Halo Elite Legendary Skull Trophy Prop

When making this Halo Elite skull, I wanted to try something a little different to how I usually make skulls. So instead of making it tan and grungy, I wanted to make it SHINY!

You can find the files for the Halo Elite Skull here.

To start, the skull was 3D printed – originally on my CR10s, then on my Bambu P1P after it arrived. I coated all parts in resin to help remove the layer lines, sanded it back a bit, then wet sanded it to produce a smooth finish to aid with a glossy coat.

A satin black spray paint was applied, followed by a glossy clear coat to make the surface as smooth as possible. Initially to make the silver, I attempted to rub aluminium powder into the surface to achieve the metallic look. Unfortunately, the aluminium hardly adhered to the surface, so it was onto plan B – good ol’ Rub n Buff! Using a makeup pad (I don’t wear makeup, I swear), I, as the name suggests, rubbed and buffed it into the skull.

The base was cut from plywood on a scroll saw in the shape of the classic difficulty shields found throughout the Halo games. It was then sanded with a belt sander to clean up the edges, then hand sanded smooth. Using some dark shoe polish – and a lot of determination in a single finger and a rag – I was able to severely darken and “age” the wood. My plan was to have an “antique” look for the base, to contrast the shiny, clean skull. To go with the base, to prop the skull components up, I found some oxidizing/rusting nails in the garage, drilled some holes through the wood, and fed them through to sit the skull on to (which also had holes drilled into each part).

The result is a very bright, eye catching skull sitting atop of a dark, old fashioned display stand.