Star Trek, Seven of Nine Borg Implant

I'm a bit of a geek, Star Trek, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings etc. Since I make props professionally, at least if there are projects available for the company I work for occasionally, I had some insight in this sort of stuff.

As my first instructable I chose something from the Star Trek universe, the iconic Borg Implant worn by 7 of 9 in STar Trek Voyager and Star Trek Picard. Actually, my version is the one shown in Star Trek Picard, since it shows consistent in this series as opposed to it being changed all the time in Voyager, sometimes even within a single episode.

Furthermore this version features a darker metal finish than the ones in Voyager, and I liked that darker version.

The first image shows a photo I found on the web, showing the actual implants in different times in this Star Trek universe. I chose the colored one, which is the version used in Star Trek Picard.

My second image is a sketch of the thing, though this predates the release of Picard, so it's detailing the Voyager version. The outlines, however, stayed pretty much unchanged, so that worked for my first step.

When working on such a project, it's helpful to step back and think about how the project is supposed to look like in the end, how best to achieve such a look and then divide it into single steps - and then to stick to those steps rather than trying to take 2 or more at once. So here is some of my initial thought process:

I knew how these prosthetics were originally made.

In Voyager, several sculptors did the sculpting on a live cast. These sculpted pieces were then molded and cast in silicone, painted and adhered to the actresses face. Since there are many versions of it in the program, I assume they did this process over and over again, resulting in this lack of continuity.

In Picard, since way more effective techniques became available, the master-version was most likely a 3d file created by a concept designer, then 3d printed, cleaned up (3d prints never look as clean as advertised), molded and then cast in silicone, painted etc.

Since I have no 3d printer and I'm not a 3d graphic specialist, I went for the old fashioned way, sculpting (and without a live cast)

For my technique I needed a stiff but still flexible base. Those sketches helped me making such a base:

I scanned in my sketch, added several sizes to a word document, printed the results and cut the different sizes out. Standing in front of a mirror, I chose the best fitting size as my template.

In the real workshop those 2 first steps would be done by different departments. Just thought I mention this, to show my personal process uses professional elements but does not reflect how movie props are generally made.

Since I made this during a COVID lockdown, I was a bit limited on supplies. I do like to recycle or reuse stuff, so I just had a look in my recycling container for some thin (0.5-1 mm) plastic packaging.

I then used my chosen sketch to outline it on the plastic (transparent plastics can make this process easier).

I then used scissors and scalpel to cut it out.

The next step was to shape the base plastic piece (image 1), using a hot air gun to soften it, then bend it, let it cool, try the fit to your face (or to whoever it will be made for). Repear this until you are happy with the fit. Do NOT heat it to a point where you can't touch it anymore, it would really hurt you. Instead of a heat gun, you might try a common hair dryer.

You see why a live cast would be used in "real life".

After the fitting, I used a dremel with a wire brush bit to roughen up the side I want to sculpt on.

My process involves sculpting but diverts quite a bit from the professional processes used to make movie props.

First, as shown before, I didn't use a live cast, had to make do with a workaround, hence needed a base to sculpt on.

Second, usually we would use something like monster clay to sculpt. This stuff stays workable if its kept warm enough. It does not really harden, which doesn't matter since it would be molded and then cast as often as needed.

For my piece I wanted to get away without these additional steps - making a mold is complicated (especially if there's not a single straight surface to use as a cut), and it's expensive.

I then decided to use materials which harden and the master template being the final piece - It could still be molded and so be replicated, if I ever decided to do so.

But for now we stick to a single piece. My product of choice is called Knead-It, often used in automotive areas. It comes in different versions, showing in color as well as hardness when cured. In this case I chose "multi purpose" since it stays slightly flexible without breaking.

It's a 2 component polymer. The 2 components, in 2 different colors, are pressed into 2 layers in one stick. Ideally at a temparature of some 20-25 Celsius, you can cut off a suitable piece with a knife and knead it like playdough till those 2 components are nicely mixed to a pretty even color.

Then you can sculpt it like playdough.

The downside is, it starts to cure after a few minutes. Hence I mentioned to split the project into manageable separate steps.

If you don't feel comfortable with sculpting, you can use playdough for some practice first.

Knead-it is not really toxic, but uou might not want it on your skin all the same. Use disposable, tight fitting vinyl gloves, and rub some talcium powder on them frequently during your work (Knead-it sticks to them otherwise). Also dip your scuplting tools into talcium powder frequently to avoid your material sticking to them.

I'd also recommend a respirator or at least a well vented work area.

To work! The first step is to get the base ready. I wanted an additional layer of material on that rather flexible plastic base, to make it more stable for work and to keep the intended shape.

Put respirator and gloves on, rub your gloved hands liberally with talcium, cut an appropriate piece of the Knead-It stick and knead it till its got smooth and its golor is consistent.

Apply it on your plastics base, somewhere around 1-2 mm thick.

Dip your scalpel into talcium and cut the excess dough from the edges.

Dip your thumb into talcium again and rub it over the new surface and edges, it should smoothen nicely.

Try the fit of your piece, bend and hold if necessary. The stuff starts curing after a few minutes, getting warm in the process.

When you got it to your liking, let it cure a couple of hours, then clean up the surface and edges with sandpaper. Starting with 180 to get nicely even, then 400 to sort of polish.

The edges might need some trimming with a small carbon steel drum bit, but keep it slow.

Draw the details on your base with a pencil. As you can see, this way you can sculpt every single detail in one step, then the next and so forth.

As you can see in the photos, I broke my piece down in separate steps too. Scuplting one part at a time, smoothing it, let it cure for some hours before adding the next piece.

It works pretty much the same way as adding the base layer. Respirator, gloves, talcium powder on everything Knead-It shouldn't stick to, cutting a suitable piece from the Knead-It stick, knead till it's smooth, apply to the outlined area you will work on, use sculpting tools, skewers etc. to sculpt, then gently rub talcium over the new surface till it's smooth, let it cure...

To sculpt these parts that look like bolts or rivets, I used pieces of ball pens or whatever I could find in the sizes needed. Be creative and test it on some playdough first.

Those images show pretty much every detail piece when I finished sculpting it.

By the way, I'm certainly not a trained sculptor myself. My main experience with stuff like that lie in Kindergarten and school, using playdough and later clay. So, even though I might have watched pros sculpting, this one is my first own sculpting piece, made rather difficult since the material hardens as opposed to what pro sculpters use.

In my various jobs I learned to do things with what I have to achieve a set goal. If I can do that, you can too!

Any work piece you want to look like metal, needs a black glossy layer first. Black gives any metal effect actual depth, which you can not achieve with an underlying white or grey layer.

To prepare your piece, you should slightly roughen it up. I find scotch brite and very useful for that because it goes inte crevices and doesn't really take off material. As a second step I'd use very fine steel wool, which smoothens possible scratches. Important, any scratch in the sutface will stay visible even after 2-3 and sometimes more layers of paint. Prepare your piece in a way that its surface looks like already painted.

Every piece of plastic should be primed first, so the final paint adheres properly. There are paints which do both. One I like to use a lot is called Rust-Oleum prime and paint, black, glossy.

The image shows 2 layers of this applied, ready to get the metal effect on.

There are several ways to achieve a metal effect. The easiest might be a good chrome spray-paint, though the advertised results differ often considerably from real-life results.

One thing about those silver and chrome spray-paints is, it's extremely difficult to add a clear protection layer without losing most of its shiny effect. Which makes such pieces more of a prop or display piece.

Another way, the way I use a lot, is using graphite powder.

It also blunts when covered with most clear coats, but at least the metal effect is stunningly better than most chrome paints I ever got hold of. It's also prone to finger prints and water (eg rain), but it can relatively easily refreshed.

I'll go ahead with the graphite powder, you see the results in these photos.

Graphite is the stuff your pencil mine is made of. It's the chrystalline form of carbon and occurs naturally. You can buy it in art supply shops as well as in hardware stores (since it's used to lubricate locks without becoming sticky).

When you got your final coat of glossy black on your piece, don't let it fully cure. After about 2 hours, the paint I mentioned, will be still sticky. Get your gloves on, get a ball of cotton, dip into graphite powder (do not shake the powder off), then apply it gently and liberately on your piece.

Do that in smal circular moves and repeat it a couple of times. You will see the rsupt immediately.

The underlying paint, with now "inserted" graphite particele shoutd now be left to cure for 1-2 days. Then you might want to apply more graphite (you can't really overdo it).

If the effect goes away over time, due to being touched ot getting wet, you can just polish off fingerprints with a very lightly moistered piece of cotton cloth (NO microfibre or synthetics, they create scratches), then reapply graphite till it looks new again.

The smoother the last layer of paint is, the smoother the chrome effect will look.

I got some fake blades treated that way to a literal mirror sheen.

Beware, graphite isn't toxic, but it's extremely messy. Keep that in mind when you work.

And finally I just used mine in a selfie shot, stuck to my face.

Blu-Tack sort of works for this :-)

Have fun creating