Prop Making – Mage Staff Project

CarveWright is the ultimate prop making tool. Paired with a 3D printer in this project, this lighted mage staff was a total hit.

Download the files I used to make this project and follow the steps below to make your own.

Design. Carve. Print. Make.

The staff head was designed and modeled in CarveWright’s Designer 4 in a couple of hours. The general shapes were drawn and it was given dimension by a couple clicks with the modeling suite tools.

I carved two so they could be glued together to make both sides.

I found a crystal STL on Thingiverse and used my new AnyCubic Photon MONO resin printer to quickly shape it in a transparent blue.

I needed to fabricate a couple of other pieces before I could begin assembly. I went to Home Depot and found some pipe and PVC fittings that made a nice looking staff. Then I traced the shape of staff head onto some plexiglass and cut it out in pieces. One for each side.

Working the Pieces

First, I did some filling and sanding to my pieces until they were smooth and could get a final coat of Rustoleum Hammered metal spray paint.

Then some details were brushed in using acrylics paints.

Assembly

With the pieces prepared, I could begin assembly. I started with glueing the plexi pieces to the back on one half of the staff head using E6000.

Then, I shaped the setting for the crystal and a plexi shard for a glue mount.

Next, the LED electronics were inserted.

The parts were pulled from a couple of cheap flashlights I had lying around.

The large LED’s were place inside the crystal and the strip was placed in between the plexi pieces to side light them.

Then the wiring was run down through the top PVC pieces and the assembly was glued together.

Then it was tested to make sure everything still worked before attaching to the staff.

Speaking of the staff, I decorated it with brass tape and a leather wrapped handle.

Then, the top simply screwed on and it was ready for the customer to see it.

Finished

I think he liked it.