Progetto Fusioni: Tin Necklaces


Idea

This project was undertaken with my friends Bonach and Furla.


In October of 2012 we went to Lucca Comics. We noticed a lot of cosplayers dressed as Ezio/Altair from Assassin's Creed. Yet nobody was dressed as the best gaming assassin of the year, Corvo Attano.

Somebody had to put things right.


We began planning a completely over the top cosplay. The biggest difficulty would be crafting the characteristic metal mask. We completely lacked metal-working experience. So we decided to make custom necklaces for our friends.


Process

Combining the classical and the scientific, we consulted old tomes and experimented. Tin was chosen for the ready availability and the low fusion point. Paper matrixes were cut out and glued together. Using chalk, we created moulds inside the caps of coffe tins.



Fusion was achieved with an old Bunsen beaker.


Particular attention had to be paid with shallow pieces, because of the very high surface tension. Tin tends to form a single shapeless blob rather than sticking to the mould. Preheating helps a lot, but we had to literally spread molten metal like Nutella.


For facilitating the drilling of holes, bits of iron wire were stuck in.


The pieces tended to be a bit abundant, and we filed them down with Dremel drills.


Once we got the shape right, we applied a coat of transparent varnish to prevent oxidation.