Introduction: N7 Mass Effect Beer Glass

How to make a Mass Effect style glass for all you fellow fans out there.

Step 1: Materials

Materials needed:

-Paint-Red,Black, and White. Acrylic or other quality paints usually take less coats and are more durable. Nail polish works great!

-Varnish, Laquer, or other sealer, based on your intended use of the glass.

-Tape! Painters tape is best becuase you dont want to pull up the paint underneath, but make sure the edge is smooth enough to give you nice edges!

-Exacto knife, or other sharp tool, for cutting out the stenciled design.

-Small soft brush, a makeup brush works even better.

-Clear nailpolish Basecoat. It gives you some protection for your paint until you apply the finishing seal.

-Pencil, for sketching stencil designs.

-(Optional) Blowdryer, to speed drying times.

Step 2: Measure and Tape the Border

It can be tricky getting started becuase making measured lines on a curved surface is hard! But eyeball it to your taste, first the top and bottom lines, then the vertical lines. If the glass is on a table you wont have too much trouble. Cut any excess tape with the knife. Dont worry, the glass shouldnt scratch.

Step 3: Painting the Stripes

First lay your tape to paint the black border. Once it dries I highly recommend covering it with a layer of basecoat. Once that dries move your tape to paint the white lines. You will have to have a steady hand when cutting the tape. Stick it to the glass, use a pencil to draw your cutting lines, then carefully make your cuts. Then just pull off the edge of the parts to be removed and pull it away from the glass. After painting the white lines again cover with basecoat. Repeat with the red.

Step 4: Stripe Detail and Finish

Once you have all your colors it doesn't hurt to cover the whole piece in another layer of basecoat for a shiny look. BUT first you want to add any detail, such as scratches, or the stripe look like I did. You can find examples of both these ideas and more on a Google search.

Step 5: N7 Logo and Finish

This is by far the most challenging part. Lay your tape for the border and fill the whole space with black. Add another base/clearcoat. Copy the shape of the background and draw the classic N7 design on paper. Use an image as a reference. Lay tape over the entire background. Then tape your drawn design firmly over that. Using your knife carefully cut out the spaces to paint. This part requires extreme patience. Now you can remove the paper. Paint the spaces with the appropriate color, but dont add a clearcoat until you remove the tape. Pulling up the tape around small painted areas can damage it if the clearcoat is on the tape. Add a quick clearcoat once all the tape is up. Now let everything dry for a day or so. Then add a few coats of your final finish-varnish,laquer,glaze, etc and you are done!

Step 6: Tips

-Dont add clearcoat until the tape is removed.
-Use your knife to scrape and straighten the edge of the clear coat before applyimg your final finish, its noticeable.
- Firmly press down the tape, or your paint will bleed on the other colors.
-Dont put tape over paint unless it has a very dry clearcoat!