This project started with a conversation about how expensive high end fake ice costs for photographers. When photographing drinks, studio lights can get hot enough to melt ice very quickly, making capturing a clean, presentable glass of liquid a challenge. Artists turn to using prop ice to avoid this.
One problem with fake ice is that only the most expensive pieces actually float in liquid like real ice. My goal was to achieve a more affordable way to make floating ice. I chose to focus on creating the correct shape and finish first, then focus on the floating aspect.

My plan for making the ice was to first 3D print the master. I modeled an ice cube using Cinema 4D’s displacement deformer. Layering different types and scales of noise helps give a convincing look.

At first I played with printing orientation, trying to avoid the annoying "stepping" that can happen on subtle slopes. This also ruins a lot of the surface detail. I ended up ditching that idea since I would have to do a lot of post process sanding anyway.

I soon realized sanding to a mirror finish would take all the small details out of my piece while also taking more time than I wanted. Instead, I mounted the ice on a small pedestal and coated it in a thin layer of Smooth-on XTC 3D, a thin resin made for smoothing 3D prints.

I ended up doing one coat, then trying to clean up some rough spots with another coat. I was happy with how the surface came out.

Next up, casting the master. My first mistake was printing a really poor mold container. This was rushed and pointless considering I could just place the cube into a plastic cup (which is what I ended up doing).

This is where it all went wrong. I sprayed mold release on the master which effectively ruined the mirror finish I had worked so hard to build up. Next, I unfortunately had bought a pretty old batch of Smooth-on's molding silicone oomoo 30 from Blick. It was so thick it couldn't get around the ice cube and into the crevices. Waste of money and time!

I then bought mold star 16 fast from The Compleat Sculptor in Manhattan. I should've gone to them from the beginning since their selection was so much better. This time I made the mold from a plastic cup like before. Unfortunately during my setup, I managed to wipe something onto the surface of the ice cube master, so I ended up with a pretty poor mold. The general shape was there, but it had very poor surface detail and finish.

Next up, pouring the resin. My first attempt was with Alumilite water clear. It looks great, works quickly, and doesn't put out a terrible odor. That said, it becomes thick very quickly, so all the bubbles I inadvertently mixed in when mixing parts A + B showed themselves in the final castings (I've been told to use a pressure pot, but I'm in a small apartment in Brooklyn and don't want to add another large item to my already packed workspace).

I eventually turned to using the Casting crafts polyester resin. This stuff is way more confusing to work with, requiring odd calculations of how much hardener to use, not to mention the smell is awful. Only cast this stuff outside or in some ventilated setup.

The castings came out bubble free. Only issue was the surface quality suffered from the mold. Not only that, but probably due to a misuse of the product, the surface layers were still quite tacky after 24 hours. I eventually decided to take a dremel to it. This process made shaping the surface MUCH easier, though I lost a lot of that organic detail I've been going on about.

I eventually worked my way through the sanding grits, wet sanding after 600, going from 200-2000 in steps of 100 (until the 1000s). I then added a shell finish using turtle wax I got from the closest hardware store. I should've polished it with the dremel first though, I misunderstood the process and ended up with a slightly duller, though very smooth result.

I learned a lot and the project is still under way. I'm basically going to start over from the beginning and work on surface finish, bubbles, and then finally figure out the whole floating thing. Pretty sure resin that is less dense than water is hard to come by. We'll see!