I have been obsessed with the upcoming game Overwatch from Blizzard Entertainment for the last few months. It’s fresh, bright, and amazingly well polished for still being in a beta environment.  The game is fun and exciting and manages to be different every round no matter how many hours you sink into it.

So, I wanted to show some appreciation to the amazing team that is building this fantastic game with a project that only cosplayers and prop-makers would think of.  After a quick question to a friend who works on the game I found out that they use cork boards primarily around the office.  (I wanted to make sure these would be useful, after all!) Now, I had seen the cheap version of normal ninja star pins available on Amazon, but I wanted to make these straight from the game.

Thanks to the Overwatch reference kits, I was able to get a perfect image to work from.

I started with a base of Sintra (foamed PVC board) and added the detail on first with balsa wood as seen in the picture.  Sadly this resulted in a less than perfect finish given this was a “quick project”.  I switched to a stack of Sintra to the desired thickness and cut the details out with a scroll saw before gluing them to the flat core layer.  The detail in the center was a 5/16th finishing washer.

I built only one original star and left all three points intact.  I didn’t want to commit to only one angle for the star to stick in to the wall.  The concept was to try and capture the look as if Genji himself had tossed a set of them at the wall with all different angles for them to bury into the wall.

Once I had my master copy, it was time to make the silicone mold and start casting.  Sadly it was late when I made the mold so I forgot a few photos, but the overall method is well documented across the internet.  This would be a simple two part mold.

Using Smooth-Cast 300 from Smooth-on I was able to mix and pour a new star every 20 minutes.  I powdered the mold with talc powder to help draw the resin into all corners of the mold and ensure no bubbles or missing corners.

Once I had 15 good castings (only sent 12 but better safe than sorry) I cleaned them up with a quick sanding of 400 grit before cutting the tips and adding the pins. Each star had 2 – 1/16th hole drilled 1/4 inch deep to accept the pin.  I used 5/8th #19 wire brads super-glued in place. Then came priming and painting.

It was cold here in the Northwest so they got to dry in the laundry room.  The final color was Krylon Metallics Dull Aluminum.  At this point they just needed a bit of weathering and the neon green details.

Now these were turning out exactly like I had hoped so I needed a good presentation box for them.  (Besides, everything is cooler in it’s own box.)  I assumed Overwatch (Tte world saving organization) would have ammo boxes but with no reference images I had to come up with something. I opted for a 4 gun pistol case due to size and the fact it came with foam inserts. With a quick few cuts the foam was tailored to accept all 12 stars.

 

The package was mailed off to the amazing team at Blizzard Entertainment to express our admiration for the fantastic game they are building and for all they have done.

Mario