An Unorthodox Halloween – Page 33

Assorted Project run-down.

So, just to recap…

We have the armor project ongoing. Not a lot of new stuff to show there, just lots of boring technical stuff. Chest and shoulders done, both legs are getting close, had to start over on the arms, so only one is close. We just bought some nice buttons to attach the shoulder pieces, and will have some nice visual improvements in the next week or so.

Meanwhile, Talia’s pinata is all but done in construction. It’s stuffed with prizes, and the final coat (covering the hole and adding the string and legs) is drying now. One really crappy unicorn will need some paint soon.

From 2011 buildup

We have started making a mold for Alec’s NEXT school project: Mini society. He has decided to sell what made Kyle so much money. Skulls.

From 2011 buildup

We’re collecting wood for the Bridge of Death. Call us if you need any cleaned up!

From Bridge of Death

And, by demand, some more pics of the concept and area.

From Bridge of Death

(this one looks familiar…)

From Bridge of Death

Interesting gate.

From Bridge of Death

The bridge of death.

I’ve circled in on our major project for the year. The bridge of death.

As with 90% of our naming convention, it’s name originates in comedy.

The beginnings of the idea took shape years ago, when a circular hole was worn into our grass…Last year was also rough on the grass.

From 2011 buildup

“A boardwalk”, I thought, would be the perfect solution. But, I just couldn’t get past how to integrate such a thing into our yard. Still, it remained in the back of my head.

I’ve long posted how one of the places I find inspiration is in Guild Wars. Both Project Nightfall and Charr coming directly from there. The latter even winning their Halloween contest.

I was out sight-seeing and stumbled on this, and instantly fell in love.

From Bridge of Death

A ruined bridge to nowhere. Call me crazy, but I can see it fitting in quite well…

From The Harvest

Fewer uprights to block views, yes…I can also see my skulls sitting on some of those uprights, bringing back some of the field of skulls to the equation.

I needed wood. LOTS of wood. My wife mentioned as much on Facebook, I’ve mentioned it to several folks, and we’ve gone knocking on a few doors of houses I’ve noticed lost fences over the winter.

Friends and neighbors have been pouring in donations so far. Downed fences are the ideal, but any scrap wood is useful. If you know of anyone looking to offload some, send em my way.

“I don’t want it torn, I want it to be perfect.”

Slow going on the armor lately.

We did get around to making the pauldrons,

From 2011 buildup

And casting the arms and legs for assorted pieces.

From 2011 buildup

In fact all those pieces have been made and covered in Das clay to make them smooth. In fact, the later pieces are skipping the celluclay all together, just using Das over the monster mud. The left side of the armor is now complete aside from paint and assembly.

I got to spend Friday with my daughter, needing to head into SLC to purchase our yearly supply of latex. Mostly so Alec can get going on his next project for school. After a week of her being terribly sick, it was good to get out of the house, and as long as we had to head out, we decided to have a little fun.

From 2011 buildup

Of course, her favorite part was touching the rays. “It’s one of the ones we touched!”

From 2011 buildup

Getting home, I was starting on a unicorn pinata for her birthday party. (Something of a tradition around here.)

So, I set up, grab the news paper, and start tearing, for as we all know, torn is much better than cut when it comes to paper mache. “What are you doing?”

“Tearing paper so I can make you a unicorn.”

“I don’t want it torn, I want it to be perfect!”

Armor, model 2.0

It’s time to put all that stuff we learned from Alec’s costume to good use.

The first step in making Kyle into King Hamlet’s Ghost was to get a body form…So, we wrapped him in rigid wrap, cut it off, and attached the halves back together with more wrap. It’s quick and dirty, and not a real life cast, but infinitely cheaper and quicker.

From 2011 buildup

Instead of the long, boring, paper mache, cheese cloth and glue method, 2 quick layers of burlap and monster mud get us to this point in 3 days, what took me nearly 2 weeks on Alec. I really can’t believe I didn’t think of this on Alec’s armor.

From 2011 buildup

In another ‘you idiot why didn’t you think of this THEN’ moment, the back of Kyle’s armor is going to have a seam we’ll just velcro shut for easy on/off action. Alec is something of a contortionist, so slipping his over his head wasn’t a huge deal, but should have thought of this then…

That’s just mod podge which remains flexible, prevents the itching and fraying of the burlap as well as a super simple means of attaching the pieces together.

From 2011 buildup

Some quick paper mache to smooth the front out, and the chest piece is all done save for some paint and drying. Shoulders are up next, but I need the chest dry for that as well.

From 2011 buildup

And, no, Talia is not being left out. (and yes, that’s a heart on there if you look close…)

From 2011 buildup

Oh, and Alec has some more homework coming up. But more on that later, I can only handle one of these things at a time. It’s a heck of an off season this year…

MORE Homework?

Alec-zander is finally completed!

And, personally, I think it’s looking fantastic.

Little details are always just plain fun. Medusa…

Down to the buttons I found to attach that magnificent cape.

It’s been a fun project, but there were lots of lessons gleaned from working on it I would surely put to use if I were to ever think of making something similar again…

And it’s a good thing too. Kyle needs a costume for his class’s production of Hamlet. King Hamlet’s Ghost is often portrayed in armor as well…

More homework.