Winnifred’s Black Flame Candle From Hocus Pocus

With my favourite time of the year Halloween (Christmas a close second) just around the corner it is time to decorate the house, and what better way to get in the mood then by watching Hocus Pocus while putting up the decorations.

I have adored this film since I first saw it while on holiday in the US with family friends back in early 90s..

Since then, I have always wanted the 2 main props from the film (now films) BOOK!! And The Black Flame Candle. Sadly, I have never found either version that looked quite right.

Now with adult money, been crafting for a number of years and been playing around with 3D printing for some time, I feel it is time to rectify this injustice.

At the end of this presentation I have added the STL files for the all in one BFC and the Remixed BFC that you can print in parts and add a LED tea light candle to and make it flicker for real

To complete this design from initial idea through design and having a finished physical Prop I used the following.

Base Materials

1. Laptop computer with Cura Software or another slicing tool
2. 3D Printer (Ender 3 V3 SE - An entry level printer but I love it and for under £200 a steal
3. A roll of white PLA 1.75mm EGELOO filament - £12.99 for 1KG makes maybe 3 candles based on your infill settings
4. Car Spray Paint - White, Black primer and Lacquer £2 each from a Poundstretcher store
5. Sandpaper
6. Paint Tape or masking tape
7. Air Brush set and paints
8. Scrap paper or newspaper
9. patience, lots of patience.

Optional extras

1. Primer, Modelling Clay (to add designs or extra details
2. Paint Brushes
3. Pencil or markers to also make the designs on the candle to your preference

Research is always vital when attempting to create recreate any prop wether its from a film, tv show or game.

I could find 100s of spooky candles or Halloween candles, but not many of the actual candle that I wanted to replicate.

It wasn’t until I actually used the family Disney plus I realised that the candle was sufficiently different than I remembered.

I ended up taking a few things I liked from a few sources and amalgamating them into my own.

Using some of the best pictures I could find for reference I took on creating my design, using Tinkercad a free online designer which I used to slowly built up the basic shape of my design.

When I was happy wit the general look, size and dimensions I took to adding the details, marks, running wax, the base and so on.

This took a lot of time to add each piece but it was worth it, as each additions I could see the design coming to life.

After a few days of editing, and making adjustments which is a lot of trial and error I saved the final design for the last time.

Printing was simple, I downloaded my STL file from Tinkercad to my laptop, the used Cura to scale the candle to a height of 240mm (24cms),

I felt this gave it roughly the correct height for an stand out piece along with my other Halloween decorations. I added a 30% infill to ensure that the print was sturdy with a bit of weight to it. I sliced the file, saved it to my SD card then took it to my printer.

I have a Ender 3 V3 SE, I have used a few printers in the past but for the money I hardly support this printer , its easy to assemble and in 10 months I have hardly has to do anything to it other than general good practice maintenance.

Getting the printer ready is so easy, I loaded the white 1.75mm filament into the printer, wait for it to warm up and ran the file.

During the print I kept checking on its regularly, I purchased a cheap WIFI camera to be lazy, so when ever I want to check up on it I can just sign in with my phone to check the progress.

Once complete, I took it off the build plate for inspection, ready for sanding. )sorry I forgot to take pictures of this step

Instead of sanding some people who 3D print go down the route of using acetone vapor to smooth prints made from ABS or ASA filaments, dissolving the outer surface to eliminate layer lines and create a smooth, glossy finish.

While I have used this process before I fine its effects are better on smaller models (but that's just me and I might not be doing it right) anyway I prefer sanding, with a model like this there wasn't much to sand so I went straight for the 240 grit and just smoothed our some of the layer lines, the PLA plastic when smooth does a good job on its own of replicating that dull wax like shine, so not a lot is required.

Now Painting, my 3D printer only prints in one colour, others do 2 or more so you can just print the base black straight away, but as I cant do that I masked off the candle part with masking tape and part of a newspaper and just sprayed the base with 3 coats of primer, and once dry 3 coats of Matt black car spray paint which isn't expensive at all only a few pounds and you will have loads left over for more projects.

NOTE; When masking off and painting areas with delicate parts be careful not to break off any parts, they will glue back on but it will set you back timewise!

For the wick, I was tempted to colour it green or something, but black seemed more sutable and closer to my original design. I masked off the top and got out my trusty airbrush set, as I find it gives a better finish, but you can just use the spray can if you want.

I watered down my paint so it was super thin, and then gradually started at the top darker and less at the bottom giving a flickering effect, when I was happy I added a clear lacquer and give it a good 3 coats to really give it a shine like it was lit and so it would reflect the light.

You can paint your which ever colour you want, I may even do another but with a black candle, and a brass looking base, and a green flame, who knows.

The finished result of a clean fresh looking candle that really looks great, I am so happy with it, I will at some point be adding some of the markings I located online, but for now I am happy with it......and also I have already started making 'BOOK' which is another instruct able to come shortly.

The designs for this print are free on ThingVerse, but i have added the STL file for anyone if they wish to use it, along with the REMIX files for a candle that holds a LED flame

And yes I will be posting pics of them together,

I hope you all enjoyed this and have a happy Halloween!!!