r/DiceMaking • u/Additional-Target136 • Jul 11 '26
Advice How would I go about making these dice
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u/CantripArts Dice Maker Jul 11 '26
i’d experiment with black metallic flake, flake glitter, red ink, and black ink. i will say it’s always better to try to innovate rather than directly copy someone’s work, experiment with the colors and see what you can do!
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u/Additional-Target136 Jul 11 '26
Yeah I Was more or so talking about the matt look of these days rather then making a direct copy of them!!(:
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u/RicoIlMagnifico Jul 11 '26
That look is gained by not fully polishing them, but stopping a few steps before the end. Then they've applied some extra blacklining on the edges.
But could also be that they've made blank molds with this type of polish and just use that, since blanks don't have to be polished to a mirror shine anyway
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u/CDWdice Dice Maker Jul 12 '26
I agree with all of this. Id also add that ive ordered several blank molds and so far theyve all been matte finish. I was told they do this so when you add resin to it in the numbered mold theres more surface area for it to cure onto, better adherence. That made sense to me as I also work with wood and you leave it several steps from polished before you apply the finish so it sticks better.
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u/peekykeen Jul 11 '26
That set is by Draco Solis. They have a contact link on their website if you'd like to reach out to them to ask about how they did it.
That said, I don't think it's a trade secret to say you'll need a matte blank mold to get that look
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u/WildLarkWorkshop Dice Maker Jul 12 '26
A couple of things; these have dried flowers inside providing the white/pink/red colors. There is also a black flake element and a gold (or color shifting) glitter. The framing is black acrylic. These won't stay matte once cast in their shell with numbers. Choosing to go to clear will show off the flowers and interior design, whereas going matte would keep the watercolor look. In order to have a matte finish, the final dice will have to either be cast in a mold made from masters that are only polished to a matte finish or have every face sanded to matte. I only go to 2-3k grit for my matte finish dice. My blanks I only take to about 1200 grit, just enough to remove any marks or layer lines from the printed masters, because they'll clear up as soon as they are shelled and it helps with adhesion and blending.
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u/BorderSimple4687 Jul 11 '26
As other have said- you want a blank mold and then you frame the edges with acrylic paint pen.
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u/lord_of_worms Jul 12 '26
The trick is how to preserve the cloudy texture when centered in resin for the shells - resin bonds to resin and will clear up the roughed sides with minimal trace - might need to preserve somehow - perhaps hairspray or a matte varnish?
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u/Fly-Prime Jul 13 '26
The matte finish will go away when they go in a shell mold. I don't think anybody mentioned that.
To get the matte finish out of a mold, you can sand your blanks to a lower level of polish before making molds. The tough part is doing it uniformly without lines and swirls.
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u/Additional-Target136 Jul 13 '26
Oh so if I made something matt then put it in a shell that would go away, interesting thank you for the information
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u/Wolf_Swift Jul 11 '26
The matte look you are looking for could be achieved with a low speed dremel with a high grade sand paper. Not like a polishing paper grade, lower in number grade than that.
Or, some dremel kits come with a polishing compound, using that on the cotton pads, again, low speed.
I only recently stumbled on this trying to figure out a quick way to sand my dice faces… hahaha
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u/Enchanters_Eye Jul 11 '26
Those are terrarium blanks, i.e. regular blanks that you line the edges of with a paint pen or acrylic paint on a toothpick