About Me

My photo
I make toys for kids who don't want to grow up. I'm on the lookout for new projects. If you're interested in commissioning me to build something ridiculous, shoot me an email.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Kali Costume Part 1: Building the Rack of a Goddess

Some months ago, in addition to the Blood Eagle Pathfinder I've already written about, the good folks at Hi-Rez Studios commissioned me to build a costume to turn a model into their rendition of the Hindu goddess Kali from their recently released game "SMITE."

The challenge: make a healthy human female look like this:
Kali from SMITE

No problem.

My first concern was securely attaching a pair of prosthetic arms to her back.  Unless they had a model that would let me drive screws into her shoulder blades, there was no way I could glue them on that would be guaranteed to hold up the severed head and the cup she's supposed to be carrying.  At least not if she's planning on walking around all day on the show floor at a convention.

After some careful consideration, I decided that the best option was to make the chest prosthetic as well.  That way I could make the breasts, collar, and extra arms into a harness that could be strapped on with no risk of having any slippage that might result in unanticipated nudity on the show floor.  As an added benefit, the prosthetic breasts would counterweight the extra arms. 

With most character builds, I focus a lot of time and energy on the parts that will get the most scrutiny.  This is usually the head or some particularly iconic prop.  In this case, it seemed pretty obvious where most of the attention would be drawn to.  It wasn't going to be her eyes.

The rest of this article is safe for work and family-friendly, but be forewarned: there are pictures of an attractive, young, topless woman being coated in purple goo.  If you're okay with that and you'd like to see the step-by-step process involved in making a girl with a 32B bra size into something more like a 32F, read on...

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine Build Part 7: Badges, Patches, and Other Widgets

In case you've been following along, I apologize for neglecting to write up the rest of the build notes for the Space Marine build.  If you're just now stumbling across my blog, you can find the other parts of this build by following these links:

Space Marine Build Part 1: an Overview
Space Marine Build Part 2: the Backpack
Space Marine Build Part 3: the Boots
Space Marine Build Part 4: the Rubber Bits
Space Marine Build Part 5: the Helmets
Space Marine Build Part 6: the Hands

Now onto the next part: decoration.  Because giganting superhuman warrior-gods don't look right without all the trim:
Paintjob Closeup Glamor Shot

Read on for details.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Building the Blood Eagle Pathfinder from TRIBES: Ascend

In addition to the Spinfusor prop, Hi-Rez Studios also commissioned me to make the complete costume for a "Pathfinder," one of the light infantry classes from the Blood Eagle faction in their first-person shooter TRIBES: Ascend.

You saw the finished outfit at the end of my last post:
Blood Eagle Dressed at PAX

For details on how it was made, read on...

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Building the Spinfusor Prop for Tribes: Ascend

Over the past three months I've been scrambling to finish a few items for Hi-Rez Studios to have at their promotional booth at PAX Prime in Seattle.  Now that PAX has come and gone, I've finally got a chance to share some details of these builds.  First up: the Spinfusor.  This is the iconic weapon from their first-person shooter, TRIBES: Ascend.

Here's the finished piece:
Spinfusor Completed
More details after the jump.