Icicle Tutorial

After receiving several requests via e-mail and a few more via Titan Games about how my better half created the icicles for her various Rasputina crew models I've decided that the best way of relaying this information is via a quick tutorial video...this is my first attempt at this sort of thing so you'll have to bear with me.

Firstly a list of the products used,

1) Monomer Liquid (part of most acrylic nail kits).
2) Clear Nail Powder (should be part of the same nail kit as the liquid).
3) Acrylic Nail Brush (again should be part of the kit).

Make sure the product you purchase contains all of the above items. Some supermarkets now stock acrylic nail systems containing all of the above items but failing that there's always the internet ;-)

4) Plastic Tray (you need something to work on the icicle with. In demo it was half of a blister pack).

Here's a brief video of the process followed by a written list of the steps involved.

I feel I should also mention at this point that unlike with painting, licking the brush is an extremely bad idea...

1) Dip the brush into liquid and wipe off excess - The smaller the quantity of liquid the faster it will set.
2) Scoop some powder up with the same brush.
3) Put resulting bead of liquid onto the plastic tray.
4) Then wipe brush to keep it clean.
5) Then as the liquid starts to set it can be moulded into the desired shape.
6) After a short while the liquid will have set to a point that it can be no longer shaped any further.
7) Leave to go hard (should take a couple of minutes)
8) Remove resulting icicle from tray (clippers will do the job nicely).

9) Use Icicle for something awesome ;-)

You may need a bit of practice to get the technique right but an average nail kit will make loads anyway so you can afford a few screw-ups.

The icicles in the following pictures were created using the same technique.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.