jubilant(It's based on the Crown of Amber I designed and made for TorCon last year. That one, although impressive on stage, is made of Lexan with glued acrylic stones on it and is starting to look a bit tatty when worn to Imperial events. Plus, when a certain past SF Emperor "pings" the spires, the whole thing quivers, to his great amusement. Just let him try that with this one!)
The new one is made from 7 segments, each from 1/8 inch thick aluminum. My friend B machined the basic shapes for me and put the curve into them.
I polished them over the weekend, mounted the stones on Monday and Tuesday, and assembled the segments tonight
I spent two days polishing the segments to a mirror finish:
I bought a buffing motor (used-- only $30!) and sewn spiral muslin buffing wheels
The first cut was done with Tripoli Brown polishing compound.
The final mirror finish with Fabulustre compound.
Then I coated it with automotive clearcoat to keep the aluminum from fading to grey, as it loves to do when it oxidizes.
There are seven stones:
Center front: Lapis-died (azure) Howlite 40x30mm cabochon
Temples: Black glass-fiber catseye 40x30 cabochons
Rear 4 segments: antique 25x18mm Montana Sapphire colored rhinestones
All happily held in place with E6000 adhesive
The spires are tipped with acrylic faceted drops, with a 1/8 dia x1/4 deep well turned into them on a lathe, fixed in place with more E6000 adhesive.
The hinge pins are pieces of brass wire, although the center rear pin (intended to be removable to make this easier to travel with and to adapt to hairstyles/headswelling/etc.) will probably be replaces with a slightly undersized steel pin.
OK, OK, you want more pictures:
And to show off how reflective the polish is (and to go along with my JungleBoy theme, one last silly photo)
All it needs now is the sweatband and it's done! (and in a pinch I could use a bandana... just kidding!)