Dragon's Egg

This is a dragon’s egg from Game Of Thrones.

It's the egg of Rhaegal, the green dragon.

The original design for this egg is from Punished Props, but their design is for EVA foam. I don’t have any EVA foam, and because of the lockdown I’m unable to get any, so I decided to use cardboard instead, as I have plenty of that.

I used the provided plan for the side segments, as they would work just as well for cardboard as they do for the foam. But since the cardboard is not as easy to form into the curved sections, I’ve made some extra, smaller segments to glue onto the outside in order to try to keep the roundness of the egg.

The first step was to print out the plan provided by Punished Props. Using this as a template, I cut out the segments. First, the full size ones, then the narrower ones.

I also made a central former. This wasn’t in the Punished Props’ design, but I figure since the one I’m making is cardboard, it won’t be as strong and durable. The former is made up of three pieces of cardboard that will interleave together so that there will be six segments, that correspond with the six external segments.

I assembled the central core by interleaving the pieces together, then stuck the segments together around the core

The next step was to put a layer of paper over the entire surface of the egg once I’d glued all the segments on, to give it a smooth, even surface. Then, to glue the narrower segments over the top.

After I’d started the step of papering the egg, I realised that it wasn’t going work well, so I decided to cover the whole thing in papier-mâché. Because of this, I could have skipped the step of sticking the paper layer over the cardboard, but oh well. It's a learning process.

I started making the scales out of this paper tape. The tape is paper jointing tape, normally used for joining sheets of plasterboard or drywall. I used it because it's a fairly heavy paper, giving body to the scales.

Unfortunately, the paper tape didn't work very well. It was okay for the very bottom scales, which tend to merge into the body of the egg, but further up the scales need more body to them. So I needed to find some other medium.

After several tests, using cardboard and other types of paper, the only thing I found which provides the necessary thickness, and doesn't curl and warp while it dries is this fabric. I think it's called chenille. It's the wrongest application for it, but these were offcuts that probably would have been thrown away, and as I stated earlier, we're still in lockdown, and I have no EVA foam.

So begins the tedious process of creating the scales. Since the fabric has a texture to it, I wanted to conceal this as much as I could, so I glued paper to the back. The back, in fact, will be the outside face of the scales.

For the step of sticking the scales on, I decided to once again use the grab adhesive. This adhesive is like a paste, and so doesn't drip or run. Using ordinary PVA didn't work on the scales as they tended to just fall off again.

Once all the scales had been attached, and the glue was dry, I painted over the whole egg with a paste I'd made with PVA glue and flour. The flour thickened the PVA just a little and the idea was to help cover up the tufts of the fabric, which were showing on the edges of the scales. I didn't want the scales to look like they were made of fabric.

And once that was done, the modelling part of this process was finished.

Ideally, what I would have liked to have done is get the right colour paint to begin with. Unfortunately, with the lockdown I was stuck with what I had, which were these fairly basic acrylic paints in basic colours. I also had some leftover house paint, which is what I started with, but when it was dry it was way too pale. So I had to try mixing the acrylic paints to get a nice green that matched the colour of the real prop.

Unfortunately, it's difficult get a good idea of the colour of the egg, as various photos of it seem to show it in different colours. Here's a photo of Daenerys holding the egg, and here's another. Actually, they are the same photo. Obviously the colour has been adjusted on one and possibly both photos. Here's a third. Same scene, just a few seconds earlier, and the egg looks different again.

So anyway, I went with a green that was somewhere in the middle.

Having got a green which is close to what I was wanting, and after painting the egg, the next step was to ad some texture. While the top of the egg is a fairly uniform colour, the lower part has this mottled yellow texture. This is the part where the scales merge into the body of the egg.

I applied the yellow with a sponge, dabbing the paint on gently.

After that was dry, the final step was to apply a layer of clear coat.

And that's the egg completed.

Ideally, I would have liked to have used the EVA foam, as the cardboard gave me some problems along the way. Also, I think the green is a little too bright, so I would like to repaint it later when I manage to get out and get the right colour.

But it it is what it is, and I think it came out Ok.

Well, I hope you liked this Instructable.