I absolutely love Game of Thrones on HBO (and I’m working my way through the books, but not fast enough to spoil the show). As soon as I saw Daenerys Targaryen pick up a dragon egg, I knew I’d have to make one (or three).

I started by cutting 3/4″ MDF into discs that could be glued together on a threaded rod.

Once the pieces were glued together and locked tight, I added end caps so I could chuck it to the lathe

A quick spin on the lathe formed the MDF into an egg shape. Since this will be covered in epoxy putty, I didn’t have to worry about making it perfect.

I started by adding epoxy putty to the bottom and creating a stone texture with a silicone stamp – I molded a big rock out in the yard for occasions like this.

Once I got to the putty stage, I could take the egg with me to work and add putty during my lunch hour. I could usually create four rows of scales per hour.

I kept the scales around the same size by comparing them to a plastic template. I had some sanding and cleanup still to do before I could make a mold.

The mold was created in two parts with Smooth-On Stroke brushable silicone with a support shell of Plasti-Paste II.

Here are both sides of the mold removed from the master and turned inside out so I could more easily apply baby powder to all the nooks and crannies. The baby powder breaks the surface tension so that you don’t get bubbles in your resin surface.

I slush cast Smooth-On Smooth-Cast 65D in each side getting as close to the edge as I possibly could.

I mixed up a last batch of resin, dumped it inside and then sealed the mold. I rotated the resin around the seam until it cured. When I popped the egg out, I had a nice hollow resin copy.

The seam turned out pretty good with only a bit of clean-up to do.

After casting three copies, I gave them all a coat of primer.

The final painted eggs. Each egg was sprayed with a base color coat, a dark wash applied to bring out the recessed details and some dry brushed lighter shades on the raised surfaces.

Detail of the stone texture.

Detail of the top of the eggs.

The egg in relation to my hand. The final size is about 6″ x 8.5″.