Moar Pyrates

Ahoy me swabs, come aboard for a look at s'more o' me pirate props.

This be, or rather used to be, me parrot.

I carved the skull from blue foam, the body was a cheap halloween raven I repainted.

Thar be the proper spot t'stow yer weapons.

The sign is wood held together by a strip of lauan screwed on back.  The grenade is a baseball covered in toilet paper mache.  Just bore a hole for the cork and a hole in the cork for the fuse.

Feast yer eyes on this 'ere treasure map.  

This was drawn on regular paper then tea stained, dried in an oven and burned.


If it's a pirate display yer after, it's barrels ye be wantin.

Another wooden sign just carved with a dremel.  The barrel is a solid piece of white foam.

Fallout Props

Welcome back, dear reader.  If you're a prop maker and you've played the Fallout games, you must make replicas.  It's not up to us, that's just how it works. 

I made everything here except the lunchbox.  Its all pretty simple and straight forward.

Nuka Cola Bottles:  Brace yourselves.... they're coca cola bottles!  Just remove the original labels and print your own.  I then aged the glass with glue, paint and sandpaper.

Old World Money:  Just print them out and crumple them up.

Bottlecaps:  Paint the cap, apply the printed label, and add a thick coat of a sealant.

 

Mentats:  This was an Altoid case.  Due to the raised letters, i filled in the low spots with glue and paper.  I painted it and applied the printed label.  Finally, added grime and scratched the paint.

 

Baseball Grenade:  This is the only design I actually came up with myself in this post.  I took a dowel and slid 2 pieces of pvc over it and made it look solid with layers of mod podge.  The pin is an unfolded paperclip and a key ring.  Finally, I bore a hole in an old baseball and glued it inside.

This Ranger helmet did't quite come out like I wanted but I felt it worth mentioning.

The whole thing was cardboard except for the dome on top was a paper mache cast from a motorcycle helmet.  This was the first and only time I used resin for a top coat.


Before you go, please enjoy this old Fallout Disneyland comic I did.

Weapons

As a man of action, it should not surprise you that I would 

have a considerable weapon stockpile.

BLADES

This be a wee dagger for me lass's pyrate costume.

This dagger is made of a layers of lauan.  The pommel and crossguard were coated in mod podge for a more metalic texture.   The scabbard is wrapped in leather and has craft foam chape and locket.

A tribal hide shield and spears I brought back from expedition in Africa.

The shield is cardboard covered in paper towel mache(gives a nice scaly texture).  The spearheads 

are craft foam and those are real sticks of bamboo, people.  Be impressed.

A Skyrim inspired axe... for which I needed no reason to make.

4 layered craft foam blade and wooden handle.

I had a MIGHTY NEED to make a cutlass and had enough stuff for 2 so... there's 2.

These have wooden blades/tangs, craft foam baskets and wood grips.

GUNS

Obligatory Nerf Maverick mod.

Just paint and craft foam accents.

Run of the mill steampunk rifle.

The scope, mag and lever are from a toy gun, barrel is pvc pipe and the other bits are pvc and craft foam.

A Fallout inspired plasma rifle.

This is just a big ol' pvc pipe with other pvc and craft foam bits attached.  The barrel glass

was a cheap flashlight.

I felt it only appropriate to end this post with this photo:

Artifacts

Oh!  Hello, I didn't see you there, reader.  

Since you're here, how about I show you some of the artifacts in my collection?

This fine piece of unidentified green rock is believed to be a depiction of Cthulu.  But heck if I know         -ive never seen him.

This is a simple blue foam carving.  It was initially just a test carving, but came out well enough to finish. 

I can not say anything of the species, era, or who carved this scrimshaw fossil tooth.  

But I can tell you it looks lovely in a bell jar. 

 This piece has a tin foil core covered in sculpy and was carved after baking.

 This next item is on loan from the Miskatonic University's special collections.  A section of wall from the Elder Thing City brought back by the survivors of the Starkweather-Moore expedition.

The base is blue foam and the Elder Thing is sculpey.  It is coated in mod podge for a uniform surface.

I harvested this unicorn horn myself.  And before all you cryptid rights activists come after me; no 

I didn't kill it.  I'm not a monster.

This is solid sculpey clay twisted to shape and coated in enamel.

Finally, we have one of Dr. Freeman's original orbitoclasts.

This piece is actually a small wooden dowel pushed up into a hot glue stick and a clay head.

PirateTreasure

I you are not already aware, dear reader, I reeeeally enjoy pirates (pronounced "poy-rates")  Not the murder and theft, but the aesthetics of the golden age of piracy.  Today I'd like to focus on treasure (as any good pirate would).

This is my first treasure chest.  It is composed of cardboard and a manila folder(the rounded part at the top).  The exterior is toilet paper mache.  The best part: the rust is cinnamon sprinkled in the wet paint.

Now we step things up a notch.  This full sized chest is made of wood. The metal bars are are craft foam with clay rivets.  The lock is made of craft foam and a clothes hanger hook.  But what's this?

TREASURE!  "Good job," you may be saying, "you built a useless 30 pound space waster."  Don't get sassy with me, reader!

It has a false top, and functions as storage year round.  The false top is a piece of lauan, a mound of foam and 200-some plastic coins glued in place.

  

 COINS!?

The best option I found for lots of cheap and good looking pirate style coins was from Hobby Lobby.  Only a couple bucks for 72 with a ship on one side and Spanish shield on the other. 

If that's too boring for you, go ahead and make your own!

"Ye don't know what this is, do ye?  This is Aztec gold" -Capt. Barbossa

If you don't recognize these coins or the quote I'm very disappointed in you reader.  I made a one sided mold from a Disney trading pin with sculpey clay.  I then used more sculpey to make casts and painted each.  A slow but very easy process.

Keep a weather eye open mates, thar be more 
pirate posts on the horizon.

Fleshy Creature Specimens

Good evening, friends.  Tonight I would like to talk about fleshy creature specimens.  You and I are in complete agreement on the subject: it's gross.  But in a good way,  amiright?  The common denominator in these props is paper mach with toilet paper.  This is because it absorbs the glue and then frays and blends into other pieces illuminating seams.  Also, it leaves a bumpy and nasty texture.

VOILA!  Behold fairy corpse #1.  In reality, a small plastic halloween skeleton paper mache'd in toilet paper.  The wings are paper towels, and yes, I completely forgot to add ears.  

  

But wait, there's more!  The new and improved fairy corpse #2 features a more interesting position, paper wings and an ear!

This beauty is big foot's big toe and is easily the grossest of my creations.  Actually, a tin foil core, toilet paper mach skin, sculpey clay bone and craft foam nail. 

Finally, meet Carl.  Traditional paper mache(newspaper) head and neck, scotch tape wrapped around close hanger wire tentacles(?), clay spines, ping pong ball eyes and toilet paper mache skin.

Stone

Lets get things started with a look at my previous stone projects.  Every one of these examples is carved from some kind of foam.  They are also all coated in Drylok.  Its great for foam because it creates a hard, waterproof exterior.

For smooth surfaces with fine details, I use blue(or pink depending where you live) insulation foam, found at any hardware store.

(awww, my very first foam carving)

For bigger, rougher projects I use white insulation foam.  It's cheaper and easier to get in large chunks (in my area).

"real rewards await those who choose wisely" -for those who don't read mara script

Drylok is also great because it ads a uniform texture.  The above bust is composed of a plastic halloween skull, foam body and a bed sheet.

The tool I use most for carving foam is a dremel tool, biggest downside is it turns the foam to dust -DUST THAT CLINGS TO EVERYTHING!  Heat wands will cut pretty clean but releases toxic fumes.  Gotta be smart about it; wear your eye and ear protection with your power tools and proper ventilation for your products with fumes.

Preface

Welcome, Dear Reader. 

        You find yourself on the official first post of The Watson Archive.  What's that you say?  "What is this place and how did I get here?"  Quite simply, this is an online archive of my creations and methods of creating them.  As to the mystery of how you got here... I'm afraid I haven't the slightest clue.  But do try to enjoy your visit, anyway. 

                                                                                               Sincerely,
                                                                                                       Master Watson