
Thanks Art :D Glad to know I didn't mess up TOO much haha
Thanks for sticking it out, those drying times really are something.
These look really cool :D I love the imprisoned silver look to them. Being mirror-like would have been cool but they look great without it
Thanks Sootie :) I'm happy with them, but my search for mirror will continue!
So happy to see more of the mirror paint, i love my molotov pens. You have the patience of a saint..2 weeks is insane... worth it though cos they turned out incredible. The matte black ones even looked great.
Sitting here with my cat purring on me and watching dice. Good times!
I like the dice!
Sounds like a wholesome day to me :) Tell your cat I said hi :p
@@Rybonator Well, I told him. But in typical cat fashion, he didn't have anything to send back 🤷♀️
The shell gives the dice a kinda trippy look. I love it!
The black core dice remind me of the black oily stone made by the old ones in lovecraftian stories
Oh you are so right! Major lovecraft vibes
I paint miniatures by hand only (no airbrush) and I always paint high gloss black first before any metal. I believe when they paint cars they do the same except gold they paint over glossy red. I would definitely keep making them black first in future trials!
Thanks for the tip Stars :) Glad I got it right!
Very cool. About the only thing left to try would be to do a normal set with the black resin but first use the air brush to paint a good few coats of the chrome pen inside the mold before pouring the dice. You won't be able to polish them up much if at all but you may get that mirror look you are after.
That might work, I can give it a shot some time :)
I wonder if it would enhance or detract from the final look having a little liquid glitter in the outer shell 🤔 either way this is a cool unique little set!
These are lovely!
Painting the numbers could potentially have helped with "highlighting" how much the dice itself is reflecting^^
I love these! Even if they didn't turn out how you planned. :D
TBH, as a crafter, I'm really curious how yarn or beads would work inside of one of these dice. Maybe even something knitting? I'd be willing to send you lace weight knitted inserts if you can't access them on your end. :O
Like, something like a cubic right angle weave insert in d6's or peyote stitch 3d triangles? IDK, but I could send those, if you wanted lol.
Oh I have seen a few examples of that on Instagram before :D YOu might be able to find what you are looking for there!
These turned out great! Since they are resin dice that look like metal I wonder if it would be fun to create other illusion dice that look like they are made out of other materials
Rybo, what if you zona paper sanded the inner flat dice before airbrushing? That would probably make them so smooth and shiny! Maybe you can even sand/buff the painted dice to get them super smooth before putting them in a shell?
I too also think that not sanding the inner dye before painting it was not the best choice. The dice are still amazing the way they are, but the goal was mirror not aluminum foil. The thing that helps make glass so reflective is because it's very smooth in one plain.
So glad you kept going with this experiment!! These look amazing
Thank you! I'm glad you like it, and that it turned out decent enough :)
I agree that wet-sanding the black would help to enhance the reflective effects on the chrome. But that paint doesn’t break down into small enough particles to get that smooth surface. I tipically use alclad paint for this reason in airbrushes.
I’ve seen chroming once before, but it would take you a large amount of time. I think the way to go about it is spray multiple coats of the chrome and sand it smooth with ultra-high grit paper.
The problem is you are essentially rubbing paint at that point :/
@@Rybonator I think some better dust control could have done wonders as well.
Those came out really cool and I'm very quickly going to dive into those videos you mentioned on making the two-part molds. I just attempted my first set of resin dice this past weekend. They came out quite good for the very first attempt, but a number of lessons learned for sure.
There are some pretty expensive setups for the automotive industry to simulate chrome. Basically what you're doing black background with a mirroring finish. Culture Hustle (where you got the black ) has some good mirroring paint as well. The biggest drawback, as you eluded, is topcoating. Putting anything over the mirror effect to protect it dulls the shine.
I like the way these turned out; I would roll them any day! Cool breakdown well done.
It is looking less like a mirror and more like metal dice which is awesome as well i would love to see a set made to look like every type of metal, gold set, copper set etc
Gold you say ;) I can do that
I saw the label on that black pigment and I had flashbacks of great art war.
I hereby certify that I am NOT Anish Kapur
I think if you sanded the black dice before spraying, the surface will be much more mirror like when you insert them into the clear resin.
They were already at a glass like polish (besides a small amount of excess resin on one face of the dice where the cap lid meets the bottom.) Maybe I overdid the paint, and subsequently textured it by accident, but my testing showed that the MORE paint I put on, the better the results were.
My favorite quote from this video: my scientific amount of pigment (dumps powder) that should do it. that made me lol today.
Heh, I'm glad someone got a giggle out of it :)
Silver mirrors are also given a layer of gold or copper behind that silver. To counter that blue green color of glass, which resin wouldn’t need. Resin may need a blue metal layer to counter the yellowing as resin ages. Anyways, what I’m getting at is there are multiple layers of metal before they paint it with black or a dark pine green, to protect the metal layers and block light from passing through the mirror. Getting a really opaque black before the chrome and sealing the chrome first with a layer of UV resin to protect it’s shine during the curing of the regular resin may help greatly with the shine. Chrome though however is never suitable for anything but a finishing layer aa anything else on top would interfere with it’s appearance by dissolving some of it.
perhaps lightly going over the chrome with a high grit sandpaper before adding the casings?
I'd be afraid of rubbing the coating off :/ But it's worth a shot!
yes it looks good without ink! it has a nice 3d effect
for nail art there are chrome powders that you burnish onto uv gel polish so maybe the mirror effect of these powders could work with uv resin?
Oh yeah maybe I can try that :D
Wooow, they turned out sooo well!! I'm in love w them 😍 I think it was a good decision to leave the numbers like that bc they can be read well. I must say I know there's some gold reflective paint that might fit w your style even more, but, hey, silver is cool too!! Keep it up, I love your dice!!! 🤩
If you polished the surface of the black dice so they are smooth, and use a spray mirror finish, and maybe buff that out, if you're able to lay down an actual mirror finish on the dice instead of just what the air gun lays down, you may have a more reflective result.
Model painter here: A mirror finish is something that's almost impossible to get with paint. Alclad Chrome looks amazing, but it's so fragile that if you even look at it too hard you'll damage it, and any clearcoat you put over it always dulls down the reflectivity. Mirrors are mirrors because they they reflect close to 100% of the light that hits it, but are also completely flat.... so spraying what are essentially tiny metallic flakes onto something then covering it with any sort of protective layer is never going to leave that perfectly flat surface.
They're so gorgeous! (But also, I would love to see you try that actual mirror idea)
No u :)
Also thank you haha. I can certainly give it a shot and see if it changes anything!
I'd like to see you use metal leafing foil to wrap the inner dice with. There's a ton of cool colors, and a LOT of chrome/mirror finishes you could play with!
I know there are plenty of pigments out there that are typically used for nail art. It's a powder that you buff on and then put on a top coat. Maybe that would work better, since nail polish is closer to resin?
Oh what if you use chrome powders like for nails, i think they are also for resin, you have to buff the powders in :)
Maybe that would work! :D
The airbrush with the shell dice is just making me think of ombre airbrushed dice!
I'd love to see this redone with a patina style... 💚✨
I also wonder how well it would go if you mixed a small amount of Chrome pigment into the black and then buff a powder Chrome or airbrush the chrome on the inside on the mold. You could even try lightly buffing the outside of the dice with sandpaper and seeing the result that way!
I would love for this to become a recurring series of new ideas to make the mirror dice better
Yooo Rybo! A real good way to do this is with our blanks, and our silver dice wraps!! Theyre cut to fit our inserts, and give you this effect, but full mirror shine! Loved the video, my guy!!
Hi Rybonator ! More than a dice goblin, you're a dice genie ! You were right not to ink the dice. They look like brute pieces of polished chrome ! I have an aluminium die that's very similar, but less shiny . You rock, Rybonator ! Have a good day !
Very cool! I think the reason for them not being as reflective as before is that you are looking at the surface of the clear resin, and not to the surface of the chrome. Even though it is see through, the surface reflects the light differently than the liquid chrome. I believe Alclad sells a chrome paint and a varnish that supposedly gives great results, but I don't know how good that would work on dice that you constantly throw around..
Another way to get a great chrome look is by doing a VERY light dusting on a polished black surface- you'll be very surprised how far a little paint can go (definitely test on spoons or scrap first), and the shinier the black the more reflective the mirror finish. That's how prop studios paint "chrome" props like the mando helmet and terminator skulls-and that way you don't have to wait so long for it to dry, and it gives it a darker chrome ( you can keep dusting it to get it more and more silvery, but the more you do the less "chrome" you'll get and the more polished metal look you'll get.)
Maybe that'll help it stay reflective after the resin, but a problem everyone runs into with painting props/objects with any chrome or metallic paint is that any clear protective spray (or resin, in this case) will usually dull the shine- not exactly sure why, but clear coats/resin pretty consistently dull the shine on chrome paint (unless it's a clear coat specifically made for chrome paint, which they make.)
Saw these dice on Instagram and HAD to watch the video immediately.
I love the experiment! One thing that might potentially have an impact OR Improve your results, are polishing your inner dice. They came out clean, but take them through your zona papers to a mirror shine, as smooth as you can possibly get them. Protect them from dust and debris and any other elements. There are some good comments on other chrome finishes, or potential application methods. But mirrors are perefectly smooth. So the more smooth and flat you get the better your chances I THINK based on knife making I do and hand sanding to mirror 3000 grit finishes. I love how your dice came out, I am hopeful for the next video too!
Looks great! Would you perhaps be able to polish the chrome painted surface? Also, perhaps if you coat it with transparant lacquer then the mirror will be less affected by the resin?
No sadly, as it's simply paint. Any polishing would just rub the paint right off :/
I like those. If you want a true mirror the key is a very smooth surface. You'll want to sand/polish the black dice before painting them, apply several coats of paint knocking down bumps between coats, and then sand/polish the final paint surface to a mirror shine. You should be able to get an actual mirrored surface. I have thoughts on how I'd experiment with the materials and techniques but I'm not an expert and don't have specific experience polishing flat resin (I've done it with rounded acrylic using a Dremel and polishing compounds but that may not be a good approach for your project). I lean toward trying plate glass under a soft plastic film or paper to embed the polish, progressively higher grit polishing compounds, and a rotating figure 8 pattern moving the die on the glass. It's fine to use sand paper if you can get high enough grits, but it will clog quickly if you're too aggressive. Practice with a D6 to get the materials and techniques dialed in.
That looks so good
Thanks Star :D I'm glad you like them
@@Rybonator always have always will! Have you thought of making Christmas themed dice for these holidays? Snow or Christmas decorations type stuff :0
Such cool dice! Even if they’re not perfectly reflective they look so good! For some reason they make me think of someone snagging a set of dice from the Chrome coated SpongeBob future.
FUUUUUTUUUUURE :D
'Witness me!'
I love that your work station looks like a crime scene now, after the "blood spatter" dice. XD
They look sweet....I'd love to have seen a slight candy red outer with a hint of sparkles in....not too much but just a hint 😉 👍👍
Like a candy apple red car paint job! I like that idea :)
@@Rybonator yep just like a car candy apple red....but only subtle so it let's the mirror finish shine through 👍👍😁
They do make kits to add mirror finishes, re did a faded mirror for a '62 chevy. These still look great 👍.
Another mirror option would be to use silver leaf over the black blanks which you can then really buff to a perfect mirror finish. Speaking of leafing, another cool trick to do with the shell molds would be to use copper leaf and then give it an aged patina with ammonia before shelling them.
My favorite set so far! So pretty!
I would be very interested to see a version where you coat the inner dice with that metallic foil, in one piece as possible on each face so that no reflectiveness Is lost. It would be very tricky and require a lot of patience, but that’s the exact kind of project I always decide to take on myself; I just don’t have your supplies or skillset, so I leave it to you. Imagine a set of reflective gold dice! 😍
Another method you might want to consider trying is using graphite powder - basically, you rub the powder into the surface of an object and it gives it a chrome effect. The problem with a lot of chrome paints is that theyre very fragile, and I wonder if the resin's curing process had a hand in reducing the reflectivity of these dice. Just a thought!
Just a small thing, you could try getting your hands on a storm lighter! The heat is higher and more directional, should make it a lot easier to pop the bubbles!
I might look into that :D Thanks Arend
The next step is actually getting a tollens reaction to coat your dice in elemental silver. I am sure Nile Red would collab with you on this one :D
Basically use ammonium solution and silver nitrate to coat stuff in silver, but NEVER mix the nitrate until the start of the experiment, silver nitrate will form silver nitrite which can explode (hence my recommendation for a collab). I am not sure if the silver would form on plastic, but why not try? I guarantee the coating will be the most mirrorlike you can possibly get and is, in theory, even polishable. Now I cant say if the coating will oxidize or react to the resin and I don't think glass dice are a good idea, but the test tubes I still have fro, my chemistry experiments are still absolute silver/mirror like.
Edit: this might be the only time I would suggest putting in gold xd
Tollens reaction is a great idea here, and I can confirm the Tollens reaction will produce a silver plating on plastic just as well as it will on any other surface. The silver coating also shouldn't oxidize or react with the resin, so it would be an excellent thing to try.
@@isaacmoore2083 that wasmy only doubt, lets hope rybo goes for it. Sadly I have no more wish spells and tollens can be a tad bit intimidating, due to the silver nitrite buildup
Derra, my Aarakokra Monk would love these dice! She is attracted to shiny things. :).
How can a part crow NOT be :p
Would have loved to see you try to polish one of the center pieces with some really fine grit AFTER painting... probably wouldn't have worked, but on the off chance it did, it might have made the final result more mirror-like! Now we will never know (unless... :) )
I'll give it a shot on some throwaway resin. If it works, I'll post a vid! :)
The jokes are on fire, what an awesome video! Great job man! Thanks
The more puns I do, the more powerful I become :P Thanks Ivan!
I have an idea... Use the black resin... Put a little bit off color change powder on the insides of the inner die mold... Then when you make the outer die mold but some star shaped glitter in the resin. This will make starlight dice and the small amounts of powder will make it look like a nebula.
You can try using chrome powder for nails. They are super reflective, and come in different colors of chrome including holographic and dichromatic. There are a lot of YT videos on how to apply them.
Absolutely stunning work! Your dice are masterpieces
It normally would, but the surface I applied to was already as flat as I would have been able to get, and then sanding afterwards would have essentially just rubbed the paint off :/
Sorry, what I mean is - sanding dice before coating, so that reflective coat would go on a surface as even as possible. Mirroring coat is too thin to have a proper surface tension, so no auto-leveling
If I may, I would recommend painting the numbered mold before pouring the resin and seeing where that got us?
Just recently found your channel and just finished binge-watching all your dice videos. Was sad once it was over but quickly got excited with this upload! Thanks for the content my guy, might have to give this dice making thing a try
I use silver nitrate if I want to make something mirror-like. The problem is the silver sticks to everything and ruins my beakers. So I tend to not do that very often.
Oh, I wonder if it is reactive at all to resin? I should look into that
@@Rybonator I have seen this technique work on resin on the youtube channel AlphaPheonix when he made a silver playbutton about 4 weeks ago
@@Rybonator Search for Tollens' Reagent. It's a pretty easy thing and the chemicals aren't that hard to come by. Fair warning though, it stains like hell (so gloves are absolutely necessary, unless you want black spots on your hands) and it sticks to absolutely everything.
I did it on some 3D prints with photo resin, and it worked out. For mirror finish, you have to polish the dice before though. Don't worry that stuff will stick.
Since most plastics are very resistant to polar solvents I guess cast epoxy resin should work.
They do look good. Very attractive set.
Have you considered making "Swiss cheese" dice? Something like intentionally getting voids and then doing a clear resin shell over that?
I'm so happy to see a Rybonator video show up in my recommended
Only two possible improvements I can think of, though they might be slight- sand the inserts to a mirror finish, the chrome really highlighted every slight imperfection- then vacuum chamber the outer shell, even the slightest microscopic bubbles are going to create light distortions and mess with the shine for your mirror.
Maybe use gold or silver foil you can put in dice, but lightly glue the outside and apply the gold/silver foil to that.
That would be awesome! I think I can get some gold leafing foil.
the numbers look great. Love these dice.
Would love to see this redone but have you do a thicker coat of liquid chrome, then sand them juuuust a little to give them a super smooth finish before putting the shell on. It might help with the reflections once the shell is on
I airbrush moltow chrome and it’s easier and more durable if you thin it with Tamiya lacquer thinner. It will dry quickly when thinned.
You may be able to maintain the mirror finish if you coat it in a gloss varnish before using resin?
Also I would ensure the black blanks are very clean before spraying the chrome. Perhaps wipe them with alcohol and handle with gloves.
Sanding the black dice before air brushing them silver would probably give a better result.
It's also possible that it would then be too smooth for the paint to stick, but it' worth a shot.
Never made dice or worked with resin or anything, but i have a possible idea to help improve the reflectiveness? I dunno if it'd work, but basically do all the same stuff you did in this vid, but with the inner part of the dice, before you airbrush on the liquid chrome, sand them to a pretty shine first.
i don't know whether it'll help or not, but it might help remove some tiny imperfections that're causing the light to scatter more, so the final result might be closer to what you want.
i really don't know if it'll make a difference one way or the other though, just an idea
I wonder if sanding/polishing the dice before the liquid chrome appication woukda made them shinier? And possibly a light polish after applying the chrome
I don't think so, as they were about as flat/glass as I would have been able to polish them
Can you sand the liquid chrome to get a better finish? Alternatively, gallium has a low melting point of about 30°C so you could probably cast that in a dice mold. Obviously you'd want to have the outside resin layer so that it doesn't melt in your hand.