Card Captor Sakura (aka Cardcaptors) is a manga and anime series about ten-year-old Sakura Kinomoto accidentally releasing a set of magical cards. Each card has its own unique ability and can assume a magical personification when activated.
I was commissioned to make the “Sealing Wand” from the manga and anime series Card Captor Sakura (aka Cardcaptors). In the series, the Bird headed top changes to…
…A star in a ring with tiny wings! Magic, folks!
I built half of the star head in 3D, keeping a 1mm wall to save on printing costs at Shapeways.
The base of the staff was modeled the same way.
I was unsuccessful in building a model for the bird head so I decided to make my master from MDF.
I made the wings from 1/4″ MDF and carved out the layers of feathers with Dremel, chisels and blades.
The bird head sculpting finished and ready for smooth sanding.
The staff was made from a 1″ oak dowel. I inserted a 1/2″ dowel in the end to attach the tip and flared both ends with Bondo, guided by a slightly larger MDF disc.
I added a threaded insert so the interchangeable heads could be attached with a threaded rod.
The final staff ready for painting.
To attach the wings to the head and make sure they were straight, I cut 1/4″ MDF discs that would fit in the eye socket.
Half of the disc was glued to the back of the wing and half was glued into the eye socket. Together they make a tight, consistently angled fit.
The eye trim was lathed from 1/4″ MDF checked to the drill press.
The eye trim is glued to each wing master.
The master for the eye gem was made by cutting off the tip of an old space shuttle model’s fuel tank. I knew there was a reason I kept this for 20 years!
The surface was sanded smooth in preparation for molding.
Resin gems with silver mylar glued to the back. The mylar brightens the appearance of the resin.
A test fit of all the bird head components.
I made a mold of the staff tip half, made two resin copies and glued them together.
The new master for the tip is ready for molding.
The star head mold and the first resin copy from it. There’s a few dents to putty up but overall pretty clean. I later made a new mold so I could get dent-free pristine copies.
Two halves of the star head glued together, seam filled and ready for painting.
Base coat of pink with white wings painted.
The final assembled star wand!
Close-up of the head.
Final assembled bird head version.
Closeup of the happy birdie.