Building a Custom Armored Breastplate Prop in Vacformed Styrene

I've been working on a custom Commissar build to add a bit more sexy to my collection of Warhammer 40,000 costumes.  While a lesser builder might have been satisfied to go with a drum major's tunic or some other militaristic garb for the torso, I decided that mine needed to have a polished steel breastplate.  

Here's a shot of the finished result: 

For more photos and how it was made, read on...

Lifesize ED-209 Build Part 7: IT IS DONE

There are only a few projects that have made it onto my bucket list and I'm glad to say that this one is finished.  It's been three very demanding months, but the final product makes up for it:






Here's the video showing this guy on display at the Maker Faire:


As with all of the videos, there's an accompanying article at MAKE:  http://makezine.com/2014/05/23/building-up-to-maker-faire-shawn-thorsson-brings-ed-209-to-life-the-grand-reveal/

If you're just now tuning in, you can see the whole series of articles here: http://makezine.com/building-up-to-maker-faire/

I was also interviewed by Norm from Tested.com:


Here's a couple more photos of him at the Maker Faire:




He made a few friends there:




Now he's got a gig doing hotel security:


The whole build was a resounding success and it couldn't have happened without my amazing crew:


I couldn't be more proud:


More insane projects coming up.  Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any updates.

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Scratchbuilding a Warhammer 40,000 Plasma Pistol Prop

I still haven't been able to get it out of my system, so I find myself building more prop replicas from Warhammer 40,000.  While I've made a chainsword and the various versions of boltguns, I wanted something a bit more challenging.  For my next build, I decided to make a plasma pistol.

In the game mythology, plasma pistols fire energy 'bolts' of bright glowing plasma.  Each one is like a miniature little sun launched out of the barrel.  Among the forces of the Imperium, these weapons are highly coveted and usually end up in the hands of very high ranking officers and heroes of the Imperial Guard.

That sounds cool and all, but I was really just excited to make a pistol filled with blinky lights that chase around inside of it when I pull the trigger and say "pew pew pew."


To see how I went about making it, read on...

Lifesize ED-209 Build: Parts 5 and 6

Here's the fifth installment in the Building Up to Maker Faire series in which I explain some of the techniques involved in rotocasting:


As always, I wrote an article to accompany the video:
http://makezine.com/2014/05/01/building-up-to-maker-faire-shawn-thorsson-brings-ed-209-to-life-part-5-rotocasting/

Then I neglected my blog for a couple of weeks and they put up part 6:


Which I wrote an article about:
http://makezine.com/2014/05/16/building-up-to-maker-faire-shawn-thorsson-brings-ed-209-to-life-part-6-assembly-and-painting/

Sooner or later, there will be videos showing the finished piece as well as a whole host of photos.

Stay tuned...