Friday, July 31, 2015

The Griffin

Artist James Doyle brings us this unusual interpretation of a traditional griffin...with teeny, tiny little chicken wings.  His sculpt has some amazing anatomical detail.






Thursday, July 30, 2015

Begin Again

Ryce Kaeks brings us a collection of posters from "Fallout: New Vegas", including some detailed recreations of the signage at the infamous Sierra Madre casino.




Wednesday, July 29, 2015

The Eye of Horus

Jan Geisen brings us this Eye of Horus collar sculpted from polymer clay and finished with patina wax.


Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Making Eyes

Pearl Blay brings us these creature eyes made from painted glass cabochons, created using the techniques in this video tutorial from artist Aniko Kolesnikova. These would be perfect for preserved specimens.


Monday, July 27, 2015

Making Antlers

Jolien-Rosanne brings us a detailed tutorial on creating antlers using expanding spray foam.  Just the thing if you're planning to join the Wild Hunt, or embrace the Wendigo from "Hannibal".



Sunday, July 26, 2015

Mandragora

Jacob Petersson brings us this mandrake root collected in the traditional style.  A powerful magical ingredient, mandrake root has been used for rituals both light and dark for millenia.  Mr. Petersson has been kind enough to document his experiences obtaining this rarity.



Saturday, July 25, 2015

The Rah'Yerán

Artist Rudy Grossman brings us the Rah'Yerán, his entry in a creature design contest at the Stan Winston school. The translucent spines and teeth are a nice touch.




Friday, July 24, 2015

Tillinghast Field Warning Sign

I'm getting some stickers of this made up, but if you can't wait feel free to print out your own.  Just right click and "Open Link in New Tab", download the 2" by 2" graphic, and print on sticker paper.  It's not only a Mythos prop, but a "Call of Duty" prop as well!


Fallout Recharger Rifle

Ratchet from the Replica Prop Forum brings this recreation of the Recharger Rifle from "Fallout:New Vegas".   The game model is a wonderfully stylized, deco-influenced design.  His writeup of crafting the prop version includes some nice work-in-progress shots.




Thursday, July 23, 2015

Aquatic Alien

This aquatic alien is the end product of a long development.  Juliette Savannah Skye shares the entire process on her website, from the initial concept sketches to the final casting.  The piece is cast in translucent silicone and the arteries and veins are teased out threads embedded in the rubber.





Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Fournier Edition.

This well done Cthulhu figure comes to us from Stephane Fournier.  The full sized picture gives you a better look at the excellent texture work.


Tuesday, July 21, 2015

It Bites

Greek artist Aris Kolokontes brings us this gorgeous alien specimen.  The paint job is outsanding.


Monday, July 20, 2015

The Hunter

The talented Jason Soles returns to our pages with his Hunter's Mask.  Browse his gallery for more examples of his work, including some stunning bronze pieces.


Sunday, July 19, 2015

The Adventures of Professor Victor Champion

I've been surprised to discover there's quite a bit of overlap between 1/6th scale action figure collectors and the Mythos community. Terry Dyer's custom William Dyer from "At the Mountains of Madness" was the first action figure I featured here, but it definitely won't be the last.

Miskatonic Nick demonstrates the amazing level of detail possible in action scale with his "Adventures of Professor Victor Champion". It's filled with pulpy goodness, including an expedition to Egypt that uncovers a disquieting artifact.







Saturday, July 18, 2015

Try, Try Again

Don Presley Auctions of Santa Ana, California is offering up this vampire killing kit, valued at $8000-$12,000, in an upcoming auction.  Curiously, it appears to be the exact same one they were offering last year.  To their considerable credit, no claims of provenance or authenticity are attached to the offering.




I'm definitely not an expert on vintage firearms, but I'm curious why percussion caps would be included for use with a flintlock pistol.


Just look at that beautiful, dark ink.  It looks like it was printed just yesterday.



Ah, the infamous "Blomberg" text.  In beautiful, fully saturated ink.  Just look at those wonderful fonts!  They must have taken a professional printer quite a bit of time to set by hand, although I'm surprised he didn't catch the missing "c" in "effiently".  The mold (?) patterns seem a bit strange as well.  What's really weird is that the colors almost exactly match what it would look like if someone sponged the page with raw umber and burnt umber pigments.  Odd, that.

As a reminder, this is valued at $8000 to $12,000.  With a minimum bid of $4500.


Friday, July 17, 2015

The Wastelander

Gameranx has a nice feature on the "Fallout" replicas of propmaker David Broido.  He's produced an amazing number of items, from plasma and laser rifles to the distinctive belts worn by Vault inhabitants.  Just click through for all that and more, including a unique take on ghoul cosplay.




Thursday, July 16, 2015

Steampunk Stasis Tube

Steampunk- Art brings us this nicely done retro-futuristic stasis tube.  It's the sixth piece in their Steampunk Alchemy Project.




Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Arkham Apothecary Label

I've been fiddling around with trying to reproduce the look of vintage printing.  I think I have the edge wear down, but the stippling caused by spotty ink application still needs a little work. 

This apothecary label is based on one of the businesses established in Chaosium's version of Arkham.  Paste your prescription or substance identification into the upper half, print, trim to size, and apply to your bottle or packet.   Right click and hit "Open Link in New Tab" to download the full sized version.


Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The Great Wall

The gifted J.W. Kinsey brings us this impressive steampunk set-piece.  It's made from MDF, plaster, and a whole lot of talent.  Browse the rest of the page for some equally cool projects, including a range hood (!) inspired by "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".





Monday, July 13, 2015

The Claw

Professional gaff artist Takeshi Yamada brings us this giant prehistoric crab claw.  The piece measures just under 18" across.  I'd love to see the reactions when people discover this thing washed up on a beach.


Sunday, July 12, 2015

Arkham Library Bookmark

A handy bookmark from the Arkham Public Library, circa 1926.  Just the thing to hold your place when you're perusing a forbidden tome.  The first version is clean, the second has edge wear and color mottling appropriate for a period printed item. Just right click and "Open Link in New Tab" to download the full-sized versions, print on cardstock, and trim to size.



Saturday, July 11, 2015

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Centipede Edition.

Copper Centipede returns to our pages with a new Cthulhu idol


Friday, July 10, 2015

Fiat Lux

FantasyForgeLarp brings us Prometheus, a combat safe LARP weapon crafted from soft foam.  More impressively, they've figured out how to make the weapon glow with internal LED lighting.  Browse the rest of their gallery and you'll see more examples of their very cool magic weapons.





Thursday, July 9, 2015

Wardrobe for the Wasteland

Dimitri Zaitsev is an incredibly talented costumer who specializes in creating distinctive post-apocalyptic outfits.  Given the upcoming release of "Fallout 4" I expect we're going to see an explosion in wasteland cosplay, and it's hard to go wrong using Mr. Zaitsev as inspiration.



What makes him even more notable is his willingness to share all of his techniques.  His YouTube channel is filled with demonstrations of color design, texture layering, extreme cloth distressing, grunging, and more.  His how-to's will give even a beginning costumer a head start on producing some great work.





Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Implements of Destruction

The Caretaker of the Highbury Cemetery blog brings us these prop weapons featured at last month's Midwest Haunter's Convention.  I can't find who the manufacturer is, but they're fantastic pieces.  It would be an honor to be stabbed or chopped by such masterfully crafted implements of destruction.



Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Holy Relic

Philip Obermarck brings us the Finger of Saint Dymphna, a recreation of a traditional European holy relic.  The weathering on the wooden box is excellent.


Monday, July 6, 2015

Scales of the Luck Dragon

Marika Schirmacher brings us this necklace made from the scales of Falcor, the Luck Dragon.  I really like the sculptural form she's using for the scales.  That said, unless they were naturally shed I have to question their suitability as a talisman of good fortune.


Sunday, July 5, 2015

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Kirkby Edition.

I finally had some time to take a few shots of my bronze-finish Cthulhu idol from David Kirkby.  It's a beautiful piece and I couldn't be happier with it.

Frankly, pictures don't do it justice.  One of the things they don't convey is just how big it is.  Most of the idols in my collection range from 4" to 6" high, but this measures a hefty 8".  And when I say hefty, I mean it.  The solid resin casting is one of the heaviest pieces I own, quite capable of being used as a lethal weapon.*  Not to get all meta, but one of the pleasures of a physical prop like this is how it feels.  Mr. Kirkby's work not only has a reassuring mass, but a wonderfully smooth finish.  That's difficult to do in a sculpt this big without a lot of attention to the mold alignment during the resin pour.  The considerable mass of the piece also makes it feel cool to the touch, another small detail I really enjoy.

If  you're a collector I heartily recommend it.



* I find it somewhat disturbing that one of my go-to evaluations of a Cthulhu idol is it's suitability for lethal mayhem.