After Black Widow, Thor was the second character in the promotion of Marvels Avenger´s video game I made a mod for. After some discussion with Crystal Dynamics, we settled on a design representing one of the most iconic pieces in the Marvel universe. Thor´s Hammer. With my design, I tried to keep close to the one from the video game, which has a more simplistic look. Nevertheless, I tried to incorporate as much detail as possible. I started with a 3D model, to fit in all the hardware, and to play around with different materials and colors. Base should be made from wood and the hammer itself a mixture between resin and filament 3D printing. Some details will be made from faux leather and fur.
After the 3D model was done, I made a quick card board mockup to see if I can fit all the needed parts inside. Also that way I already got a feeling for the real life proportions. Then I cut the main body of the hammer into 4 pieces to fit on my printer and started printing out the parts. Everything was sanded down, and I already glued both parts for the front and back side together. To get a better feeling on what parts and areas needed a little more care, I wet sanded both halves. I used a two part epoxy putty (Miliput) and closed some gaps and filled in imperfections.
Next up, I made a cover. For stabilization, I glued in two metal bars. This should keep the lid in shape after the handle is attached. Then, I worked on the visible surfaces of the inside. I used XTC-3D, an epoxy coating, to smooth out the surface and prepare the section for painting. For the second layer, I added a little bit of black pigment to see where I already applied the epoxy. After everything was cured, I sanded down the high spots. Then I glued both halves together. To further increase the bond and strengthen up the entire construction, I applied another epoxy on the glued edges. EpoxAcot gets super rigid and there will be no danger both halves will come apart anymore. In the last picture you can also see the small gap between the front and back. Here all the cables and water cooling tubes will be placed to run down into the base.
Next, I smoothed out the larger sections if necessary. I needed a mounting for the handle onto the hammer head, so I printed a small mount supported with some magnets. To finish the work on the outside, I covered everything with a couple layers of spray filler. While the spray filler was drying, I started to work on the detail parts. For the hammer head, I designed a cover and included some runes. To save some time on the post processing, I printed those parts in resin. Although, not necessary, I sanded down the part slightly and added a layer of spray filler. Next, I designed and printed the hammer pommel. I wanted to include an LED effect here later, like in the first detail, so I installed some LED stripes before gluing both parts together. Next a light coat of spray filler was applied.
Next up, all parts were primed with black spray paint. To already get a more used look, the silver paint was just dabbed on with a brush in multiple layers. Followed by a slight weathering with brown and black wash.
In the end the runes should be illuminated. To underline this effect, I poured resin into the gaps for a nice light effect. I chose UV curing resin to get all detail in one session without waiting for hours for the resin to cure. Colored the resin blue and inserted the resin. Used my UV lamp to rapidly cure the resin. Looks good even without the the LED lights. Did the same with the detail part that will sit on top of the hammer. Made a quick test. Cause I taped the Detail parts from the back while pouring in the resin, I already got a nice structure that breaks up the light. Then, I glued the detail part on the hammer, and prepared the next gap for the resin. Pouring resin, curing and a test again. Finally, I tested all the parts with the proper LED lights that will be used in the finished mod.
Now that the hammer head is almost done, I was switching to the base. First I cut all the wooden pieces into the right size. Next, I made all openings for the Fan, PSU and plugs. Afterwards, everything was glued together. Also made a quick mounting for the radiators. All the hardware, that was not placed into the hammer, was set in the base at this point. Attached the cover on top and made an opening to fix the hammer to at the end.
Next, I primed the base to cover the wooden structure. The base should look a little like made from stone, so it was colored in grey and some spots or white and black were dabbed on with a sponge. Now just the covers for the radiator fans were missing. Designed, printed, painted and glued into place. Then I attached the last covers on the back side. Also all other sockets founds their places.
Now for the last couple of steps. I wrapped the handle in some faux leather. Also needed a loop that I did with faux fur and leather. The end of the loop was braided to match the design of the original from the game. The fur was a little too bright, so I uses some dark brown paint with my airbrush to tone it down a little. Then the loop was attached to the handle. And some final details were printed and painted. To get even more structure on the handle, I braided smaller leather stripes around it. Then I prepared the hardware for the Watercooling and installed everythin into the hammer head. Put in all the cables, attached the water loop and filled the system with a blue liquid.
Stunning mastering of many techniques, I am always very impressed by your work, and really beautiful final result
