Fallout Caps

So, post apocalyptic money.

These are some badges I made a while back as a mini-project with some leftover stuff I had lying about. This is just a quick post up of the pictures of the ones I'd already made (Don't have them anymore, various people do or don't have them now, depending on how cruelly they've been treated)

I'll be making a 'how to' guide in the next week or so and putting it up so you guys can make some delicious Fallout badges if you so desire. They're pretty simple to make, but if you spend a bit of time on them they can look pretty tasty, so it'd be great to see what you guys come up with!

Until then, here's some I made earlier, Blue Peter style.

Cheers for reading, if you're interested in slightly more frequent build updates, full picture gallery and some funky extra sketches and musings of a madman, give the Facebook group a like, or follow me on Twitter. 

William John Props Facebook Group

William John Twitter

Knives, Knaves and Knackering

I'd hoped to have some pictures of the goggles mid-progress by now, but my knife blades seem to have all decided to go blunt on me, or snap. Hoping to get some more at the weekend but trying to cut the plastic this thick with blunt knives is just ruining the shape.... and very nearly my fingers.

This is one of the woes of making props. The sheer amount of equipment that I have to get and replace on a pretty regular basis. There really is truth in buying good tools saves you money, my leather punch has lasted me years because I splashed out a little, but knife blades aren't something that seem to last long it seems.

Not a day goes by I don't wish I had a lathe, the things I could make I think. Then I'm reminded they cost literally an arm and a leg and I have to carve the damn thing by hand again, cursing my lack of powertools as I work.

Despite the lack of tools, I've been developing the sketches for an 'add-on' to the sketch I posted up before, it completes the picture a little, anyone guessed what it is yet?

Oh, and I'm hoping to make it big, pretty damned big indeed.

The Near and not so Near Future

So, after Asylum I've had a few ideas floating about and I had the time today to put one of them down on paper. I'm hoping to have this made for next year along with some other stuff, but I wont be saying too much about it just yet, I'll let you guys guess as to what it's supposed to be.

In other news, I've also got the first picture of a project that's been in the works for a while due to time issues (Being bloody busy) but now I've done a mockup and worked out how I'm going to make it. It's going to be a pair of goggles the character Rita Mordio wears and I'm hoping to have these finished fairly soon, going shopping for the materials tomorrow actually.

Should be some updates on the goggles coming soon and some more sketches from Asylum if I can find time to get them done!

Asylum 2012

So, now back in Manchester after the madness that was Asylum 2012 (Pictures down below). It's been the first time that I've been to the giant Steampunk weekender over in Lincoln and we've had one hell of a time! The Manchester group Cottonopolis Coglective were there in force which was fantastic to see and the parade of banners and military parades had some really nice stuff on show, we even got a flag for it and everything!

Mostly though, the weekend has given me some food for thought in terms of prop making and inspiration for some new ideas. There was some absolutely great stuff on show, particularly in the backpack department and leatherwork. After seeing so much simply awesome stuff on display I've got quite a few ideas for what I'd like to do next year, sketches of which are more than likely to get posted up on here in the next year or so as I frantically try and get everything I've said I would, made for Asylum 2013.

One game I was playing the whole weekend was 'is it real brass or not'. It's interesting to look at how people have disguised plastics and foams as metals and I've come to the conclusion that the only avenue to go down when faking metal is to make it weathered as hell. I just can't seem to think of a way to recreate the shine on new metals (that I saw on so many guns made of real brass) with plastics!

If anyone can find a way to make realistic looking shiny metal from plastic then that'd be a godsend, but I'll just have to try some experimenting and see what I can come up with, in the meantime I'll stick to my normally, extremely weathered work, which seems to have become somewhat of a favourite of mine, as nothing grates me more than really, really shiny rocketpacks, the things are supposed to shoot fire, which in my experience, tends to make something a bit mucky.

That sounds really bad but I just really hate shiny brass at times, aside from my slightly worrying personal gripes, here are some pictures of the weekend and the Cottonopolis Coglective to give you a taste of some of the stuff on show.

That last picture is our jolly lot in the parade, but as you can see, the costumes on display are absolutely phenomenal, I was particularly impressed by the leatherwork in the first picture and the steampunk DC was simply inspired.

If ever you're in need for inspiration, best place to look is at what other people have made, because some of it is bloody brilliant.

Here's a wee link to the Cottonopolis page on FB, in case you're interested in steampunk in the Manchester area, and also the link to my new FB page where I'll be uploading pictures of my portfolio and some other bits and bobs.

Finally, I'd like to say a massive, huge thank you to everyone who made the weekend one to remember, I'm looking forward to next year more than I can describe and a smashing job has been done all round!

http://www.facebook.com/groups/CottonopolisCoglective/
http://www.facebook.com/WilliamJohnProps

Enjoy!

Boba Fett Jetpack - Quinary Phase

I apologise profusely for the lack of posting in recent weeks, the simple truth is there hasn't been anything to post about as I've been on a hiatus in that time, generally getting about and doing other stuff. However, the summer is near over and I'm back to old tricks and have a couple of projects on the horizon.

However, I feel that it is slightly more important to finish off the last one! I actually finished the jetpack a while back, a week or so after the previous post but never got a chance to get some pictures of the finished job. Leon has kindly sent two pictures my way from his show that I can share on here to give you a glimpse of what the 'pack looks like finished.

Now, those aren't all I'm going to leave you with. I'll be taking the jetpack in soon hopefully to get some repair work done on it (The strap system needs a bit of fiddling with) and general strengthening to cope with the heavy use on stage.

When it comes in I'll get some proper full shots of the jetpack and that should hopefully satisfy some of you who've been asking after some photos of the finished article. 

Until next time, when I'll probably be putting up my first post for a pair of 'Rita Mordio Goggles' followed by a full and final update of the jetpack in the near future, have a good one  and cheers for reading!

Boba Fett Jetpack - Quaternary Phase

Time for a good old massive update!

In the time since the last update I've got a fair bit done on the sanding (floor is covered in dust again) and final cutting for the jetpack; the shape of it is near enough defined now. All that's left is some small sanding jobs, some glueing and a couple of hours with wood filler smoothing everything over and then sealing with PVA and painting.

I'm hoping to get the jetpack done fairly soon, but here are some pictures to accompany my rambling.

Picture of the rocket in most basic form. The plan at this point was to cut as close to the shape as possible and then sand down to form the cones shapes that really define the rocket on Boba's jetpack.

Just holding this part in place, this will be half way up the centre thruster when it's glued on, holding it on for now to give an idea of where it'll be in the grand scheme of things.

A couple of shots showing the jetpack's shape before the sanding of the caps on the side thrusters, the main thruster and rocket. They are only very roughly cut out at this point and still required a fair bit of work. As you might notice also, I've added some wooden 'caps' to the top and bottom for some stability and to hide the centre cavity. There's a wooden plate on the back so I can use a strong spirit based solvent to glue the jetpack onto the back armour plate, rather than use a weak glue on the foam.

The sanding is near finished on the rocket and main body here, the parts are currently in the stages of being glued together for final sanding touches and filler work. The fractal pattern on the final 'slice' of the main thruster is to reduce the amount of filler needed to make the cone shape, it'll end up being smooth in the end, just like the real main thruster on the jetpack.

For tomorrow I'll probably be working on finishing the caps for the side thrusters and starting filler and gluing work. I should also have some pictures of the armour which I've been painting in the next update to match the jetpack.

Till next time, cheers for reading!

Boba Fett Jetpack - Tertiary Phase

Sorry for the wait on this update, I've been ridiculously busy trying to get this done along with sorting out my bike for bike polo, including some gaming related wheel covers which I might post up in the future (Wait for a rainy day).

Besides downgrading my bike, I hope the dust from this blue foam doesn't screw with your lungs, because I've been sanding it down like no tomorrow and it's everywhere, the floor, the roof, me! Literally, my jeans are more blue than black.

Anyway, the sanding does seem like a good alternative to using piping, but enough of my complaining, on with the progress.

The tubes for the side which were oblongs last week but I've sanded down so they fit flush and look like the thrusters. 

Here they are mounted on the sides, and I've cut the oblong shape of the main thruster and put it in the centre to give a sense of scale of the giant centre column,

Here it is sanded down after what seemed like an eternity sanding and staring at it wondering 'is it straight'? There's a tad of touchup work that needs to be done near the bottom with filler to make it a perfect curve, but other than that the sanding plan had gone pretty well so far!

All that's left to do now is add the complete cylinder on top of the centre column, add 'caps' to the side thrusters, make the rocket for the top and then touch-up and paint. Just hoping the snow has buggered by then so I can spray it outside! 

Till next time, cheers for reading!