DruidCraft Props

DruidCraft Props DruidCraft Props is a 1-man operation dedicated to creating quality props & costume pieces for cospl Cosplay, LARP & Theatrical Props

It's been ages since I posted anything here, but I'm going to try to get my engagement back up to regular, weekly postin...
04/16/2023

It's been ages since I posted anything here, but I'm going to try to get my engagement back up to regular, weekly postings. Hoping to make more craft events this year, so I ought to have some stock built up.
I've got a few esoteric projects in the works, but I also want to produce more gaming terrain.
Here's my first completed piece from the new batch. It's more of an experimental piece, but I do like how it turned out.
Construction is 1/2 inch xps, repurposed after tearing down set from one show or another. We can't use the busted pieces for much in the theatre, and I hate to chuck them in the dumpster, so I'm giving them new life. Thus, I feel a creepy, necromancy, purple-and-black theme is an appropriate start.
Have a great day, hope you enjoy the piece!

Current craft: 65 gallon hex enclosure for tree frogs. Doesn't look like much just yet, but when the foam dries, I'll ge...
04/04/2022

Current craft: 65 gallon hex enclosure for tree frogs. Doesn't look like much just yet, but when the foam dries, I'll get to carving it into shape.
I have some aquarium wood on order, and I'll be adding a couple of bridges and ramps with those.
There are two little plastic plant pots set into the foam, as well as several shelves for planting and frog chillout spots.
Once I get the thing planted, it'll be a matter of time before we add frogs. They appear to be on the pricey side right now, so I don't mind just having a really cool terrarium until they arrive.

Been a long stretch working on other projects; getting prepped to adopt a kiddo, getting the house in order, trying not ...
02/26/2022

Been a long stretch working on other projects; getting prepped to adopt a kiddo, getting the house in order, trying not to have a PTSD breakdown from seeing news clips from Ukraine.
The usual.
Today, I got a bit of the ol' inspiration buzzing through my brain, so I'm gonna use it.
I have about 2 months until PCKC/VisionCon hit back-to-back, so I'm going to try to upgrade my King Elsson and Shredder cosplays for those cons.
The missus isn't using her dress forms right now, so I get to see Elsson all together instead of in parts. It's helping me to get a better mental picture of what's going on with all the parts. I can see that I need some kind of *pop* on the chest armor, so I made a paper template to try out some detailing, and I think I like it.
Also debating going all in on the rhinestones. Like totally encrusting the shoulders & collar with spakle.
Shredder needs actual chest armor instead of just going street-mode with a grey hoodie. That's my biggest project, right there.
In any case, I'm excited to get back into the swing of con season. Hope to see all you cool kids at one of them!

Been an age since I last posted, but here's my latest creation; dark chocolate coconut haystacks.I know a lot of traditi...
11/30/2021

Been an age since I last posted, but here's my latest creation; dark chocolate coconut haystacks.
I know a lot of traditional recipes use lo mein noodles, because they're cheap. I'm making an executive decision to go with toasted coconut flakes because I don't have to share.
Also, the last two rows have pecan chips in them as well.
Yolo.

Today's project, to get my sewing skills back online, is a wizard hat. I'll need to do some sewing for Jungle Book, sinc...
10/08/2021

Today's project, to get my sewing skills back online, is a wizard hat. I'll need to do some sewing for Jungle Book, since the puppet has been deemed to unwieldy. No worries, though. I'll still finish it, because having a giant cobra puppet is far too cool to pass up.
In the meanwhile, I've got a basic wizard hat in the works. The cone's going to be a little shorter than I originally intended, but I think it'll turn out fine.
The fabric is brown flannel, so I don't have to worry about a "right" side to the fabric pieces. The stiffening layer is some heavy duty stuff, and is also the limiting factor in how wide the brim of the hat can be. I could've probably gone with a wired brim, but I wanted this to be a somewhat floppy hat.
Now, if I was feeling real gutsy, I could try to do a felted hat, but I feel like there's a very good reason those beautiful felted wizard hats at GenCon were $150+, and I can develop that skill some other time.
Besides, flannel is the material of my generation.
I'll wrap this fella up after I rest a bit and get my back to stop spasming from bending over, hehe.

Working props on Jungle Book, and here's my One Day Build (okay, 2 days, but just because I had the wrong size aluminum ...
10/02/2021

Working props on Jungle Book, and here's my One Day Build (okay, 2 days, but just because I had the wrong size aluminum tape) for Mowgli's Tooth.
Construction is 1/4" craft plywood, with 2 layers sandwiched over the hilt to bulk it up. Wood glue holds it all together.
The paint is a base coat of red, followed by a coat of Plaid FX gold, followed by a coat of 24k gold craft paint. It doesn't show in the picture, but under stage lighting, that gold *gleams* like crazy.
The gems are from a bulk bucket of craft gems, and I used gold puff paint for their "settings." I'm not super happy with my line control on the puff paint, but it's part of the learning process. That stuff flows a lot faster than I expected.
Anyway, nobody's gonna see that from the audience. Hopefully, the sparkles are enough to sell the "gem-encrusted" look. If not, I can always add some glitter.
The blade is plywood covered in aluminum HVAC tape. I textured it with my fingernails and applied some gunmetal acrylic paint to show the texture off. Again, not something that'll be easily seen from the audience, but it makes the blade look less clean and perfect. It has been sitting around in jungle ruins, after all.
All said, I really love this kind of work, and I expect that my future children will have the finest toy arsenal in the neighborhood.

Getting started on a great big puppet for The Jungle Book at the Lyric!
09/21/2021

Getting started on a great big puppet for The Jungle Book at the Lyric!

09/11/2021

Polymer clay + chameleon powder = "Dream Dragon" scale?
Maybe. Dunno. Working on some costume bits for my walking around garb for GenCon next weekend, and I figured a wizard of my stature might have been gifted a fancy scale from a rare kind of dragon.
Sadly, video never really catches the coolness of color shift materials, but it's still pretty spiffy. I'll try to post some pictures of my first ever experience at GenCon, though Instagram may be the best place to catch those posts.

Been a while since I got deep into the crafting zone, but I managed to get a set of "difficult terrain" markers started....
08/29/2021

Been a while since I got deep into the crafting zone, but I managed to get a set of "difficult terrain" markers started. Two sets, actually. One that's more of a rubble-type and one that's all woodsy. Once they dry, I'll get to painting them properly, and we'll see how they end up looking. I tried to make them relatively flat on the top so that minis could sit on them without too much trouble. Y'know, for those times when you just *have* to end your turn on some difficult terrain.
The rubble ones are sand, scraps of plaster, some grout, and a few larger bits of stone sifted out of the finer sand.
The woodsy ones are moss, tea leaves, and a pinch of mixed flocking.
Here's hoping they turn out well!

Been doing some art lately, finally breaking through my creative slump.I tried my hand at pouring multiple colors of res...
06/21/2021

Been doing some art lately, finally breaking through my creative slump.
I tried my hand at pouring multiple colors of resin without mixing them, with mixed success. The dice tray turned out fantastic, but the "geode slice" has morphed into a flower of some sort. Poured both at the same time, but the geode flower had glow powder as a 3rd color, and it decided to do its own thing.
Not mad at it, just a learning experience.
I picked up some traditional chinese ink and brushes a while back, and finally had a chance to use them on the new DruidCraft Props sigil.
Designing the sigil was, itself, a fun learning experience. Stepping up the Druidic part of my crafting, and such.
On further examination, I can see my initials in the sigil, which makes it extra cool. Going to start using it to sign pieces going forward.
Be well, have fun, see you all when I see you!

05/02/2021

Long time, no post. Been busy with spring cleaning, fighting allergies, recovering from COVID vax after effects (only lasted about a day, felt like the flu), and gardening.
In the middle of all that, I tried some resin experiments and . . . Yeah, I'm not going to bother showing the results. Every single experiment was a learning experience, to put it mildly.
Table wasn't level, used the wrong kind of ink, used too much ink, need a better UV light to cure the UV resin, ventilation was not sufficient.
All valuable lessons, to be sure.
But, now I know what not to do. I was using the last bit of my older resin, anyway. Not old enough that it would affect the pour, just the last little bit in the bottle that needed to be used up.
Gonna be taking a little mental health break in a week or so, so there's that.
Love, peace, and chicken grease, yo!

04/06/2021

Question to the good folks out there:
It looks like we're gonna have That Geeky Con again this year (HUZZAH!), and I think I'd like to do a panel again.
I went way too broad with my last one (getting started with cosplay), so I want too narrow it down to just one element of the process.
That said, what would you folks want to see me a do a panel on? Tools? Materials? Patterns? Detailing/Embellishments?
I want to keep it limited to something I can cover in about 45 minutes, give or take. Let me know what burning questions you have!
The con should be mid-July, as far as I know. I'll probably have a booth, so if you have anything you want me to sell, let me know that, too! Just about 3 months until con time! Woo!

Trying to get stuff done . . . really . . . . . . .But yeah, we've got our final walkthrough before we get approved for ...
03/25/2021

Trying to get stuff done . . . really . . . . . . .
But yeah, we've got our final walkthrough before we get approved for adoption coming up, and that's really been occupying the majority of my time and energy. With the janked elbow, it's a lot harder to make progress. I managed to get a lot of clutter out of the future gaming area in the basement, trying to get the workspaces sorted between larger & messier projects vs smaller projects.
I think the heavy duty work (LARP weapons especially) is going to all be in the wood shop portion. It's separated from the rest of the space, so keeping dust and overspray and funky fumes away from folks. Got a little spray booth from Harbor Freight for small to mid-size pieces.
The smaller workshop space is going to be focused more on detail work, minis, and anything that requires closer attention to detail. Plus, it provides a workspace that's in sight of what will be a crafting space for kiddos. Since I'll be the at-home parent, that'll come in super handy. Bonus points that it's located within arm's reach of both a kitchenette sink and a bathroom with shower.
If the little squirts end up getting messy with their art, it's not a problem. No carpet or any surfaces that'll be adversely affected by finger paint, playdough, juice spills, and bodily fluids.
Well, that's the plan so far. I'm sure it'll fall apart at first contact with reality, but it's a framework to start from.
Take care, folks. Love ya.

Still alive (but chilly)! Still crafting!I made a little more progress on my scifi bunker build, and thought it needed a...
02/14/2021

Still alive (but chilly)! Still crafting!
I made a little more progress on my scifi bunker build, and thought it needed a little more detail, so I made an antenna out of some scraps.
The dish is from one of the plastic ramekins I use to mix paints. I had to sand it down since the smooth surface didn't bond to the superglue initially. This ought to help paint ahdere, too. I intend to use my rustoleum 2x to base it, since that bonds to plastic.
Normally, I'd avoid something fiddly and easily snapped off on a build like this, but YOLO, I guess. Small details can really add a sense of reality to pieces like this.
Stay warm, and stay creative!

Getting to work on a bunker-type piece, playing around with a fomrula to replicate cement at that scale.I'm currently tr...
01/26/2021

Getting to work on a bunker-type piece, playing around with a fomrula to replicate cement at that scale.
I'm currently trying drywall compound with a splash of black paint to get the gray color, some very fine white craft sand for a gritty, even texture, and a bit of mod podge to help it adhere to the raw styrofoam as well as prevent cracking and flaking.
I applied it with a palette knife, trying to emulate the appearance of degraded cement over concrete. I'm going to go back once it sets up a bit and do a light sanding to knock down the stray chunks.
If I like how it turns out, I'll add various embelishments, maybe a gate, some barbed wire or something like that.
The ends are open, and I think I'm going to seal those off with cardstock "steel" panels. Maybe add a door, cover the base with some mud/dirt.
Glad to have a little creativity back in my system, honestly.

Happy happy, and many joyous returns, folks! The big project for this year, since cons are something of a mad fever drea...
01/09/2021

Happy happy, and many joyous returns, folks! The big project for this year, since cons are something of a mad fever dream right now, is to finish getting this space into something resembling a functional workshop.
Yes, it is a functioning workshop right now, but I think it'd be even better if there was some sense of order to this madness. I've already begun by getting the pegboard into useable shape, but I think it's time to start sorting one section at a time.
I want all of my tools easily accessible, I want my materials sorted and easy to find, and I want to be able to move freely without worrying about knocking into everything.
I'll keep you all posted, taking it one chunk at a time so I don't go loopy.
Take care, all!

Jr Assistant Shop-Gremlin-In-Training, Audrey Beans Hepburn says I'm not allowed to work on any projects right now.Have ...
12/30/2020

Jr Assistant Shop-Gremlin-In-Training, Audrey Beans Hepburn says I'm not allowed to work on any projects right now.
Have a safe and happy new year!

Oh, hey. Wow. Let things slip a bit with the holidays and whatnot.My newest piece is just this chunky volcanic fella mad...
12/04/2020

Oh, hey. Wow. Let things slip a bit with the holidays and whatnot.
My newest piece is just this chunky volcanic fella made from scraps. Made the crunchy bits with a mixture of gloss mod podge, sand, glitter, tiny foam chunks, and some model railroad coal, mixed to the consistency of wet sand. I scooped it on with a palette knife, then sealed the whole thing with a mod podge/gloss black paint mixture.
The spikes are all scraps of plastic packaging cut into jagged bits.
The lava effect was done by layering white, yellow, orange, and red, each time covering about 50% of the previous layer. I then went over all the lava with a neon orange. The neon paint is very transparent, so it acted like a wash and blended the other lava colors together.
I followed up with a dry brush of grey and then white on the ashy parts. I was trying for a look that reminded me of campfire coals, and I think I got a pretty solid result.
The whole thing was then hit with glossy black nail polish for the volcanic glass bits. I brushed a thin layer over some of the lava bits to give the illusion of a glowing reflection.
The eyes were done with a base of white, followed by neon blue. I didn't really like the result, so I dabbed some neon green nail polish and called it done. Still don't quite like the eyes, but I'm resisting the urge to nitpick the piece to death.
That way lies the path of madness.
The whole thing was inspired by the base I did for my red dragon, and now I have the urge to make an entire lava board.
I'll probably never use the board, since all of my gaming is online these days, but I may donate it to the local game store so they can use it.

I forgot just how much hand cramping goes on when you're working on drawings for an extended period.Ouchies.Mostly doing...
11/17/2020

I forgot just how much hand cramping goes on when you're working on drawings for an extended period.
Ouchies.
Mostly doing this to recover my atrophied drawing skills, but also for the sake of my online Pathfinder game. Couldn't find any art that matched an item, so I went and made some.
Sure, it'll likely be forgotten the minute the players have no further use for it, but hey. Might as well take the time to hone the ol' skills.

Not my best work, nor the best angle, but I knocked out an arnored hoodie vest for my Shredder costume with some floor m...
10/30/2020

Not my best work, nor the best angle, but I knocked out an arnored hoodie vest for my Shredder costume with some floor mat foam and carpet tape. The zipped pockets were decorative, so no loss in function there.
Ought to keep me nice and warm, in any case.
Here's a contemplative Shredder shot for funsies, too.

Y'all want some progress pictures?Here're some progress pictures!The Spirit of Crafting is upon me, it seems.That, or th...
10/17/2020

Y'all want some progress pictures?
Here're some progress pictures!
The Spirit of Crafting is upon me, it seems.
That, or the benadryl I popped earlier has me all methed out.
I'll take it, along with the crash tonight. Gonna sleep like a baby.

Time to dust off the ol' face mask pattern I made a little while back and update it for my Halloween costume.My GIMP edi...
10/08/2020

Time to dust off the ol' face mask pattern I made a little while back and update it for my Halloween costume.
My GIMP editing skills are kinda rusty, but I think I have a workable design.
I plan to line the open areas with a suitable mask material so it'll function as an acceptable face mask for health & safety purposes.
I think I'm going to affix it to a neck gaiter for wearability, so that's an extra layer of cloth there. We'll see once the gaiters get in, of course.
Have a happy Halloween, be safe, and keep crafting!

I think I can call this project done. My red dragon with a gnarly lava base.The lava is a mix of play sand, model railro...
09/25/2020

I think I can call this project done. My red dragon with a gnarly lava base.
The lava is a mix of play sand, model railroad coal, and black craft foam scraps mixed in gloss mod podge. After that concoction set up, I touched it up with some black gloss nail polish and then went to town on the liquid hot magma.
I managed that look by starting with a slightly wet application of bright yellow, then some neon orange, then a little cherry cobbler red. The cherry cobbler was a bit too dark for me, so I wet blended some cadmium red and it worked out.
The ash on the rough bits was done with a series of drybrush layers; grey, dolphin grey, snow storm white (the only legit model paint color I used), and finally a light dusting of titanium white on a few spots.
The obsidian blades are bits of plastic from the dragon's packaging, glued in place with gloss mod podge, and painted up with more black gloss nail polish.
The polish tends to flake off the raw plastic, so I went back and touched up the blades with some ultra gloss mod podge to seal them and make them extra shiny.
I really like how it turned out, and I kinda want to do some magma elementals at some point.
Oh, and I guess the blue flame needs to be addressed. That came as a piece of clear plastuc, much like the flight portion of the base. I brushed a coat of blue alcohol ink over that, then went back and knocked some of the colir off the high points with an alcohol soaked shop towel. I hit it with a light dusting of violet color shift paint to get some magical sheen on it, and that was all she wrote.

Ain't much ta look at, but it's a start!Since we're redoing the various spaces in the abode, the wife has ceded a corner...
09/11/2020

Ain't much ta look at, but it's a start!
Since we're redoing the various spaces in the abode, the wife has ceded a corner of the sewing room for use as office space. I may or may not have arranged things in the sewing room to accomodate this as we were initially getting the space set up . . .
This'll free up some room in the kitchen, and take my PC out of a high-traffic area.
Other than the hum of the dehumidifier, it's nice and quiet. I don't have doggos and cattos vying for my attention, I can't hear anyone at the door, so my instinct to respond to knocks is somewhat curtailed.
Haven't checked the sound levels with my D&D group over Discord, but I think it'll be fine. May have to turn off the dehumidifier while I'm gaming, but no big whoop.
Big bonus is that now I don't have to run upstairs to print off patterns & templates or watch tutorials in the middle of a build.

Current DruidCraft project: new floor & painted walls in bedroom.Me be whooped.
09/06/2020

Current DruidCraft project: new floor & painted walls in bedroom.
Me be whooped.

More progress on the menhir scatter set. I really like the effect of layering colors on the stone, and I'm definitely go...
08/11/2020

More progress on the menhir scatter set. I really like the effect of layering colors on the stone, and I'm definitely going to use it more on scaled-up pieces. Think stone tablets with acrane inscriptions and such. Weird stone idols. Hell, Halloween tombtones as well.
It is, after all, almost Halloween.

Some terrain progress, pre-wash. Haven't messed with the bases yet, but I've got the menhirs mostly done. In the traditi...
08/10/2020

Some terrain progress, pre-wash. Haven't messed with the bases yet, but I've got the menhirs mostly done. In the tradition of including a little bit of color other than various shades of grey, I did a little underpainting with some turqoise. Some of if feels a little bright right now, but the wash ought to blend it down enough. I think it adds a nice bit of a cool tone to the project. Ought to work for a bleak, gothic vibe.
In any case, feels good to be painting.

08/02/2020

Found some damage on the crystal staff, so I did a little touch-up job on the paint.
I still can't get over how cool that color shift paint looks. I think I'm going to make a few more crystals and maybe some wands. Maybe a sweet stone tablet or two. Milk that color shift stuff for all it's worth.

Man, this pandemic is absolutely crushing creativity/motivation for me.Still, I managed to get a little progress done on...
07/28/2020

Man, this pandemic is absolutely crushing creativity/motivation for me.
Still, I managed to get a little progress done on the terrain set for my client.
The grey goo is a mixture of joint compound, white school glue (helps prevent the joint compound from cracking later), and shredded TP.
It'a grey because I added some black ink into the mix. If anything chips off, it'll show dark grey instead of glaring white.
Coverage isn't complete, because it's not meant to be. This stuff's really just to hide the connection between the pink foam and the cardstock amd provide some structure for the flocking/gravel. I thought about mixing sand in with it, but decided against that because I wanted to be able to spread it on some of the foam surface without having a gritty texture.
I didn't shred the toilet paper nearly as well as I did when I made the faux bust for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." This way, it's chunkier and fills more space around the foam, giving it a bit more volume.
Once all this dries, the next step is to seal it, then paint & add details.
Gonna hide some little bits and pieces through the nooks and crannies for sharp-eyed players to find. Stay tuned, stay safe & sane!

Chopping through some foam blocks today.I think I'm gonna need a bigger scrap box.
07/03/2020

Chopping through some foam blocks today.
I think I'm gonna need a bigger scrap box.

Been in seclusion for a minute, scouring untold realms for rare and exotic materials with which to craft, but I did mana...
06/24/2020

Been in seclusion for a minute, scouring untold realms for rare and exotic materials with which to craft, but I did manage to dig out the sewing machine and put together a little mask.
First attempt, but I'm pretty satisfied. All the mistakes I made are only visible on close inspection, and nobody's getting that close, so ain't no thang.
No elastic, so I used an old shoelace for the strap. It wraps around the back of the head and adjusts at the back of the neck, so the fit is pretty comfy. I used one of those spring-action clippy things (technical term) for the adjustment bit.
No nose wire, mostly because I forgot to install it, but also because it fits just fine. I vastly prefer the contoured design to the folded square business.
It's made from quilting fabric, which I'm given to understand is a suitably tight weave for basic use.
We had our first COVID death here, and jumped to 15 cases in the county, so I'm taking things a bit more seriously. The disposable masks are getting a little cost-prohibitive, so it's time for one I can sanitize and reuse.
That's all I have for now. Take care, be safe, wash your hands, quit coughing all over everything, and have a good one.

Amidst all this insanity, I find that keeping focused on my work helos to keep me from breaking down and hiding in a cav...
06/03/2020

Amidst all this insanity, I find that keeping focused on my work helos to keep me from breaking down and hiding in a cave somewhere.
Granted, the workshop is basically a cave with comfy seating . . .
I'm making some molds to hone my moldmaking skills. This is my first time using plastalina clay as a base for my molds, so I hope I worked put the logistics properly. One of them is going to be a pile of skulls for scatter terrain and the other is a crystal cluster. We'll see how things look in a couple of hours, thanks to the 75 minute cure time on this Oomoo 25.
Until next, stay safe, stay alive. I want to see all of you when this madness subsides.

Been fiddling around with resin, picked up some modeling clay, got a batch of silicone on order, gonna try to make some ...
05/23/2020

Been fiddling around with resin, picked up some modeling clay, got a batch of silicone on order, gonna try to make some cool resin s**z in the future.
This mold is a set of crystal shapes that I'm going to use to make more of my "inspiration die" holders. I did a couple test pieces to see if I like it better than the acrylic craft store crystal chunks, and each has its advantages.
The craft store crystals are all nice and clear, and I can just buy them in bulk, but I have to paint them, and paint can chip and wear with use.
The resin stones can come in any color that I choose to dye the resin. I'm using up the last of my old resin, which comes out cloudy no matter what I do, so they're not going to be clear. However, I can get all sorts of visual effects by adding colors, glitter, & mica powder to the resin, as well as pouring different colors together to get this weird rainbow sherbet blend.
I'll keep using both, I think.

So . . . Happy little accidents.While working on the leg armor for my Elsson upgrade, I dared to try some sweet undercut...
04/18/2020

So . . . Happy little accidents.
While working on the leg armor for my Elsson upgrade, I dared to try some sweet undercut action and botched one of the pieces, forcing me to redo it completely. However, the "ruined" piece just happens to fit my forearm fairly well.
The old bracers were made from a pair I had laying around, and their construction didn't quite match the whole aesthetic. But, they were handy so I used them.
This time, however, I'm going for a more cohesive look (and finally adding leg armor like I meant to initially). So, I'm retiring the old bracers and making new ones that'll match the whole piece, what with the swoopy bits and all. It kinda has a Lord of the Rings elven vibe, rather than a Skyrim/viking look, but I like that for this costume. Makes it seem more magical, and Elsa is certainly more of a magic user than a warrior.
I'm going to double down on the bling, though. At this point it just sorts looks a little tacky. I think that if I take it past the "basic" tacky level and go full sparkle, it'll come together.
Or look extra tacky.
I'm willing to roll the dice on that.

Revamping King Elsson; deleting the chainmail parts, touching up the paint job, building leg armor and boots, ditching t...
04/15/2020

Revamping King Elsson; deleting the chainmail parts, touching up the paint job, building leg armor and boots, ditching the furry disco legwarmers.
Might even make a weapon of some sort. I've got a spare LARP core sitting around . . .

Back in the workshop, doing some upgrade & repair work on cosplays, but I'm also taking time to craft up my own tasty me...
04/11/2020

Back in the workshop, doing some upgrade & repair work on cosplays, but I'm also taking time to craft up my own tasty meals.
Homemade meatloaf, homemade bread, and some locally foraged morels (sauteed in buttter & a little bacon grease).
Gotta keep the machinery fueled, yo.

Okay, out of the kitchen for now, back in the workshop.Toady's goal is to get this beatiful birb painted up. It's a most...
03/31/2020

Okay, out of the kitchen for now, back in the workshop.
Toady's goal is to get this beatiful birb painted up. It's a mostly-to-scale roc for DnD. While Pathfinder (my preferred system) has rocs of a much more manageable size (druids can get juvenile rocs as an animal companion), 5E keeps them more on the legendary side of the scale. Therefore, inspired by a random comment in the Tabletop Crafter's Guild facebook group, as well as the crafting style of Bard's Craft on youtube, I got motivated to start on this big birb. It measures about 30 inches wingtip to wingtip and 16 inches beak to tail. That's 150 feet across and 80 feet long in DnD terms.
I built it with a flat back, instead of going for a full sculpt, in order to make it not only a monster to be fought, but also potential terrain, Shadow of the Colossus-style.
Once it's painted up, the next task will be to base it. I think I want to go for a transparent acrylic flight stand. I have a lot of options there, but with current health risks, I can't do my normal browsing about the Dollar Tree for DIY options. I have to go online and find a clear acrylic stand of some sort or maybe acquire the materials to build my own.
We'll see how it goes.
In any case, it's good to be doing something in the shop again.

Crafting currently features bread.No EVA foam or acrylic paint; just bread flour, water, salt & yeast, with some caraway...
03/26/2020

Crafting currently features bread.
No EVA foam or acrylic paint; just bread flour, water, salt & yeast, with some caraway seeds for a little flavor.
Part of me wants to get back into the workshop to get some projects finished up, or at least progressed somewhat, but I really find it difficult to justify right now.
The weather's beautiful today, the chickens need to be tended to, the wife's suffering from allergies, and all the cons in the near future are cancelled or postponed.
So, baking bread.

03/15/2020

Well, I managed to make it through Branson Con 2020 in one piece. Even won 2md place in the Novice category.
Yes, I know I've been at this for like the past 7 years and have built scores of pieces, so I probably don't really count as a "novice."
Still, it's a check in the "Win" column, and I'll take it.
This means I have to actually compete at a higher level from here out, and while that's intimidating, I kinda dig the challenge. Can't just get by saying "well, it's just me screwing around. It doesn't really matter."
I met some very cool people, ran into some old friends, and managed to run myself ragged without catching Con Crud.
I'm not really certain about the state of future cons this year, what with a turbo-charged grade of Con Crud affecting a lot of people internationally. Many cons are being postponed, rescheduled, or outright cancelled. That sucks from a congoer standpoint, but it's potentially devastating from a vendor standpoint. There are a lot of folks who rely on con business to round out their income from online and storefront sales, and that income is likely not going to materialize.
I collect business cards at cons, and I have a big ol' candy dish full of them in my front room. I'm going to try to take what I budget for con spending and hit up some of their online stores when I can. I invite you all to do the same. Check the vendor list of your favorite con and see if they have online shopping options. It's not the same as getting to handle the merch and chat with a real human person, but it's a way to help out creators who really need it.
Oh, amd if you want to see my winning cosplay, I'll try to get some photos up ASAP. I didn't have a lot of shots taken of me, so images are scarce and I have to contact friends to find them.

03/05/2020

Con is imminent!
Day 1 of Branson Comiccon is tomorrow, and I'm taking a teensy break to catch my breath as I furiously work to finish my cosplay for this Saturday.
I know I tend to work better when I'm on a time crunch, but sheesh. The honeymoon really put me behind schedule. Wouldn't change it for the world, but I'm gonna try to be a little better with my time management on future projects. I should be done sometime tomorrow, because if I'm not, then I can't compete.
Well, I *can*, but I wouldn't feel right taking an incomplete costume to a competition. Homey don't play that.
If you see me out and about at the con this weekend, please say "hi." I'm given to understand that hugs, high-fives, and just physical contact in general are discouraged, what with the whole COVID-19 business on top of general ConCrud. Fist and elbow bumps shall be the rule of the day, then.
Wash your hands, don't touch your face, cover your mouth if you sneeze or cough, stay hydrated, be cognizant of potential disease vectors, but don't freak out.

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