u/Sydde

Hi,

How could I recreate this kind of gem effect? I already have transparent resin gems separated from their armor/cloth.

Would the best option be to make a mold and recast them in tinted epoxy resin with pigments mixed in? The problem is that the back side is curved, so I’d probably need a two-part mold, and I’m not sure I could control the pigment placement precisely enough.

Or is there a painting trick for this effect? Maybe using a black backing? Or just airbrushing some transparent paint on certain areas and letting the black show through the transparency? And what kind of paint would work best for this?

I honestly have no idea where to start. I’d also like to keep costs as low as possible, so I’d rather avoid too many test runs, especially buying molding silicone and extra resin.

If anyone has experience with this kind of effect, I’d really appreciate some guidance before I start buying materials and experimenting blindly

Hi,

I’ve been wondering about something and wanted to get some real feedback from people with experience.

Is there actually a noticeable difference between cheaper resins (around €15/kg) and more expensive ones (€30–40 or more)?

Also, what about different brands and sub-brands? For example, I’ve seen people say that Jayo is basically the same as Sunlu is that true in practice, or are there real differences?

And what about “manufacturer” resins like Anycubic or Elegoo? Are they actually better optimized for their printers, or just rebranded standard resin?

Some of the cheaper options seem almost too good to be true, so I’m wondering if there are trade-offs in consistency or long-term durability.

I’d really appreciate your feedback:

Do you stick with premium brands or go budget?

Have you compared different resins side by side?

Any brands (cheap or expensive) that really stood out to you?

How to achieve this glowing translucent gem effect?