Trauma update

Ok, I wanted to give a rundown of what I managed to get done today. Think I may be getting sick so I didnt get as much done as I had wanted. Anyway, lets get into it.

I decided the head of the mace itself is about 3"x6"x3". I set to cutting it out of expanded polystyrene with a sharp knife. Cutting foam neatly requires either a foam cutter (hot wire) or a very sharp knife. I ended up missing about 1/2" on the inside, so I cut strips of foamcore to size. I then set to gluing the whole thing together. I then pinned it together using regular sewing needles and set it to dry with a weight on top.


I had hoped to get more done today but I have to wait for the glue until later. I probably will try to get more done tomorrow. Also I plan to start uploading sketches to show the process of how I visualize a piece.

The next step on this piece will be to put a facing of foamcore over the faces of the mace to accomplish 2 things: to give it a bit more bulk, and to cover any lines from the foam. Expanded styrene is so nice to work with, but this shortcut has some practical applications. I can sink a hole into the styrene and mount the battery and needed electronics in it out of sight of someone looking at the piece.


Edit: (8:35pm)
Attached the facts and sunk the battery compartment into the foam. It will be hidden under the cap of the mace. I still need to get ref pics and some sketches scanned. I hope to get a reference collage together tonight at least.

Some minor updates and today's schedule

I added a flickr feed over there to the right, also I plan to add tags to ease looking through this thing.

My plans for today (at least as it relates to this blog and my projects) are to head out shopping for some sculpy clay, a pvc tub, some hardware, and possibly some wiring and leds for lighting this mace. The plan for today is to get the base of the mace done. The mace is trauma/lockjaw, the tier 10 healer mace. Below is a reference shot (pic lifted from wowhead).

My idea is to divide the mace into 3 pieces. The base, the haft, and the head. The head is then subdivided into the submace, mace, and skulls sections. The whole piece will be based off a piece of pvc pipe, seeing that I will be able to run wires through it. The base will be sculpted from Sculpy and have a lit resin gem in it. The haft will be wrapped in purple ribbon and have the details built up with clay and paper mache. The submace will again be sculpted. The mace itself will be a foam block covered in foamcore. There will be a little hole cut for the battery and electronics to go, this will be hidden by the top piece which I plan to attach with a screw or something. If I get a scanner together ill upload some sketches to show how I like to visualize things before I set into making them.

When I get my materials together, Ill post a quick rundown of all my tools and materials to give some ideas of what I work with.