Here's another post about a sketchbook I made! I don't do posts about every book anymore, since it's more or less always the same, but this one is a bit special.
One of my favourite bands is Hammerfall. In the music video of their song "Hearts on Fire", a skeleton arm holding a book pops up at around 15 seconds into the video. This book has been on my to do list for a while, so here it goes!
Materials
- Daler-Rowney A4 sized sketchbook
- Carboard
- 3 mm MDF
- PVC foam plate
- Kraft paper
- 180 grit sandpaper
- Acrylic paints
- Book binding glue
- Super glue
- Gilding wax
- Matte spray varnish
- Red felt
- Leather straps
In the past, I have tried achieving a gilded paper effect using acrylic paints. It didn't work very well, because it more or less glues the edges together. This time I tried something different: gilding wax. It took me a few attempts to find the right method, but here's how it's done.
The most important thing is to work in thin layers. Thick layers will flake off easily. I clamped the book together and brushed on a thin layer of wax. Next, I took away the clamps and flipped through the book, to make sure no pages stick together, and let it dry for 24 hours. This is repeated until the desired coverage is achieved (about 3 layers). After the final layer has dried, the book is clamped again, and the gilded edge is buffed with a cloth.
The logo
The Hammerfall logo (an H and an F combined) is made from cardboard, PVC foam and 180 grit sandpaper. I first cut out the letters using a hand saw, and then rounded the edges with a knife, files and sandpaper. The disc is made from cardboard and sandpaper for the texture, and the edge around it is also PVC foam.
The painting started with a few coats of primer, followed by base colors. The inside is burnt umber, the outside and the letters are raw sienna. To add some variation, washes of black were applied to the inside, and burnt umber for the letters and edge.
Next, metallic bronze was used for the entire logo. A thin coat, so the underlying color shows through. The letters and egdes were lightened by an additional drybrushing with gold, and the inside was darkened with a black wash.
The book cover
I studied the video carefully to get a good picture of the book cover. The video is quite low quality, and the book only briefly shows up, once at the beginning, and then again at the end.
The cover is pretty simple. A panel with the logo recessed in it, a beveled edge all around it, and two leather straps that wrap around the spine. Shouldn't be too difficult!
The panels are made from cardboard, and the edge from MDF strips. The inside of the edge has a 45° bevel. Since I finally own a bandsaw, this was easy to make! I cut some MDF strips with a 45° bevel on one side, and made a frame around the cardboard panel.
In the front panel, a hole for the logo was cut, and both the front and back panel had slots for the leather straps cut. Next, the panels were glued to the book and the entire book was covered with wrinkled kraft paper.
Painting was done the same way as my previous books. Black followed by a mixture of burnt umber with a bit of red, next a thin coat of raw sienna and finally a metallic copper drybrushing and a matte clearcoat. I have been experimenting a bit with different color combinations, and I hope to finally start making something else than the standard brown leather color.
Finishing
To finish the book, I cut two straps from the pile of scrap leather I have lying around and glued them in place with super glue. The logo was glued in place, and the inside of the covers was finished with a piece of red felt.
And here's the final result!
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