Faux Marble Chess Board using EnviroTex Lite®

Today we have a beautiful Faux Marbled Chess Board Designed by Myléne Hillam.  

This would be a wonderful gift idea for anyone on your list!

Materials Required:

·     EnviroTexLite®

·     Acrylic paints: Warm White, Nimbus Grey, Black

·     Two 11” square wooden boards

·     ETI Mixing Cup Set

·     4 plastic party cups

·     4 wooden stir sticks

·     3” paint brush

·     Foam paint brush

·     Butane torch

·     Cutting mat

·     Stanley knife

·     Ruler

·     Latex gloves

·     Painter’s tape

·     Painters plastic drop sheet (polyethylene)

·     Cello tape

Instructions:

Before beginning, put on your gloves to avoid getting sticky while working with the resin. Protect your workspace with the painter’s drop sheet.

 Cover both the boards with the drop sheet plastic and stretch it taut across the surface. Tape it on the back.

 Create the black marble: Follow the package instructions to mix up 8oz EnviroTex Lite. 

Pour 2oz of mixed resin into each of two cups. Color one cup Warm White and the other Nimbus Grey, using only enough paint to make the resin opaque and stirring it thoroughly until it is mixed in. Color the remaining resin with only enough black paint to make it opaque.

 Place the wooden board on inverted cups making sure it is balanced. Pour the black resin across the surface and spread it out to the edges.

 Pour the white resin in a thin stream across the black resin at an angle. Repeat with the gray resin.

 Use a paintbrush to swirl the colors lightly. Take care not to over mix them or they will become muddied. Hold the board vertically to allow the colors to run and blend into each other and run off the edge. Turn the board in another direction to create some more movement. Pop any bubbles by sweeping the butane torch across the surface. Set the board aside to cure.

 To create the white marble: Mix 8oz EnviroTex Lite and pour 1oz of mixed resin into one cup and 2oz into another. Color the first cup with black paint and the second with gray, using only enough paint to make the resin opaque and stirring it thoroughly until it is mixed in. Color the remaining resin with only enough white paint to make it opaque.

Pour the white resin across the surface of the second board and spread it out to the edges.

 Pour the gray resin across the white resin in a thin stream. Use the stir stick to drizzle thin lines of black paint across the surface.

Swirl the colors lightly with the paintbrush.

Drizzle more white resin across the surface with the stir stick.

 

 Pop any bubbles with the torch and set the resin aside to cure. Once cured, remove both the black and white marble sheets from the plastic.

 Use the foam brush to paint all surfaces of one of the square wooden boards with black paint. Allow it to dry several hours before continuing. Mask the underside edges with painter’s tape.

 Score each of the marble sheets down the center with the knife. To cut the resin apart, fold it along the score line and it should easily pull apart. If not, score it a little deeper. Cut one half of each marble sheet into 4 equal strips and then cut these strips into squares. You should have 32 black and 32 white squares. Lay out the pieces on the painted board in a checkerboard pattern and check for fit. Remove the squares to your workspace, keeping them in the same order.

 Mix up 4 oz of EnviroTex Lite. Pour it across the painted board and pop any bubbles. Working quickly, reposition the squares on the board. Push them into the resin, allowing the resin to ooze over the tiles. Spread the resin across the surface evenly and pop any bubbles. Keep checking on the board over the next two hours and realign any squares, which might move. If the chessboard surface is uneven, mix up another 4 oz of EnviroTex Lite; pour it across the surface and pop any bubbles.

Enjoy!