Mantecoza Steam Horse – Guest Blog by Diane Cook: Part II

Hello! In order to share this fine article with more people, I invited Diane Cook to re-post her experiences in modeling a steampunk style mechanical horse. Diane has generously agreed and offers these reflections. This is part 2:

Most of the horse was now spackled, but there were still more pieces to add. David was not convinced that this model would hold up and the spackle would eventually crack. I tested the main body for pliability by squeezing it slightly. Anywhere that seemed weak was reinforced with pieces of wet muslin coated with carpenters glue. Once that dried, it was covered again with a layer of more newspaper. By doing this, I was able to feather the new skin into the older one. A light layer of spackle was applied and later a thick latex primer.

  Read the rest of this entry »

Building the “Normally This Weird” Death Ray Weapon part 4

Here is the challenge: how to construct a detailed prop with virtually no budget. Well, there are some strategies for accomplishing such a task. 

If you have a lot of money, time and resources every part can be meticulously designed, rendered or blueprinted . You can take the designs and manufacture every item on your prop by hand or subcontract it out.  Or you can do as our little team did for the Death Ray prop built for “Normally This Weird,” the Sci FI web series. Read the rest of this entry »

Building the “Normally This Weird” Death Ray Weapon part 3

As I mentioned in my prior post, my friend Diane Cook introduced me to a fantastic, low cost craft material that we put to use in a number of ways on our death ray prop and on a put-it-together-quickly  “time machine.”

What is this material?

Read the rest of this entry »

Building the “Normally This Weird” Death Ray Weapon part 2

As I began working on the Death Ray weapon for the web series, “Normally This Weird” I quickly had a number of realizations. The most sobering was that this was not going to be as easy as I thought!

I had forgotten how important a well tooled and supplied workshop can be to efficient model and prop building! I had taken for granted the quality of the shop when I was at Cascade Pictures, or the one in my own studio. Unfortunately when I went to work on Star Trek and got immersed in the digital world, I let my tools go to others.  Now, what should have been straight forward tool cuts became laborious chew-it-out-with-my-teeth kind of endeavors.  Read the rest of this entry »

Building the “Normally This Weird” Death Ray

Sometime you just have to do a project because it is too cool to pass up and you just know it will be fun.  

While I am semi retired (I am not retired yet!) from the visual effects biz, I still get the bug once in a while to do “just one more project.”  My son, Nathan Stipes, has been the Art Director and de facto prop master on a web series called, “Normally This Weird.”   http://www.normallythisweird.com/      It is a creative, web-based series of episodes written and directed by Phoenix film maker, Nathan Blackwell.  

The series covers the strange adventures of a normal young couple who move into a neighborhood filled with some kinda’ unusual people. You have an eccentric inventor who is married to what may be an alien disguised as a 1950  ‘June Cleaver’ housewife.  There is the ‘Men in Black’ style FBI agent and his men constantly trying to expose the strange goings-on. And more! 

Read the rest of this entry »