DIY Toy Accessory: Glow Sticks!

I made some glow stick accessories for my new action figure. This is my first little hobby project (mentioned in this post) so I'm already gonna say that it doesn't look super awesome because I still lack a lot of skill on doing this kind of stuff. But I think I did a good job.

This is also like a tutorial on how to make your own glow stick accessory for your toy especially if you're a newbie on toy accessory making like me.

I used a smartphone camera to take photos this time (low DSLR battery). So sorry for the noisy and low-quality photos.

You need these (blue spray paint and some other stuff not in the picture)

You gonna need some acrylic paint, any color you like but I prefer the fluorescent type of acrylic paint so that it looks like it's glowing. In this project I used non-florescent orange and blue spray paints.

I only used two of these lollipop sticks

Next is some lollipop sticks. Yeah, I asked my little nephews and nieces to give a few sticks to me instead of throwing or chewing on them.

You only need a small chunk of polymer clay.

Get some polymer clay, I got these on a regular school supply store. It's not Sculpey or Fimo brand but it gets the job done.

Lastly some cutting tools, you only gonna need at least two of these. Oh you need a ruler, sand paper and super glue too.

One lollipop stick cut into two one inch pieces.
Wow that some rusty cutter, be careful not to cut yourselves.

I wanted to make three glow sticks: Two different colored ones and one unused/depleted. In this project I used two lollipop sticks, I cut them up to four one inch pieces (the 4th one is for backup).

The small sticks now painted
Make sure that the sticks doesn't fly out while spraying them.

I sanded the sticks using a sand paper (so that the paint wont chip easily) then I used spray paints to paint the two sticks because it easily gives a nice gradient and it also makes it easier for the light to pass through the sticks. You can also use a paint and brush. BTW it's optional to use a transparent glossy paint to give the stick some shine/glow effect.

Half-baked cylindrical polymer clay.
I did a poor job making one :(

Now for the "lids" of the sticks, I cant find any short cylindrical plastic that I will just super glue on the sticks that fits, so instead I bought a polymer clay to make one. Luckily I found a gray polymer clay so no need to buy another paint. Just roll them up to make them look cylindrical, make sure they're leveled/even and no warped parts. Half-bake them to make them harder but soft enough to cut. In my project, my clay got warped as I carry it to the oven so it looks sloppy. After half-baking, let the clay cool for a bit then cut them. The length? just short enough to make them look like lids.

Cut the cylinder clay into smaller shorter bits like these
The bottom lid must be longer while the top lid is shorter.

After cutting the lids, bake them again then to make them harder then glue the lids on the sticks and you're done!

It's finished! Blue, orange and "unused/depleted" glow sticks.
It looks sloppy but I think it's good enough.

You might need to sand the lids too if you find them not leveled/uneven. I didn't make the strap-like thing because I find it difficult to make one especially if you have shaky hands like me.

It might look good if it's painted
This is my maximum effort at sculpting at the moment.

I have a lot of polymer clay left so I made this one just for the heck of it. It looks like a soap? A rock? Whatever lol. It supposed to be a walkie talkie. Man it's hard to sculpt! I now have a new-found respect to the sculptors and toy modders.

There you have it. I hope this little project of mine helped you guys a bit :D Oh, you guys now have a gist of what (or who) is my next action figure to review?

Cheers!