I've been wanting a set of the Fifth Element Stones for years. I just never got around to printing them. I figured this would be a great project to get into. I wanted to model them myself. The Earth stone was easy enough, but when it came to the others I sort of scratched my head as to how I was going to incorporate the wavy lines into the models using SketchUp. It seemed like way more trouble than it was worth considering there are no shortage of models already available on Thingiverse.

I downloaded some models and printed them. They took 20 to 23 hours each to print. So much for being a weekend project!



I have to admit, I do not like the cracks and artificial weathering that is incorporated into the models. The cracks looks very fake and a little cartoonish. It would have taken forever to remove them from the models in SketchUp so I figured it was quicker and easier to print them as-is and then fill in all the cracks with 3M Acryl-Green putty,



Some parts of the models came out terrible and will need a lot of cleanup.



I started by giving all the models a good sanding and then a layer of putty.



More sanding and more putty. I kept doing that until I covered all the fake cracks. The putty also helps to sell the stone textured look.



I then gave them a coat of primer.



I was still not happy with the finish so I applied some more putty where I though they needed it in order to cover all the layer lines.



More primer. They are starting to look pretty good now.



I then gave them a coat of fine granite stone textured paint. That looks awesome.



Using some acrylics, I gave them a brownish base coat. The flash washed out the finish, but they still have that nice granite textured look.



Finally, I gave them some weathering,



They look awesome. The pictures do not do them justice. They look just like stone.



I then gave them a matte clear coat to protect the finish.



They look awesome and I'm really happy with how they came out.