Afterlife Modelworks

Home
United States
Chicago, IL
Afterlife Modelworks

Props, Replicas, Costume and Miniature design/fabrication with a wide range of capabilities. Taking commissions! PM for a quote.

Past work includes film and television projects for clients including Sony, Paramount, MonkeyPaw, Namco & Radio Flyer.

11/15/2025

Just a little late for Halloween, proper shots of my Brandon Lee tribute sculpt from The Crow. "It can't rain all the time." 🩶

Next up I gotta mount him on Shelley's tombstone and incorporate the taxidermy Crow I bought last year!

Eyes by the excellent Fourth Seal Studios

04/15/2025

Here's the finished Brandon Lee figure as The Crow. Sculpted in house in Zbrush, SLA printed face grafted onto a customized mannequin, with custom replica clothing and Shelley's ring. Fantastic eye work by Fourth Seal Studios. I really took my time with this sculpt to make him feel "real" - I prefer my likeness sculpts to have some life, as opposed to the much easier relaxed, symmetrical type of sculpt. Plenty of time was spent matching all of the subtle skin marks, scars and facial asymmetries Brandon had. While he was in progress, I had the opportunity to meet the lovely Rochelle Davis who kindly signed my replica Crow tragedy mask as well!

I've got plans to build a mount so he can crouch on the replica tombstone, for the times he's not out on the roof for Halloween, hunting evil!

"Its funny, little things used to mean so much to Shelley - I used to think they were kind of trivial... Believe me.. nothing is trivial."

01/16/2024

Here's the Goblin King Throne we built for Awkward Nerd Events and their Labyrinth Goblin King Masquerade Ball! A project that included an eye-opening trip to LA's insane fabrics district to find a suitable drape. I even came up with a novel casting technique involving giant zipties and just a little frantic cursing to wrap the golden spirals around the back arch. And it was so cool to watch the wondrous Wandering Lantern Productions play and do photo-ops with it as well. What will be next?!

11/13/2023

Arriving January 2024, our full-scale Throne of the Goblin King for Awkward Nerd Events!

06/28/2023

This week's Propstore LA auction includes a Wonder Woman sword, and it was just the reminder I needed to finish designing this aluminum core for castings of mine. It's made from the same production used files so is a perfect copy of the screen used sword. The handle of the core will accommodate a steel tube sleeved over for balance and rigidity and the edges fold up to make an I-beam sort of construction, which stiffens the blade in both axes and helps center the core in the mold.

03/10/2023

!Work in Progess Alert!

TFW you're finally done with the master pattern for a face. Pattern includes eye blanks for custom eyes by Fourth Seal Studios

Sculpted in Zbrush, FDM and resin printed and hand finished.

01/01/2023

Just got in these fun pins, based on the l'enfer "Hell" Cabaret in Paris, which operated for over 60 years next to the "Heaven" Cabaret, where you could go and have dinner either serenaded by angels or getting yelled at by Satan, in respectively themed environments. Link in the comments.

Just down the road from the Moulin Rouge, this cabaret was sadly torn down in 1950 and is now a supermarket.

11/19/2022

Finally got the candlesticks buttoned up on this big 'ol Lectern project - COMPLETE

75 thoughtfully engineered individual pieces, integral steel support structure and real leather bookrest ensure this is the sturdiest and most elaborate full scale replica likely to ever exist. A real challenge but a rewarding project to handle from start to finish.

07/13/2022

Just about buttoned up final forms on late-90's Angelina! Hair is all temporary for punching later on.

01/24/2022

Dumbledore's Lectern - projects like this are always a blast. Using some of the excellent reference available from the Potter Studio Tour, I was excited to faithfully reproduce this prop. Fully 3d sculpted and output with various printer technologies. A very cool subject and the client was pleased with the result! Check out some process images in the comments.

Address

Chicago, IL

Website

http://www.afterlifemodels.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Afterlife Modelworks posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Establishment

Send a message to Afterlife Modelworks:

Shortcuts

Want your establishment to be the top-listed Arts & Entertainment in Chicago?