Process Documentation
I developed an initial sketch for the form of the hilt and then began to make a clay model of it.
I first made a blank to model the clay around by making a model of the spatula handle in Rhino and laser cutting the blank.
Handle base 
Added grip points 
Rough shape of hilt 
Final polished hilt
I used the blank to model around with industrial plasticine clay. I utilized many clay working tools to form the shape, and then used finer tools and wet sponging to give the clay a smooth finish. While modeling the hilt out of clay, I placed and compared it to the spatula and decided the form would look better and cleaner if I removed the horns and simplified the embellishments to make a simpler better-looking form.
I packed sculpy clay around the hilt and constructed a box around the form with foam core. I then mixed silicone and vacuum evacuated the air from the silicone. I poured the silicone into the box to fill in space and make half of the mold. I then removed the sculpy clay and repeated the process for the other half of the hilt.
For the top half of the mold, the silicone was not vacuum evacuated, so several air bubbles formed in the mold as can be seen above. Rather than cast a new top mold, I decided it would be best to just sand these blemishes away on the final product.
Mold in pressure chamber 
Pink casting 
White casting partially sanded
I then closed the molds and made 2 casts, one in white and one in pink, in order to test the mold and ensure that it was being completely filled. I then sanded the white casting in order to produce a near-finished model.
Cast pink finish and sanded white finish
After finishing these two test casts, I decided to cast around the spatula. I mixed the resin with black dye and setup the cast outside of the pressure chamber, as the part had to be cast in a different orientation.
Casting around spatula 
Backing missing 
Misalignment of sides
After opening the cast, I discovered the mold had miscast around the part and the finish and texture were off. Possible reasons for these errors are: a misalignment of the mold due to the spatula shifting it, dilution of the resin by the dye, and some kind of reaction between the metal of the spatula and the resin. To continue this project, a new mold needs to be made.