The simple process of making a small whale shark keychain

Author Weibo@青猫君

Wet the leather

Draw the pattern to be engraved on the sulfuric acid paper, and trace it on the leather with a stylus (or a used marker pen).

Finished tracing effect

Use your fingers ( Or an object with a smooth surface) first shape the area where the leather is to be molded into a rough shape.

Use filling material Pinch out the basic shape of the part to be molded (I am still exploring the choice of materials. Here I used the AB filler soil of a Japanese brand in the picture. Again, I appreciate the recommendation of my teacher Lin Kaiyi. Kaiyi is good^^)

Then you can Lay the previously shaped leather on the core material according to its shape.

Use a press or shaping rod to press out the outline

Because the core material is sticky, a tape is affixed on the back for later operation.< p style="text-align: center;">

Presser pressure To show the rough texture of the whale sharks back, use the rotating carving knife to carve out the knife lines

Carve out the coral seaweed next to it

Seal the edges of the two fins (one large and one small) that you have made before. Cut two rectangular holes on the back of the whale shark, and put the lower part of the fin on top. Good glue, installed in the hole (because the core material is sticky, the fins can be fixed after drying, so there is no need to do internal fixing.)

tada! The fin installation is completed

< img src="https://img.111diy.com/timthumb.php?src=/d/file/fujian/0829b412e395ee5db5876afac9434760.jpg" alt="">

Use the mesh edge printing tool to create a three-dimensional effect

After cutting out the shape, you can color it

For coloring, I use salt-based and alcohol dyes. The key word is to add water (yes, alcohol dyes too) You can add water, not necessarily alcohol), and then apply it several times to the heavily colored areas.

You can color it according to your preference

Sewing, edging, gaskets and hardware are done!

You can press your favorite content on the back. A small tip: there is no inside the leather plastic If you add core material, it will be easier to color and the color will be darker, because after filling the core material, the leather will be stretched out and the density will be lower, making it less easy to color (except for acrylic dyes, of course). Finally: you must choose engraving leather The density is high. The best leather currently used is Tochigi (the above are all Tochigi). After using it, you will not want to touch other leathers at all. Of course, the price is also expensive...