Chess pieces are made from a wide variety of materials - from plastic to bone. Depending on the finishes, such sets can be used as travel sets or become a very expensive gift. You can DIY chess that suits your goals. You can use the traditional shape or, after learning to sculpt simple shapes, create decorative sets for gifts to friends.
Instructions
Step 1
At home, chess pieces can be made from plastic, clay, or salt dough. The preparation and processing of the latter is the simplest.
Step 2
Combine a glass of flour, half a glass of salt, and three quarters of a glass of water. Separate half of the dough and add cocoa or coffee to it.
Step 3
Knead the finished dough thoroughly. This will remove air bubbles from it, which can cause the finished product to crack when dry.
Step 4
Roll a cylinder, the diameter of which is slightly less than the size of the squares on the checkerboard. Cut it in stacks into circles about 1 cm thick. They will become the supports for all the figures.
Step 5
Start sculpting chess pieces by seniority. For the king, roll the cone, its base should be a couple of millimeters narrower than the stand. Another cone should be half the size of the first. Connect these parts with vertices, wetting them and "sticking" to each other. Crown the "head" of the king with a cross.
Step 6
The queen should be next. It consists of parts of the same shape and height, but narrower. Put a ball on top of it.
Step 7
Rooks or towers must be 0.5 cm lower than the pieces that have just been molded. Place a short cylinder on the base of the cone. Its shape should resemble a tower - for this, with a stack, cut out 4 square teeth along the edges and a platform in the center of the cylinder. Blind two rooks for each "team".
Step 8
Another pair in the army of each color is an elephant. Make a tapered base the same size as the rook. The second part is a drop-shaped element that is 2/3 shorter than the base. It will work if you connect a small cone with a ball of the same diameter and press the ball in, smoothing the edges of the cone.
Step 9
Perhaps the most difficult thing will be to make two knight figures for each player. To do this, find a photo of such a figure on the Internet. From a 1 cm thick layer of dough, cut the profile of the animal according to the sample.
Step 10
The most numerous pieces are pawns. Make 8 of each color. For the base, roll the cones a third lower than the rest of the shapes. The "heads" of ordinary soldiers are crowned with balls, the diameter of which should be approximately half the height of the "body".
Step 11
When the whole set is ready, make sure that the parts of the figures are securely connected to each other. For more confidence, you can plant the shapes on pieces of wire. Smooth out the unevenness of the dough on the figures with fingers soaked in water or with a brush.
Step 12
Leave the crafts to dry at room temperature for 2 days. The dough can then be baked in an oven preheated to 50 °. The cooking time depends on the size of the figures.
