A Quiet Path

On an astronomical scale,
even rare events are relatively common

Ryo – inner shoulders

Jul 14

Posted by Makoto in CNC, Ryo | 1 Comment

Got around to finishing Ryo’s inner shoulder mold and testing out an idea I had for casting it with a plastic/fiberglass hybrid which turned out nicely strong and cast well, I think…

Ryo's inner shoulder armor. Leftmost is the original (insulation foam coated with smooth cast plastic), the others are castings, either fiberglass or fiberglass-plastic hybrids

Original is on the left, and was created on my CNC using insulation foam, then coated with smooth cast plastic, and has wax on it to smooth out the mold.  The rest are castings from the mold, created with brush-on silicone, and an outer shell made of rigid wrap plaster cloth.

I tinted the items as I was casting them, so I still need to sand and paint the castings.  There are three because the middle one turned out a bit thin, so I made an extra.  Now on to the outer shoulders…

Prop painting

Jun 26

Posted by Makoto in CNC, Zelos' Sword | No Comments

I was working on a ton of different projects this weekend, but this was the most photogenic..

Zelos SwordZelos' SwordZelos' Sword

(Still a work in progress)

Dear 16 Year Old Me

Jun 14

Posted by Makoto in Cancer | No Comments

A video that’s well worth watching, and applicable to far more than its subject of melanoma:

http://www.thatvideosite.com/video/dear_16yearold_me

Gourry Evolution-R Armor (final)

Jun 11

Posted by Makoto in CNC, Gourry | No Comments

SANY0943SANY0944SANY0945SANY0946

Armor and sword were created on my CNC, then coated with Smooth Cast 320 plastic, airbrushed with pearlized blue, coated with “wet look” lacquer, and finally damage details were applied with the airbrush.  The scabbard was made in several layers (plastic mesh, craft foam, Smooth Cast coating, airbrush paint, airbrush gloss coat).  The sword is cast in Smooth Cast, painted like the rest, and the grip is wrapped with cloth from Jo-Ann’s.

Gourry Armor

Jun 8

Posted by Makoto in Gourry | No Comments

Sanding, plastic, sanding, plastic, sanding, .. painting!

SANY0929SANY0933Gourry Armor

Relay 2011

Jun 5

Posted by Makoto in Cancer, Gourry | No Comments

Well.. Relay for Life night/weekend.

Our team did a few things to fundraise at the event.  Dinner (Philly cheesesteaks and BBQ chicken sandwiches), “Walk a mile in my shoes” rental (with shoes from NFL stars, University presidents, and my Yeti feet, among a ton of others), and breakfast (bacon, eggs, and toast).  We probably raised $200-300, which isn’t bad, but isn’t great.  We did get a Silver award for fundraising over the year, which is great, since it indicates more money to cancer research (last year we got Bronze), but that was from the year in total.  Money that night just wasn’t that impressive, possibly because attendance for the event was way down compared to previous years.

Also, I’m very depressed by our event coordinators.  I don’t think we’ll pay as much attention to them next year, just try to raise money in our own way.  Relay night will probably just be for fun for us, and for breakfast, since that was most appreciated.

As usual, I was fairly tired on Saturday, and my folks ended up napping at various times, so the house was pretty quiet overall.  Late on Saturday everyone was up, so I power sanded some Gourry armor I plan on wearing this coming weekend to A-Kon.  Didn’t get a chance to paint it, however, since I still need to do some hand sanding.

Ghost Peppers

May 31

Posted by Makoto in Life | No Comments

For years now, I’ve heard about how powerful Ghost Peppers are, and wished to try them personally.  After much searching and delaying, I finally ordered some, and they arrived tonight.  As you can imagine, with much anticipation I cut open the package (liberally labelled with a multitude of warnings about wearing eye, hand, and nose/mouth protection while handling said peppers).  I carefully sniffed at the slightly opened (formerly vacuum sealed) bag, and it smelled spicy.  So far, so good.

To be safe, I even snagged a latex glove to pick up one of my new peppers.  I didn’t want to risk melting my hand (and/or eye, in case I rubbed my eye later).  I then nibbled at the end of this new, deadly pepper..

Meh.

So I took a bigger bite..

Meh.

It’s got kind of an odd taste.  I know I’ve tasted this before, though I can’t exactly place it.  It’s not the fruity heat of a habanero, nor the spicy heat of a jalapeno, and not even the vinegary heat of tabasco sauce.  Kind of a burned/smoky taste… the closest match I can think of is adobo spice from Mexican cuisine.  I’m sure I’ve had it on some buffalo wings or in a hot sauce or something.  It’s spicy, but not the weapons-grade spicy I was expecting from the warnings and what I’d heard.  And not really a tasty spicy.  Oh, well.

Playing footsie

May 30

Posted by Makoto in Cancer, CNC, Props | 3 Comments

Our Relay for Life team is doing an event Relay night that needs lots of different shoes/feet.  So, I was tapped to create something unique, and I went with Yeti feet:

Bigfoot Feet Yeti feet, skinned Yeti Foot (final)

I CNC’d out the general foot shape, skinned it with silicone, hollowed out a space for a person’s foot, then used expanding soft foam to hug the user’s foot.  Attaching some long fur and sculpted plastic nails finished off the pieces.

Gourry Update

May 27

Posted by Makoto in Gourry | No Comments

Progress is steady on Gourry’s new armor build.  Add a layer or two of plastic, sand down lumps and bumps, rinse, repeat… all armor is carved and at least in progress at this point.

In progress armor Complete armor set

Strange question

May 3

Posted by Makoto in CNC | No Comments

Did someone out there send me a gift box of router bits for my CNC?  I just got a box in the mail, but I didn’t even know they were back in stock yet…

Update – mystery solved.  One of the companies I’d ordered bits from sub-contracted the order, and when I cancelled with the original company (because the bits were out of stock), they didn’t remember to send the cancel to the sub-contractor.  The sub-contractor called me a few days later explaining the situation, and so I paid for the bits.  They’re what I needed, after all.