JUST A QUICK NOTE

Just a quick note to say i AM still here & working like crazy to get things done. I have been side tracked recently whilst working on a project for an artist friend (more on that another time - still in the works). Sadly this has had me side tracked for a little time & will for another week at least.

I alongisde that am trying to get unfinished projects, well finished so i can move up to selling some of my work. Until recently issues with my current bank & online payment methods (couldn't create any online payment methods ie: PayPal etc) because my current bank is well crap! (For those in the UK am currently with Northern Rock -Say no more eh!). I AM currently under the process of switching banks to rectify the problems my current bank causes.

That along with my family breaking or destroying everything i make i have been trying to asses what can be fixed to sell & what i want to even try to fix to sell. Not to mention the previously mentioned unfinshed projects ahem!.

Remember my wall mounted grim reaper project (in my sidebar finished listing):

Well this is him NOW:

This is the kind of damage i am having to deal with on many of my finshed projects as well as trying to get projects finshed too. I put this guy at the bottom of the main stairs hoping my saying NO RUNNING DOWN THE STAIRS would keep him safe. Well you can see how much i get listened too eh. Mercifully not all my finished projects look like this but those that are damaged are to this extent.

Essentially I AM STILL HERE & working like crazy to getting more tips, tricks & how too's sorted both here & on YouTUbe for you all. I can only ask That you be patient with me during the extremely busy time. I WILL Get to posting more very soon.

DRAGON SLAYER WEAPONS - MAKING THE SWORD BLADES PART 2

Okay now the plastic straws are locked in place time to make the actual blade shapes stand out more a very simple & straight forward process. This can be used to create any sword blade no matter the size or shape reqired.

I then cut serial box cardstock to the width of each 'angled edge' (the cutting edge) of the blades. I only cut these to fit from the 'outer edge' of the straws on each side of the blades NOT all the way across the middle section of each blade. I want to keep the 'hollow centeral groove' the straws created there. Then using the straws as a guide i tacked these card strips in place down the length of the sword blades until they met the start of the points creating an angled cutting edge like a real sword has.

I then cut out some arrow head like points. I also cut out a matching U shape  in these to the match the width of the groove running down the center of the sword blades which the plastic straws created for me. I then tacked down ALL the 'outer edges' with masking tape. This will not only hold it all in place but will also help it keep this shape when i start to add some paper strips later as it all dries out.

To create a curved edge that matches the groove down the blades center i simply used some half inch masking tape to create the filled in curve effect shown above. I will use this 'same' trick when i attach the hilts later. The blades are NOW ready to be paper striped over to make them rigid & strong. I will get on with the next stage shortly & show you the next stage adding the hilt etc later. I will be stripping over the blades using only 80gsm white A4 printer paper. Once dried fully this WILL make an extremely strong blade trust me.

DRAGON SLAYER WEAPONS - MAKING THE SWORD BLADES PART 1

So time to make some large sword blades.

The easiest way i find to make large sword blades is to make the baldes in 2 parts front & back on a large wall. If you are short on space this is an ideal trick to know lol.  First of all i drew out the blade shapes, the outlines anyway on several pages of A4 paper. These i then taped together minus the 'hilt' sections i will explain why not that bit later. Next i used some 1 meter long plastic straws to create a central 'hollow ridge' that runs down the length of each sword. You can see the coloured straws in the picture above, both in the foreground & on the wall.

Next i paper mache stripped over the straws just to hold them in place with just 1 layer of news print strips.

From left to right: The first 2 blades are going to be as they are seen here, just half blades. WHY? Well these are going to be 'disguised' wall mount brackets for a couple of large wall mounted dragon heads (if i ever get them finished that is). There will be NO wood, wire or any other kind of metal strips or supports in these 'half' blades ONLY paper. Because i work to as much a hollow & light weight form as i can. Along with the fact the weight will run 'down' the wall & the half sword blades. The weight of the dragon head WILL be spread out 'down' the wall & the half sword blade(s). That is a project for another time. I am only making these half sword brackets NOW since i am making swords anyway lol.

The next 4 blades are actually only '2' blades in reality - Front & back remember?

Next time i will exlain HOW i intend to create the sword blade shape 'whilst' keeping the whole blade holow & still strong too.

DRAGON SLAYER WEAPONS - SWORD UPDATE

Both the axe & the swords of these weapons are to have 'embossed' dragons on them such a the type on my vases are to have, shown below are a couple of the types of dragons i will be using on the blades.

But more on these later. For now i want to talk about the changes i have & am making to the hilt to the first sword so far.

As you can see as mentioned before i changed the snouts (rounded them off) & now have added a few horns to both dragons.

Here it is close up:

As you can probably see too i am adding teardrop diamonds for the eyes of these dragons too. I have to work on the horns a little to shape them but i also have to build around the eyes too. I will be using pizza box card stock to do this later.

I will also be adding some standard shaped diamonds for a spaced ring around the outside of the pomel hasp too. Both types of diamonds are shown below. Sorry for the fuzzy picture unfortunately my pain tollerance levels for standing were exceeded by the time i got this far.

More soon

NEW MASK - UPDATE

I finally got my sons NEW half face mask finished but forgot to get any pictures of him wearing it when he was here yeterday (Sunday). He & his girlfriend normally stay over night on Sundays but we did not fnd out until about an hour before they left that he had to be up early so they were not staying over.

I still have the mask here as he forgot to take it with him when they left. So the minute he pops in again as he sometimes does through the week i WILL get some pictures & post them imediately for you all to see it being worn. It goes without saying he IS well pleased with the final mask design.

For now here are a couple of mask shots to look at.

DRAGON SLAYER WEAPON WEEKEND AHEAD

Over this weekend (starting today) i have decided to down tools on ALL work on unfinished & current projects to work on some 'dragon slayer weapon' related WIPs that i started ages ago but but the inspiration for which dried up on me. I had put a hold on ALL dagon slayer WIPs until i could find the inspiration for a particular one of my large swords i was working on. The original WIP below.

I just couldn't get a working theme for the dragon heads on the hand guard. Even mounting it for safety & hopefully inspiration as i passed by it dozens of times a day did not help. Then yesterday it finally came to me how they wanted to look. The NEW look dragons (partially finished) below.

When i make a dragon head i like to let the initial shape go the way it wants to go. Then i refine the look later. Unless i have a specific desgin in mind i always (no matter the size of the dragon head create a pointed snout. On the new look gaurd here i have removed the pointed snouts (rounded them off) & have begun to add some horns. All i have to do now is add 2 more horns then the finer details such as eyes & surrounding flesh lids etc, but you can see where it is going now at least.

I did already start a large blade for this sword but it was made from some left over paper pulp i had & well i don't like it anymore. ALL these weapons are to be to full scale BUT!, i don't want to make them so they can be swung for any reason. So i am making them ALL in such a way whilst they ARE strong in theyre construction they WILL break if used as weapons even in fun play. They WILL how ever be able to be swung once or twice at force before they'd break (the blades 'slot' into the hilts). So with  this in mind i am not going to use pulp on the replacement blade for this or any of the other swords i have planned.

Amongst these dragon slayer weapons are more swords as i say but i also want to make some axes too. Below is an axe i started so long ago now i forget how long ago it actually was now. The skull on this axe is extremely strong as i was trying out some new techniques at the time. Instead of making a NEW skull each time i simply incorperated the ideas 'over' the original skull.

The blade to this axe is solid but not with pulp. It is in fact several layers of pizza box card stock. Again whilst my axes will be solid construction (the axe blades are fixed in place) I am going to make them all hollow from now on too. If you remember a while back i mentioned i was going to make around 80 to 100 skulls? Some of those skulls are for these weapons. By making so many skulls in this way i won't end up making them so 'solid' which will make these weapons dangerous in the wrong hands even if they are just paper mache.

So thats whats going on here at Darkside HQ this weekend & possibly all next week too. I should have a few of these weapons at a finished state awaiting painting by next weekend to show you all.

GREAT NEWS MARZEL!

Great news at last Marzel. Your gift is on the way. It was posted today & should be with you anywahere from 1 to 2 weeks from now. I hope you like it & can find a small place to hang it when it arrives. I honestly think it is the ugliest thing i ever made, but then it was only to try out a tissue pulp recipe/experiment lol.

I know i put the right address on it, but if it does not reach you for some unknown reason i didn't put a return address on the parcel so it will go missing for real this time lol. You will know it has arrived when a shoe box (literally lol) sized parcel in brown wrapping paper with a large white hand written label arrives. Sorry for the delay in the sendng too.

DAM THIS PC

My PC has been playing silly billies with me this last week so have a lot of catching up to do.  I am STILL installing software & won't be back online until tomorrow fully. But should be online later for a while. For any blog updates i have missed so far give me a little time guys & i will get to you.

LET THE BUNNY TIMES ROLL

Happy easter everyone i hope this special weekend is as chocolate filled bunny-tastic as you hoped it would be. Don't be eating too may chocolates in one go though will you lol.

GIANT CLAM SHELL BUILD - PART 3

I am going to have to stop saying what i have planned or what i have coming up next in my blog here & everywhere else, why? Everytime i plan something or promise something when the day comes to do it - life gets in the way!. So no more rambling (before life gets in the way again) here at last is the short video on HOW TO build your clam shell armature.



I have improved the temlates for the segments slightly by refining the shape a little more & adding the longer claw like 'peeks' too. Simply right mouse click then 'save picture as' just as before to grab a copy of the template. Then print off 5 or 6 of each sizes (re-size to suite YOUR project) then as before glue this onto some cardstock, cut out & follow the video above. You will not need ALL the 'peeks' on the templates. Simply build first then remove unwanted 'claw-like peeks later by trimming them off.

The NEW improved template:



















On finally doing the short video for this it occured to me just how to make a more realist giant clam armature. I have more than enough of the materials i need for the new design. Sadly i wont have time to show it to you for a little while i have too much to do right now. I will just as soon as i can how ever.

Below is a close up image a of real giant clam so you can have some idea of how to modify YOUR clam shell. I suggest pulp might be the best option to 'enhance' the armature i have shown you how to make.

So for now have fun. I would love to see any results people have with this first armature version. I won't publish or make public in anyway pictures or videos anyone sends me to look at unless you say i can. Remember have fun art SHOULD be fun.

AN OLD PROJECT LOST & FOUND NOW IT'S GOING!

Congratulations MARZEL he will be in the post as soon as i can possibly get him in there. Make sure to hang him on the wall quick as he likes to go off hidding lol.

AN OLD PROJECT LOST & FOUND NOW I WANT IT GONE!

Some time ago now i was experimenting with tissue pulp to see how strong, versitile & light it might be. Since at the time i had Sluggich my first Troll Screamer bouncing around in my head. So when i made up some tissue pulp i came up with this guy.

I meant to hang him on the wall but never did he kept going missing then reappearing again. I only just found him behind my desk of all places today after dropping something else down there. NOW looking at him i find him to be quite the ugliest thing i have ever made lol. He is around 3 ounces in weight,  23cm tall, 12.5cm wide, 8.5cm deep. His finish is a dark 'aged' metalic bronze effect & is ready to mount straight on a wall.

So why mention him if i think he is ugly etc then?

Well i basically i want rid of him. He was only after all a test piece/experiment for tissue pulp. So ANYONE who wants him can have him. Whilst i don't think he is good enough to put up for sale i don't just want to throw him in the trash either. So if you want him just let me know. The FIRST name & address i get, gets him. DO NOT post your land address in the comments here. ONLY send your land address by EMAIL. You can contact me here: jontytheghoul@btopenworld.com.

I won't be able to pop him in the post for about 2 weeks as the postage will be coming out of my own pocket & i only get paid every 4 weeks (2 to go). There is no time limit on this as he is not going aywhere, today at least lol.

BLOG LAYOUT ALL CHANGE THIS WEEKEND - MAYBE NOT

I was going to be changing the layout for my blog this coming weekend but have decided to stay that off until next weekend. My Boney 'D puppet is screaming at me to get finished. Well actually i am the one doing the screaming as he is slowly dissapearing under a ton of unfinished WIPs & i am a little concerned for his safety. His current place of storage & unfinished state are becoming a real concern to me as he seems to dissapear a little more each time i see him poor sole.

This is Boney 'D for those of you who have not met him yet. You can see a short video of his head movements here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-4nZIxmglE. His jaw IS fitted but not shown in this shot. I want to get his jaw mech up & running & his arms & hands mechs on & running too if i can this weekend. Who can say i might actually get it done too... Yeah your right i might not either lol. Oh well come this weekend we will see lol.

GIANT CLAM SHELL TEST BUILD - PART 2

Well sadly NO test build video to show you today folks on this project. Now before you all go getting together with pitch forks & flaming torches & come kicking at my front door i will explain why.

I got up this morning looking forward to as i am sure many of you were to getting the test build under way. There i was just having taken my tablets, insulin, T.E.N.S machine (pain relief electro-shock therapy doodah) fitted around my wreck of a body, table cleared ready to start the day building & videoing. When in walks my wife B (Barbara) as calm as you like & starts gathering up my PSP (my camera source), my PSP's mini cam attachment & my PSP to PC transfer cable. As i sat there dumb struck. I got as far as "What the?..." When she lovingly said "I told you last night Megan needed to borrow this lot for a school project today. Don't look at me like that if you can't remember." Then she scuttled off leaving me wondering just what i was going to do next.

So, i went ahead with the test build anyway. Whilst i couldn't do a video on it today i still managed to get some photographs using my trusty mobile. So without any more rambling excuses that no one is going to believe anyway here are some pics & notes from todays test build.

It became very clear to me by the time i added the third section that i need to make each section 'wider' & 'longer' to get the right giant clam look for this project. I carried on any way hoping you might still be able to see in some part how it will look when finished. It dawned on me too that i didn't add the claw like 'peek' to each section either. So i quickly popped a couple on after i put this half together. For the next templates i WILL simply draw these parts on.

As i say i need to make each section wider so that the whole shell comes around the sides more when put together. Then longer so i can make the flatter deeper back section too. These are minor corrections though. This was after all a 'test build' so little things like this are bound to show up. So here are the rest of the still shots for now. I will get to correcting the mistakes tomorrow & will (ahem!) get some video shot of the second test build then too.

I most sincerely appologise for this delay folks. Totaly my fault. Er!, i mean my wifes & daughters fault. I shall punish them most severely by pointing at them & pulling faces whilst silent mouthing "YOU, YES YOU" All night if i have to lol.

More soon i promise.

GIANT CLAM SHELL TEST BUILD - PART 1

So i got to test building a giant clam shell today though i didn't get far today (not full size obviously lol) for a mermaid/dolphin water feature i started some time back. It's a '2 reason' show & tell come how to at this stage as a fellow artist wants to know some ways to make large versions to hold actual plant pots.

So knowing a way to do it quickly & easily  i still need to know how big to make the segments for 'my' version. In the end i made 5 potential sizes. Well the sections to said anyway. For this post i am simply going to show you the pieces, how to make them including copies of the actual templates to the exact same pieces i am working with. Just in case anyone else wants to try this too. For now a quick run down of how i created the pieces.

So here are all my test pieces, well the 5 different sizes of each single clam shell segments anyway. The largest (longest) is some 24cm long. Shown below.

Which looks this big when folded. Don't worry i WILL show you how to cut & fold these shortly.

The curvature of each segment is created & controlled by the amount of 'overlap' in the folding process. Don't worry we will get there keep reading lol.

How it looks from the back, my first test pieces anyway lol.

Here are the pieces that you can print out & use to copy not only what i am showing you but also so you will be using the exact same sized sections too to make this easier to follow as it were. Just right click with your mouse on each image below. Then 'save as' to anywhere you like on your PC.

Print these image out at FULL A4 size for each set of images to get the same sizes i am using.

Cut out each section the glue them to some serial box cardstock. cut along the RED lines but NOT any further along. A typical fully grown giant clam has 5/6 curved ridges along it's open edge as you can see below.

You will need to print & cut out 5/6 'matching sections' of the templates i have given you for your clam shell.

Once you have printed, selected & cut out as well as cut 'into' your chosen sections you fold them like this. Starting at the top for the simple reason 'it makes sense' fold each section down 'onto/over' the section below. as i have shown you here: Part 1 down 'onto/over' part 2. Then part 3 down 'onto/over' onto part 4. Tack each section AS you fold it down with a small piece of tape, then move on down the segment until you have the whole thing done. Repeat for each matching section.

Don't panick if that was total nonsense to you at this stage i WILL do a mini video HOW TO to show you in real time how to do it along with the next stages too in the next post. I am feeling a litle run down today so will have to leave it there for today sorry.

I will close though by just adding to make a full sized or larger than life version simply draw out some similar shaped pieces to corrigated cardstock. Anything bigger than around 30 inches WILL need anything from 2mm pizza cardstock or large corrigated cardstock for anything larger still to maintain strength especially if you intend to use these for more than show pieces ie: funtional plant pot holders.

Anyway more soon i promise, i gotta go stretch out & unwind for the rest of the evening. More tomorrow have fun everyone lol.

SOMETHING FOR NEXT WEEK'ISH

Tomorrow & Wedensday i will be working on & hopefully posting the results of a giant clam test build. Then after that i still have a couple of Troll Screamers to finish painting & to start painting (the witch & Sharky) as well as some plaster cast molds to do the second stages on. Not to mention finish off my sons half mask. Next week if not by this coming weekend how ever i will throw together a quick HOW TO 'half mask' tutorial.

This will be a modyfied but 'advanced version' of my sons half mask. Lol don't worry when i say advanced i mean it looks technichal & difficult but it WILL be very very simple to do i promise you lol. I was thinking to keep it really simple i would show you how to make a half skull mask & maybe a geeky face for those who don't want to do a skull. If i have time to do both the method of construction IS very similar. Just different facial parts. Trust me you will be making masks in no time lol.

Here is an example of the skull mask i am thinking of doing:

Click on image to enlarge it. Remember ths WILL be a full 3D half face mask & this example may change a little when i come to do it lol.

The 'face' mask example:

NEW MASK - PART 2

So with the final design specks noted time to get this mask finished or at least to the last stage prior to painting.

I altered the width of the mask 'jig' or master copy to copy/build the mask on by replacing the bamboo skewers. A simple enough task taking seconds.

Then i covered the whole thing in a single layer of foil to make the seperation of the actual mask from the master copy. I covered the foil in two layers of clear tape. Normally i would use plain masking tape for this task but my supplies are low at the moment. Clear tape will serve the task just as well. If you are intending to leave any tape within any project then masking tape IS advised here. Clear tape will not absorb the glue (any type) & therefore WILL create a 'loose layer' within your project creating a potential weak area or layer.

For THIS project however i intend to remove both the seperation layer of both foil & tape to reduce the final weight of the actual mask when finished. On most of my projects when i need to do this i would simply allow the project to 'partially' dry then remove the foil & masking tape layer. However since i want the finished mask to be as thin as possible removing the foil & tape from the mask will be - tricky. Also i have to leave the actual mask ON the 'jig' until the whole build is completed. As it is so thin (under 2mm) i need to know it has finally dried completely 'before' removal. Masking tape should i leave it as in this case to fully dry would become 'fixed' to the mask. Clear tape should release much easier dry or not.

Two layers of very fine telephone directory paper to begin the actual mask build with. I will be adding three layers of 80gsm white printer paper over these starting layers.

I added the first layer of chosen material to the two air vents before adding the three layers of white paper. Normally when i add my final layers of paper no matter the type i would brush the final layer of paper until the 'surface' of the final layer turns to a fine layer of pulp. As a rule especially with telephone directory paper & news paper this gives me a super fine coating that i can simply brush smooth with a pig hair paint brush & a final coating of 'undilluted' PVA glue.

Sadly as you can see white printer paper has idea's of it's own. For the second time with this project i am forced to do something very alien to my creation methods - Sanding it down!. Mercifully this is only a fine surface layer to be sanded so should only take a few minutes by hand.

So the next & final post for this project a look at how the finished mask turns out. from here to painting to wearing. The mask is in the warm cupboard with 'Sharky' right now for a few days to thorouhly dry out lol. More very soon on this quick project.

MASKS MASKS MASKS - I THINK I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING THIS WEEKEND

Last weekend i got the final approval & further requested specks for the replacement mask for one of my sons. So i can get that finished this weekend now. Making the blank or 'jig' mask to copy from (build onto/over). So since i have a few things to cast in plaster this weekend (my original dolphin mold - One half got smashed) I thought i might carry on with the mask making too.

If you remember i started some masks of my own using a commercially bought plastic mask, from which i made a few modyfied versions? Well i figured since i will be making some plaster molds i may as well kock a few mask molds out too while i was at it.

A reminder of the paper mache masks i made a while back now. I intend to copy these out into plaster from which i can make my own paper mache masks. When i have those copied out in plaster as well as making simple wearable masks from the plaster copies i have an idea for some backlit wall mounted versions too. More on that later though.

A MUST FINISH WIP

A while back now amongst the many other WIPs i simply MUST get finished soon is this dragon slayer sword. Below is the (so far) simplistic looking wall mounting bracket.

Below are a couple of angle shots of the sword hilt.

It is currently mounted for safe keeping in the hallway. Unfortunately everyone keeps bumping into it & getting bonked on the head from the ball shaped pomel, including ME lol.

I did start a blade for it but am not happy with it so may make a new one for it later.