Made by Venger

I like to make things. I like Runescape. The combination was only a matter of time.

[vengervoldur-blog]

Christmas 2016 Project: Runescape Scimitars; update

Shortly after announcing my plans to make 6 Runescape scimitars for some friends of mine for Christmas, I practically dropped off the map, social media wise, when it came to updates on this project. I am honestly sorry that this is the case, but I became suddenly and unexpectedly busy with work. However, I have managed to make some progress on this build. I expect to make considerable progress in the two weeks before the 25th, as I have a promised time off. In the meantime, however, enjoy a quick pic of what I have accomplished. I don’t know if I’ll do a big long write-up like I have in the past, but I will still share progress pics, like the one below. It is my desire to make a seventh foam sword for my myself (either the Sword of Edicts or the recently released Elite Wilderness Task set sword) and film the entire process, showing  how I made it. (Among fellow prop maker circles my process is quite similar, but it would seem that the Runescape cosplay community is fairly unfamiliar with EVA foam as a construction material, and I’d love to show them its low-entry-level but high-end-appearance result.)

From left to right: Steel, mithril, adamant, bronze dragon, and iron scimitars. Each one is made from 5 laminated layers of 1/4″ EVA foam from tntcosplaysupply.com with a length grey PVC pipe  laminated in-between those layers as the core. Each scimitar was scaled, both in handle and blade length, to the person for whom it is intended. In other words the proportions were determined by the original blueprint I made in Inkscape, but the dimensions were dictated for the individual. The longest is the adamant, with a roughly 24″ blade and 7″ handle and the shortest is the bronze at roughly 16″ blade and 4″ handle. The profile to each scimitar has been blocked out, and the edge bevel sanded to shape. Some hand-sanding to perfect those edge bevels and some minor detailing on one or two of the scimitars is all that remains before I apply paint.

Given as I intend these foam “swords” to be full-contact toys (basically just like a NERF sword) a rigid inner core is mandatory. For this build I made both the handle AND the rigid inner core from the same piece of PVC. I used 3/4″ grey PVC for all but the iron and bronze “scimmies”. For these other two I used 1/2″ grey PVC, as it better suited the small hands for whom the handle/scimitar was intended.

A quick note on the PVC core: Ordinarily when PVC is used as a core to a prop foam weapon it is left round throughout. To compensate the prop must be made thicker. Generally this isn’t an issue as game designers and developers prefer to make weapon and armor models that are much thicker than real life anyways (for technical reasons in the computer world). However, I didn’t want these scimitars to be 3+” thick. Instead, I chose to make them 2″ thick, and heated and squished the PVC flat. Rather than stress the crease line of the squished PVC, I chose to first rip each pipe down its length, stopping at the handle. These now two separate layers of PVC had to be secured together to make it rigid again. If I am able to video record making my own sword, I’ll provide a much more in-depth visual guide to explain this process.

NOTE ON USING GLUES: Using grey PVC versus the more commonly known white PVC offers no difference in rigidity or any otherwise side effect. I simply had more grey PVC than white lying around, so I used it instead. It is worth pointing out, however, that grey PVC is often, but not always, made from ABS plastic. ALWAYS READ THE SIDE OF THE PIPE TO KNOW WHICH TYPE OF PLASTIC IT IS MADE FROM! With this information, purchase your adhesive accordingly. So if you use grey ABS piping, get ABS cement. If you use grey PVC, use grey PVC cement. And if you use white PVC, generic PVC cement is what you want. This detail matters, otherwise the glue, which forms a bond by slightly melting the two plastics together, will not form. Alternatively, a strong 2-part epoxy can be used instead. I feel this might be a better adhesive to use anyways instead of PVC cement, which isn’t intended to handle the lateral stress of the two PVC surfaces rubbing and pulling against each other in the laminated way I employed. 2-part epoxy “felt” better for this application, but there is no science to back this claim up. As an alternative to either of these two glues, contact cement works just as good, albeit it tends to be slightly more flexible (just as it states on its own label). Again, if I make a video on making my scimitar, I will explain all this better with visual aid.

A happy accident I discovered along the way was that by laminating so many layers of foam together, I essentially form a ply-foam (just like plywood). It is my understanding and opinion that under certain circumstances plywood can be extremely more resilient than standard lumber. Fortunately, these circumstances fall under my needs for these foam scimitars. I can’t say for certain if this is greater than-equal to, or less than a foam prop with a rounded PVC core (remember I squished mine to make these scimitars thinner), but it would seem that it is more rigid. Either way, I am pleased with the result.

[vengervoldur-blog]

Christmas 2016 Project: Blueprints and Resource Planning

So here’s the deal; I want to make some swords out of foam for me and my friends to whack each other with (LARP style). I have until Christmas to get it done. There are six I have to make.

Did I bite off more than I can chew? Most probably yes. What the heck, let’s try any way! I’ve been too relaxed of late; let’s do something stressful! :D

I won’t take the time to explain why I’m doing this in greater detail (as there are some small reasons that no one cares about). But the major reason for this project is because I wanna whack some one with a foam sword. It’s mostly harmless (no broken skin or bones at least) and generally fun. I figured if I, some mid twenty-somethings dude, want to whack some one with a foam sword surely kids ranging from 6 to 16 are going to want to as well, right? So why not make lots of swords? Then we can all whack each other making fond Christmas memories and bruises along the way. Huzzah!

Step the first? BLUEPRINTING!

I’ve been doing quite a lot of this of late. Partly because Inkscape is free and easy. But also because I actually enjoy doing. Plus, as far as my Financial Overseer is concerned, it shows dedication (to some degree) to a project, and therefore causes them to be more likely to fund my projects.

As I’ve said, I’ve six of these swords to make (plus a seventh for my self if there’s time). Obviously I chose to make them based off Runescape. So I hit the wiki trying to figure out what swords exactly I would make. I decided on the scimitars, both for shape and low difficultly to assemble. (Foam is a quick and easy material to work with but one I am mostly inexperienced with. Simpler builds were a more reasonable approach.) I chose to make the Dragon, Adamant, Mithril, Steel, Iron and Bronze scimitars to make, as I liked the way these looked. I may make either the White scimitar or the Sword of Edicts one-handed weapon override skin for myself, depending on how much time I have left (if I have any time left over). With this decision made, I began blueprinting the swords. The image below is the result of that endeavor (which-took-a-really-long-time-of-many-many-hours-because-I’m-a-noob-at-using-Inkscape-and-mandatorily-screwed-up-a-bunch-before-I-finally-got-a-result-I-was-happy-with). *inhales*

The age of the people I am making these foam swords fro vary from 16 to 6, and proceed in scale from left to right in that fashion. The have been scaled to accurate final dimension. I based the blade lengths off of their strong arm’s length, from arm pit to end of their middle finger. The Dragon Scimmy has a blade length of 26 1/2″ and the Bronze scimmy on the far right has a blade length of 16 1/2″. Handle length and diameter also varies in accordance with hand sizes. I intend to use a stick of 3/4″ PVC for the Dragon, Addy, Mith, and Steel scimitar, and 1/2″ PVC for the Iron and Bronze ones. All of these scimitars will be made with 3-5 layers of 1/4″ L400 EVA foam, as purchased from http://tntcosplaysupply.com/index.html

(Seriously guys, if you are a cosplayer or prop maker looking to go to the next Runefest in style, definitely hit these people up for foam to make your props and costumes from.)

I did a LOT of math trying to figure out who was cheaper to buy from, and TNT Cosplay Supply came out on top with a very reasonable and competitive price. Plus, their foam is said to be the best in quality (as in no unwanted or random air bubbles to mare the surface). I’ll be checking this out for myself hopefully in about a week when my order ships to me.

Speaking of ordering foam, one of the things I had to research was how much I would need. This was difficult for several reason, and also required much mathing. Basically, I had to mentally build each scimitar in my head and, in coordination with my blueprint, translate this into a mess of line work that would tell me how much foam I needed. I decided to make each scimitar in layers, with the PVC core support/handle sandwiched in the middle. With in mind, said mess of line work was worked out. Shown below is the result:

*Don’t be upset if the above picture makes little-to-no-sense to you. It isn’t supposed to, necessarily. Instead, it’s to show the progress and method I took to figure out my resource needs.*

Each rectangle represents a 24″ x 60″ area. This 2′ x 5′ area is determined by TNT Cosplay Supply’s standard-sized rolls of foam. By setting a canvas size to this dimension, I was able to break down and position all of my parts accordingly to tell me how much foam I need. (Remember, I am building these scimitars in layers, so I had to duplicate the blade silhouette to account for this). This is 100% of all the broken down parts; a lot of the pommels are excluded. But I know I will have enough scrap to make it work. And as you can clearly see, I need 2 rolls of 24″ x 60″ 1/4″ thick foam*.

*Figuring this information out was critical to my budgeting needs as it was possible to actually spend less through one suppler or another, mainly because of shipping, if I needed more foam that shown. Needless to say, I have done much mathing these last few days. Thankfully I finally have a concrete answer!

The next step is to order foam. I’ll update my progress as it happens.

For more information on how to make blueprints, I highly recommend you go check out Punished Props over on Youtube or on his website. He is a professional prop and costume maker who has addressed the blueprinting topic many times, and even has a $5 tutorial completely covering the free program Inkscape, which he uses to make his blueprints.

[vengervoldur-blog]

Tirannwn Quiver: Update

One aspect to this build that I was uncertain about making was the two blue gems on the quiver. I knew of a way to do it, but it was expensive to me, and a method I’d not employed before. So, rather than dish out the dough in a potential failure, I got ingenuitive instead, as my crafting usually tends to be. Rather than resin cast the gems, I opted to make them from 1/2″ plate acrylic (a free resource from a past construction job).

Originally I had started on the gems in the mindset of casting from a resin. I have some, but I wasn’t too sure if it was the correct type. Not having access to molding clay or silicone rubber, two staples when casting anything from resin, I had hoped to vacuum form some HDPE plastic by cutting up, melting down then reforming milk jugs. This turned out to be a failure. Basically I need an extruder (think a pasta maker jig, just without the blades to cut the dough into noodles) to form the plastic into sheets. Had I succeeded however, I would have then warmed the plastic and vacuum formed it around a wooden master of the gems. This plastic mold would then accept resin tinted blue, and Bob’s your uncle, two resin cast gems!

Given as I did fail, I took time to reform my plans. Eventually I came up with the acrylic idea. Some testing with super glue proved that I could sufficiently adhere the acrylic to itself, and a bit of paint taught me that I didn’t have to dye it with acetone and blue dye, but instead paint only the back side. Several minutes on the disc/belt sander and I had a prototype that I was happy with. Below are the results, and the gems I will be using on the quiver.

Point of note: these gems only have blue paint on the flat back side. The curved front side was formed with a rough 80 grit pad on the belt/disc sander. Then it was down to hand sanding with 120 grit to get a smoother shape closer to the end result. I then wet sanded them at 320 to 1k grit bringing them up to polish. I then clear coated them with 3 coats of Rustoleum’s Specialty Lacquer, high gloss.

If you hold the gems just rights, yes, you can see through the clear acrylic, however, it is a very difficult to do this; the blue is reflected inside very well. For all practical purpose, the results are just as good as if I had dyed the acrylic blue.

^^^ A top-down view showing dimension. Units are inches.

^^^ A flattering beauty shot under full sunlight. I am really pleased with how these turned out.

Despite my happiness with the end result, it was not a perfect success. The smaller gem is lesser than 1/2″ thick and was made from a single thickness of acrylic sheet. The larger one, however, was something like 3/4″. Because of this, I had to laminate two sheets of acrylic together. Super glue worked beautifully here. First, I roughed up the two surfaces to be glued together with some 120 grit paper. This caused the acrylic to become opaque. After ensuring a clean  and dust-free surfaces, I applied a generous amount of super glue on one piece, I rubbed both pieces together (to work out any air bubbles and evenly distribute the glue across the surface), clapped them lightly so as to not squish out all the glue then let them dry. After the glue dried, the previously roughed-up surfaces were perfectly transparent.

In the below WIP pic, you can see that something a seam was visible during the shaping process. I was a tad concerned about this showing up in the end result. However, I was pleasantly surprised with it pretty much disappeared during the higher grits of sanding. I guess the acrylic dust filled the slight gap (barely thick enough for a fingernail to snag). Whatever the cause, I had no issues in the end.

^^^ I was unable to get good pics showing this, but I didn’t work all the air bubbles out from between the two acrylic sheets when I glued them. That’s what those white glittering bits are at the top of the larger gem there. Additionally, one of the acrylic sheets had imperfections in it that only showed up after the gloss coat was painted on. All-in-all this means that the gem isn’t flawless. However, given as it doesn’t significantly impact the look of the gem, and as it doesn’t affect function at all, I kinda like the imperfections.

So I have the gems. I have the pattern pieces to make the quiver. All I have to do now is soften the leather, and I can begin assembly. I suppose i should stop dragging my feet and get on with it, huh?

[vengervoldur-blog]

[stuff] Update

Have you noticed how I’m becoming more free form with this title names? No effort can be spared.

There was no update on the 4th wek of last month like there normally is because I didn’t have worthy progress to write an update about. Technically I wish I had more progress to show, but it’s been a while (two weeks-ish) since I posted any thing here, and felt obliged to do so, regardless of what I’ve accomplished. To that end, this is mish-mash of project updates.

The Quiver:

In the update video I did, I stated that leather work was the next step. I was wrong. Patterning work was. I have finished most of it, but there are a few fiddly bits left to tweak. The image shown is what I;ve got done so far. It won’t look like a lot, as patterns tend to do. It’ll be more impressive later on, I promise/hope.

^ There are two blue gems on the quiver. I’ve never resin cast before, but that’s what those two wooden tear drop-esque shaped things are needed for. They are the bucks that a mold will be made around, and then a resin gem cast from. I tried doing a “poor man’s mold” with silicone caulk. It didn’t work out unfortunately, so I’ll have to get creative some other way as buying proper molding silicone isn’t an option.

The paper bits are pattern pieces for the quiver. The style of accent on this quiver seems a bit random; like paisley print and elfish style combined. Either way, it took a lot more time and effort to finalize than I imagined such a step ever would. The function and placement of each pattern piece will become more apparent as the project continues.

The Pernix Cross stitch:

I’ve been irregularly chipping away at this thing. I’ve not been as productive on it as I should have been* (*as per my initial calculations when I began the project), but I’m not too fussed about it. It may take longer to complete, but meh, who cares. I’m enjoying myself with it, and I know it will be finished eventually.

^ It still looks like a bad bruise, but now it has edge definition and some defining color. Kind of.

My camera takes huge pictures. Ordinarily I cut them down to a quarter of their original size. I chose to leave this one full size for effect and scope of detail. (Right click: View Image to see it in full resolution in a separate window.) Note that the cross stitch looks a bit ragged and rough (like a pixelated image or game would). This will be less noticeable when it is completed. Cross stitches are generally wall hangings, and therefore best viewed at a distance where the colors blur together.

Note: I took this image under natural light when the sun obscured behind light overcast. The result is clean bright light without glare or overexposure. I REALLY like how it turned out, and on the first shot as well. The last pic I took of this thing took two or three 60 watt flood lamps on a harsh white background, and even then it was kinda “meh” in quality.

A short (but hopefully sweet) update. Life has been keeping me busy as it should for this time of year, so my personal projects get the partial attention that hobbies tend to do. I don’t mind though. I tend to prefer it this way, actually. While I enjoy my work, I am most inspired and driven to work on projects when I am kept from them.

Considering I’m working on two big projects at the moment, I may take on a third much smaller one. I found a perfectly split and curved hog tooth in the woods one afternoon (while I was on a walk) and think I’ll turn it into the Split Dragontooth necklace. Making the band is easy enough, but Runescape tends to have very jagged reference material to work with, so coming up with beads (or whatever they are) for the rest of the necklace will be more of a challenge. We’ll see though.

[vengervoldur-blog]

This custom Sliske cross-stitch patch was a project I did for an old clanmate (her Tumblr page: http://mahjarrati.tumblr.com/ ) for Runefest ‘15. This was one of my first forays into cross stitch, and take me some 3 months to complete, despite the extremely simplistic nature of the design. I don’t recall the measurements for this patch; go bug her if you really wanna know ;). I was quite pleased with the end result though. This also being one of my first commission pieces, I was dead scared of something bad happening to it, so I heat sealed it inside a plastic bag (usually reserved for vacuum sealing food in).

The written note gives my thanks for her business and explains that the patch was made to be an ironed on, thanks to a heat sensitive backing.

(I apologize for the potato quality photos, but this was before I had my good camera.)

[vengervoldur-blog]

This Lapis Lazuli Brooch was a quick “build” I knocked out last year as a Mother’s Day gift for my mom: hand-carved from red oak, inset with a blue glass stone and string with natural wood beads on a corrosion resistant nylon cord, and soaked in linseed oil as a finish. The brooch itself measure 2 5/8″ L x 1 3/8 W.

[vengervoldur-blog]

I diverge from my usual text-based format and provide this week’s update in video format.

Because I can.

Caution: Contains one wet kitty.

[vengervoldur-blog]

Project Update: Tirannwn Quiver

Sadly, no pictures this week, but I do have (personally) exciting news. As you’ll know from last week’s post, I was having a hard time figuring out the rounded bottom cap to this quiver; specifically on how to pattern around it. I made another couple attempts at this in the following days, but never met any success. Then, last night as I lay in bed waiting to fall asleep, it hit me: just make it out of wood!

Typically, quivers have a stop block in them. It can be wood, but is usually foam or a combination thereof. The reasoning of this is to provide a padded, though rigid surface for sharp arrow heads to rest against, and not cut through the relatively soft leather. In my case, I had decided several days ago that I would use the rounded wooden block I had attached to the PVC form as the tail end of the quiver. But last night it hit me that I don’t have to wrap this part in leather. Or at least, I don’t have to wrap it in the same piece of leather as the main body of the quiver.

Morale at the end of the story: I have overcome my build’s road block and can once again make progress on it. I have no pics to show because I’ve made no progress since the previous update. However, that will change come this weekend. :D

[vengervoldur-blog]

The Tirannwn Quiver Project

Not going to lie, I should have written this update yesterday. But I forgot to. In consolation though, I was playing Runescape (which is what caused me to forget), and as a result, I can now make basic Overload potions. Yay me!

You may have noticed a different title on this post then what I was normally going with in the past; and there is a reason for this. You see, I have discovered that the project-a-month plan was ambitious and stressful. One of the primary reasons I did it was to keep my self motivated, but also to stick to a schedule. I don’t keep self appointed schedules quite like I want to, but there is no reason for me to impose motivation on myself; I am a naturally creative person. I will continue to do so just as I will continue to breath. To force my self to be consistently creative was self destructive. As such, I am lifting my project-a-month initiative and instead working at a more casual and comfortable pace. I will, however, continue to deliver weekly (or as there is significant progress to show) updates, so no worries there. Projects will take as long as they need for completion regardless of time (a very convenient aspect of being a hobbiest prop maker instead of a professional one).

As I announced at the end of last month, and as this post’s title clearly states, my next build will be the Tirannwn Quiver, specifically tier 4. To this end I have spent all of last month working at a casual pace trying to blueprint this build. I have had some success in this regard, however, I gotta say it’s kicking my butt. Lemme give you some pics to visualize my difficulties and progress so far. Hopefully one of you people can give me some insight.

Concept art of the Tiranwnn quiver:

Source: http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Tirannwn_quiver_4

First off, here is the form I will wrap the quiver around, and the leather I intend to use:

I have the privilege of being especially proud of this build because I was the one who tanned that leather. (Making leather is another hobby of mine.) Admittedly the quality of the leather isn’t perfect, but it is perfectly usable. Fun fact, the basis for this build came from my grief at continually storing but not using this piece of leather. I figured the best way to store it would be to turn it into a thing that I could use... like a quiver (because I also practice archery).

The form you see on top of the leather is made from 4″ PVC tubing that I heat formed. The top portion is roughly tear drop shaped (see pics below), the bottom is round and is plugged with a wooden dome that I shaped with a chop saw (to get the rough geometric shape I wanted) than sanded smooth on a belt sander with a 60 grit belt. It was painted black because it will be getting wet later on during the build, and I don’t want the wood swelling any. The wooden dome serves both as a part of the form, but also as an integral part of the final build. This will make more sense later on during the build, as well.

This is the top end of the quiver, where the fletchings will stick out from. The bottom, though blurry, you can make out as round, with the wooden plug. The cut you see on the right is, in fact, a cut. Way to go, very observant you! :D Actually, there is a lot going on with the form. I began with a 4″ PVC tube at ~2 ft long, did a bit of math to figure how to taper a 4″ tube to a 3″, removed material as needed (which is the cut you see on the right), then heat formed it to where one end, the one in the foreground, was roughly tear drop shaped, and the other end was round. (I just want to say this was complicated and difficult (for me) and took a few tries. This is to say I am awesome, but usually after the second or third attempt.)

From here I worked on the quiver blueprint itself. This part was sort of straight forward and little more than trial and error sketching.

I have a large roll of heavy weight card stock that I made these blueprint from. I actually made two, each with the primary seam on opposing sides of the quiver. The reasoning behind the two different seam places comes from trying to find the right way to cut darts into my test medium (1/16″ upholstery foam) to get the flat material to wrap around the domed bottom portion of the quiver. I think having the seam on one side versus the other will be important, but I’m having rather a beastly time with getting the bottom portion to work out correctly. More on this in a bit.

I transferred the card stock blueprint onto some 1/16″ upholstery foam (cuz I have a huge roll of it to waste/use and it behaves much like leather does). Here the blueprint was refined to get the circumference nailed (because my math is always a bit off on these things).

A close up of the decorative top edge of the quiver. I’m really happy with how this came out; it matches the concept art closely.

The part I’m not happy with, and am stuck on, is the bottom portion. Transitioning from a round tube to a pinched flat bit is kicking my butt.

It was sort of expected, but trying to wrap something flat around something round results in the disfiguring highlighted in the above photo. To compensate, darts need to be cut into the pattern to account for excess material, allowing for an intended fit. What you see above is a side view of the quiver, and how the (paper) pattern folds. (I opted back to paper due to feeling guilty at having already made 4 iterations of this pattern, each with their own errors and failure to solve this dilemma. The upholstery foam was free, and has had no need of use up until now, but that’s no excuse to waste it while I trial and error my way through this. On the other hand, paper is cheap enough that I don’t mind so much.)

Here is a front (or back, it doesn’t matter, the plane is the same) view, with the blue line representing the general idea of conformation I am looking for. The leather will wrap around the wooden dome, but come together in a 2D edge.

Here I’ve got a scrap piece cut to the general intended end result. The purpose of this is to figure out the dimension of the 2D end bit. This isn’t perfect, but close enough to demonstrate what I’m going for.

I’ve a few ideas left, and ideas from those ideas still being generated, so I’m not at solid-brick-wall stuck, yet, but feeling close to it. Honestly, I had hoped to have the blueprinting already done by now, thereby leaving this month open to only assembly and painting. However, this one piece here at the tail end of the quiver has thoroughly wrecked that plan. I’ll continue to slog away at it; hopefully i come upon a miraculous break through.

If you think you have advice or knowledge to help me figure the tail end piece out (such as how and where to place darts) please offer them.

[vengervoldur-blog]

06052016204903: Update

So I’ve been putting this blog update off cuz I wasn’t sure what my next move was going to be. I know what I want to do, then there is what I feel like doing. In short, they were conflicted. So, here’s the plan. Imma take the month of June off. After that, tho, I’m coming back to make the Tiranwnn Quiver, tier 4. K? Cool beans. See you in July.

[runescape]

The Seren Bow, one of the rewards from the Solo Boss, coming this June!

Who’s hyped?

[vengervoldur-blog]

Just looking at this, my brain is already in overdrive on how I’d make one, and if I could pull it off as a functional prop or not. Hmm, maybe.... maybe.

[vengervoldur-blog]

The Rings of Runescape Project: Supplementary

I’m a tad later with this update than I had hoped, but my “noobiness” at painting means my estimations for completion are off. But yeah, they’re done! Woot! Im rather please with the end result (which is always important).

To any one familiar with the Warrior’s Ring in RS3, you’ll note how it looks decidedly different.  I chose to go with the 07 Scape rune scimmy model instead as I felt it was was reminiscent of Runecape; so I stuck with it.

I like the basic, simple painting in this piece. In fact, this carries over to all of Runescape’s graphical palette; the simple and vibrant colors is one of the reasons I prefer the game over other MMORPGs, and as a self-proclaimed noob at painting, it is remarkably easier to pull off. (Or at least, it is in my head. While artificial weather can really make a piece pop and give it great depth, it is these two very aspects that make it seem intimidating and difficult to me. The simple, vibrant painting style I am doing now is helping to build my confidence to the point where I can seemingly do a worse job and do some weathering.)

Haz a pik-chore:

[vengervoldur-blog]

The Rings of Runescape

In clockwise order, starting in the lower left: the Berserker Ring, Archer’s Ring, Warrior’s Ring, and Seer’s Ring.

The ring were made from hog bone, the adornments made from hand -carved antler. Held in place with good ol’ super glue and painted with Folkart acrylic paints, and rattle-can gold and chrome (for the rings). Finished with two coats of Rustoleum high gloss rattle-can lacquer.

The Warrior’s Ring was fashioned after the ‘07 ‘Scape Rune scimitar, which is divergent from the RS3 Warrior Ring model. I felt the ‘07 ‘Scape scimmy was more iconic to Runescape.

*Note: Some natural blemishes are present in these pieces owing to the organic nature of bone and antler.

[verdandasrsblog]

I need to stop working on this so I’m just gonna post and go pass out

[runescape]

Awesome art, @verdandasrsblog!

[vengervoldur-blog]

Hmm, that axe looks familiar.

...

Oh yeah! That’s cuz I made it irl.

I dig the art style. Great job.

[vengervoldur-blog]

May 2014: Project Update; week 4

I was gonna do a big long write up on the ring making process; converting the raw bone into something that didn’t suck. But then 2130 rolled around, and it’s a Saturday night and I want to play some Skyrim. I finished the game too quickly last time (because 200 hours is too short?) and want to refresh on the story again. Therefore, a long blog entry meant effort, so you get the creme de le creme up front, no psycho babble to prelude. You can thank me in any form of your choosing (including that-long-distance-mental-hug-wiccan-stuff-to-which-I-have-forgotten-the-name-too, if that’s your jam). Or, if you wanted the long-winded explanation in a sort of build-up to an awesome finishing image, then feel free to curse me at your leisure. No doubt sleeping on it will help stimulate your more vindictive side. After all, like our good mother’s taught us, “If you are going to do anything at all, do it right; so take a nap first.”

I have all the rings made, all I need to do is paint ‘em. Have some pics!

^ I wasn’t as wasteless as I normally try to be, but nevertheless, I have succeeded in reproducing the Berserker Ring, Explorer’s Ring 4, Archer’s Ring, Warrior’s Ring (modeled after the OSRS scimitar icon) and Seer’s Ring. A bit of super glue and bone dust (created when cutting, grinding and sanding the various fragments) was used to fill any imperfections. All that’s left now is a lick of paint and the photo shoot.

^ I hope for a better lighting rig at some point, but all I have now is a standard lamp w/ bulb, hence the very yellow color of the rings in this shot. In reality, they are actually a very neutral beige color. In any case, here’s a top-down view to help show scale. Each grid is 1/4″. (Ya’ll metric users will have to do your own conversions. Like I said above, it’s a Saturday night; effort; Skyrim. I’m sure you understand.)

P.S.: I feel like the hyphen got a workout in this blog post. I should clean my room.

[vengervoldur-blog]

May 2016: Project Update; week 3

Progress is only possible if there is a want for it. (I don’t intend to be deep, but rather share a personal revelation.)

Despite that ominous opening line, progress was nevertheless made. It’s more the fact that while I am capable of doing something awesome, I had to find the want to be so, in addition to finding the appropriate time as well.

Lemme show ya what I got done this week.

^ From this, to that. Each ring starts off as raw bone and antler. Rigorous selection is applied to get suitable pieces to make a ring from. From a raw material, the bone or antler is cut to shape. In the particular case of antler, as shown here, solid portions must be derived from the unsuitable pithy/porous inner core that antler has. Once a raw chunk is at hand, it is grounded into a geometric shape, to make it easier for me to transfer the intended design. From there, it is a matter of careful Dremel work to get it into a rough shape, shown here. From there is it finely shaped and buffed to a decent finish to better accept paint.

^ Despite best efforts, the pithy/porous inner core of the antler was nevertheless exposed. While inconvenient, it was by no means a deal breaker. More on this in a bit.

^ After a bit of detail work, the ring (made from bone) and the arrow (made of antler) are ready to be pieced together. Some minor buffing work (done with fingernail files) is still required at this stage.

^ In principle, the joinery of these rings is quite shaky. If not for the organic nature of bone and antler, and super glue’s excellent bonding capability on these medium, there would be little hope of a solid two-piece build, as I’m doing here. (The alternative being a one-piece ring, a feat of carving, while not beyond me, is far more time consuming and skillful.) In this image is shown the preliminary steps before bonding. A slight divot helps seat the arrow to the ring. The idea being to increase the surface area between the tho parts (ring and arrow), just as it is with such wood working joinery as the mortise and tenon.

^ This shows how I filled in the exposed porous core of antler. Ordinarily I try to avoid this situation, but there is a solution to it. Taking bone or antler dust with super glue, a paste is made that fills the little holes in which can be sanded flush. I started by laying down a thin layer of super glue over the porous side, then dust the bone dust over the glue, pressing this paste into the little holes. More super glue is lightly coated over the dust and the whole mess left to dry. Once dry it is sanded flush. And ta-da! it is ready for paint.

^ Super glue was put into the notches seen above, and the arrow rested into place, checking to make sure both are aligned properly. Then it is left to cure.

This one started off kinda rough, but I really like how it turned out. It is still in its raw form in this image, awaiting paint. But even like this I really like it.

^ Two down, two to go. The Berserker Ring is quite thick and bulky, an unintentional but aptly suited characteristic, while the Archer’s Ring is much thinner, slimmer and sleek. So far so good. :D

[vengervoldur-blog]

May 2016 Project: Update; week 2

So this is an interesting post. I have both nothing, and a lot to show for my last week.

This is a blog, so first, all the words.

I swear, I make anticipations only to not fulfill them. First I said I’d use antler. Then I said, no, I’ll use bone. Then I was like nah, I’ll do something entirely different instead. In the end though, I used both antler and bone. Meh.

Basically, the ring portion I made from bone, because that’s what worked best. Then I found that the base of antler, where it attaches to the skull, is completely solid (i.e.: no pithy core). So I used this for the hammer portion. A couple of hours on the disc/belt sander and dremel tool and hey presto! A thing!

These are the only photos have to show. I find it ironic as it shows such great progress, but I have no progress pics to show how I got to this point. Turns out, it was such a fast project, I didn’t have much time to plan out strategic photos in the creation process. The ring blank that the Berserker ring sits on will be the Archer’s Ring. When I make that one, I’ll turn on the camera (maybe) and record some dremel work on it.

Another lesson learned was to wait to assembly the two parts (the ring and the hammer) AFTER its painted. As it is now, getting paint in between the handle bit of the hammer and the ring is gonna be pretty tricky.

Two grooves were cut into the ring to better except the hammer, which was glued in place with super glue. Assuming one doesn’t purposefully knock the hammer portion against a table edge while the ring is worn, I see no way normal wear and tear would detach the ring and hammer; that super glue bond is for realz, yo.

(The discolored bit on the hammer is from a slight flaw in the antler. It wasn’t prudent to grind it out completely, which would have made the hammer head too small, so instead I filled it with antler dust and superglue, which made a perfect filler.)

So yeah. I have an unpainted Berserker Ring made of bone and antler. It fits well on my finger, but is quite gaudy and obtrusive. But ya know what? I don’t care. I flippin’ love it! Now to go make the Archer’s Ring!