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Friday, December 7, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Building a Better Bug Costume, Part 4: Paint!
After much cutting and shaping, I have a big ol' pile of bug-like, alien armor pieces, enough to cover several actors, regardless of size. Now the fun part - painting them.
The Right Paint for the Job
Spray paint is easy to obtain and easy to apply. The most important thing to consider when shopping for paint, besides what color you want, is what material you are applying it to. Choose a paint that is appropriately formulated, for example, you can buy paint that is made to go on metal, or plastic. You can also buy paint that can simulate the look of another material, or produce cool effects like a texture, or crackling. If you can afford it, it's worth experimenting with different kinds until you find the look you want.
In the bright sunlight it does look like metal, and if that's all I was going for, I would stop right there.
Coat #2 - Color
I used a dark green to tone down the metallic look, but still letting a bit of it seep through.
Coat #3 - Highlights
I lightly sprayed a bright fluorescent green on top just to highlight the details. Keep in mind, when using fluorescent paint that if there are any black lights around, in a dark room, it will stand out very loudly.
Other articles in these series:
Building a Better "Bug" Costume, Part 1: Inspiration
Building a Better Bug Costume, Part 2: Materials and Method
Building a Better Bug Costume, Part 3: Tools and Technique
The Right Paint for the Job
Spray paint is easy to obtain and easy to apply. The most important thing to consider when shopping for paint, besides what color you want, is what material you are applying it to. Choose a paint that is appropriately formulated, for example, you can buy paint that is made to go on metal, or plastic. You can also buy paint that can simulate the look of another material, or produce cool effects like a texture, or crackling. If you can afford it, it's worth experimenting with different kinds until you find the look you want.
I decided on getting several different shades of spray paint to do the job, rather than just using one color. You can create interesting effects by combining and layering colors. I'm going for an organic, alien look and feel.
 |
| Before painting |
Base coat
I used the Krylon Fusion for plastic, in a metallic (almost sparkly) black, for the base.
Coat #2 - Color
I used a dark green to tone down the metallic look, but still letting a bit of it seep through.
Coat #3 - Highlights
I lightly sprayed a bright fluorescent green on top just to highlight the details. Keep in mind, when using fluorescent paint that if there are any black lights around, in a dark room, it will stand out very loudly.
The three layers, combined, look almost iridescent.
And that concludes the series. The completed costumes will be revealed at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH, May 31 - June 3. Check out Interplanetary: the Sands of Mars for more details.
Other articles in these series:
Building a Better "Bug" Costume, Part 1: Inspiration
Building a Better Bug Costume, Part 2: Materials and Method
Building a Better Bug Costume, Part 3: Tools and Technique
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Building a Better Bug Costume, Part 3: Tools and Technique
...and we're back! In this part of the series, I will show you some of the tools and techniques that I am using to cut and shape foam rubber floor tiles into organic-looking, alien, bug-like armor pieces that will fit on a human form. The video tutorial that I referenced in Part 2 of this series provides an excellent introduction to this process, but I'm taking that idea a bit further.
Disclaimer: Before using any of these tools, please read the owner's manual and familiarize yourself with all safety precautions. I also recommend wearing protective eyewear, gloves, and clothing that you won't mind getting messed up. Also, work in a well-ventilated space.
Tools
The best tool for cutting this material is a hot knife, which you can find at a hardware store of under $10. If you have a soldering iron, you might be able to find an exacto-knife attachment for it, which would work just as well. I ended up spending a little bit more money (around $30) on a combo wood-burning/soldering toolkit that includes several attachments, including an exacto knife. My thinking was that not only would I use it for cutting, but I could also use some of the other tips to add different textures to the material. You can also find these kinds of tools at craft stores.
For shaping the pieces, I got a basic heat gun for around $15 at the hardware store. This is like a hair dryer on steroids. You want to be careful using this thing, because it can peel the paint off of walls.
I also finally got myself a Dremel rotary tool, and then wondered how I had gone so long without one. It is indeed a handy thing to have. For this project, one of the basic entry-level models will do, as long as it has a sanding or grinding tip. I got a 300 series, which comes with a bunch of attachments, for about $60. So far, I like the variable speed feature of this model. I spent a lot of time experimenting with different tips and speeds, and practicing on scrap pieces of foam until I got the hang of it. If you are not an experienced rotary tool user, then plan on putting in some practice time in with this tool until you are comfortable using it.
Cutting
Before I started cutting pieces out of the foam tiles, I drafted my patterns, and then traced them onto the material (See Part 2). I also placed a cutting mat on my work surface to protect it, and I wore protective gloves in case my hand slipped or something. I did not want bare skin to come in contact with the hot knife blade! Once the knife was preheated, it cut through the foam material like butter.
Sculpting
I also found the hot knife to be useful in shaping and adding some texture to the material. I used it to cut grooves into the material by holding it at a 45 degree angle and only cutting in about halfway deep, and then turning the piece around and mirroring that cut on the other side to form a groove, like so:
You just have to be careful not to cut all the way through the thickness of the material. I experimented with some of the other wood burning tips to get different textures, like, for example, I used a blunt tip to add little dimples or "pock marks" to the skin.
Shaping
After all the cutting is done, I used the heat gun to shape the flat pieces into curved shapes to go around body parts. As shown in the video tutorial referenced in Part 2, you can easily bend the material into a shape after heating it with the heat gun, and then hold it there until it cools, and it will retain the shape. Just be careful not to over-heat the material, or it will melt!
Smoothing
I want all the edges to be rounded off and organic-looking, and even a bit irregular, so I went over all the hard, cut edges of the foam with the rotary tool to smooth them out. This is where I spent most of time, but the longer you spend on this step, the better it will look.
So here is a batch of pieces after working on them for a couple of days.
Now they are ready for some paint! And that will be Part 4.
Other articles in these series:
Building a Better "Bug" Costume, Part 1: Inspiration
Building a Better Bug Costume, Part 2: Materials and Method
Disclaimer: Before using any of these tools, please read the owner's manual and familiarize yourself with all safety precautions. I also recommend wearing protective eyewear, gloves, and clothing that you won't mind getting messed up. Also, work in a well-ventilated space.
Tools
The best tool for cutting this material is a hot knife, which you can find at a hardware store of under $10. If you have a soldering iron, you might be able to find an exacto-knife attachment for it, which would work just as well. I ended up spending a little bit more money (around $30) on a combo wood-burning/soldering toolkit that includes several attachments, including an exacto knife. My thinking was that not only would I use it for cutting, but I could also use some of the other tips to add different textures to the material. You can also find these kinds of tools at craft stores.
For shaping the pieces, I got a basic heat gun for around $15 at the hardware store. This is like a hair dryer on steroids. You want to be careful using this thing, because it can peel the paint off of walls.
I also finally got myself a Dremel rotary tool, and then wondered how I had gone so long without one. It is indeed a handy thing to have. For this project, one of the basic entry-level models will do, as long as it has a sanding or grinding tip. I got a 300 series, which comes with a bunch of attachments, for about $60. So far, I like the variable speed feature of this model. I spent a lot of time experimenting with different tips and speeds, and practicing on scrap pieces of foam until I got the hang of it. If you are not an experienced rotary tool user, then plan on putting in some practice time in with this tool until you are comfortable using it.
Cutting
Before I started cutting pieces out of the foam tiles, I drafted my patterns, and then traced them onto the material (See Part 2). I also placed a cutting mat on my work surface to protect it, and I wore protective gloves in case my hand slipped or something. I did not want bare skin to come in contact with the hot knife blade! Once the knife was preheated, it cut through the foam material like butter.
Sculpting
I also found the hot knife to be useful in shaping and adding some texture to the material. I used it to cut grooves into the material by holding it at a 45 degree angle and only cutting in about halfway deep, and then turning the piece around and mirroring that cut on the other side to form a groove, like so:
You just have to be careful not to cut all the way through the thickness of the material. I experimented with some of the other wood burning tips to get different textures, like, for example, I used a blunt tip to add little dimples or "pock marks" to the skin.
Shaping
After all the cutting is done, I used the heat gun to shape the flat pieces into curved shapes to go around body parts. As shown in the video tutorial referenced in Part 2, you can easily bend the material into a shape after heating it with the heat gun, and then hold it there until it cools, and it will retain the shape. Just be careful not to over-heat the material, or it will melt!
Smoothing
I want all the edges to be rounded off and organic-looking, and even a bit irregular, so I went over all the hard, cut edges of the foam with the rotary tool to smooth them out. This is where I spent most of time, but the longer you spend on this step, the better it will look.
So here is a batch of pieces after working on them for a couple of days.
Now they are ready for some paint! And that will be Part 4.
Other articles in these series:
Building a Better "Bug" Costume, Part 1: Inspiration
Building a Better Bug Costume, Part 2: Materials and Method
Monday, March 12, 2012
Building a Better Bug Costume, Part 2: Materials and Method
Now that I have some idea of what I want my bug-alien-suit to look like, I need to determine what kind of materials to make it out of. My requirements are that it must be inexpensive, and must be adjustable to fit different-sized people.
Meet my assistant, Manny:
Manny is wearing a purchased black flight suit (about $40 from DarkThreads.com) - this is what I am using as the base for the costumes because it comes in a range of sizes, and I think it will be easy to work with.
My plan is to make a bug-like exoskeleton consisting of segmented pieces, and then attach them to the suits with velcro. I will sew strips of the loop side to the suits, and attach the hook side to the bug armor pieces.
Materials
As for what to make the armor out of, there are a lot of possible options, but I think that those interlocking foam floor tiles - the kind you can get at the home/hardware store - will be inexpensive and easy to work with. I found them at Big Lots for about $12 for a package of 4 - 2' square tiles.
Here is a great video tutorial by Indy Mogul on how to use those foam tiles to build futuristic armor:
I am going to take the same idea and apply it to my "bug exoskeleton."
Design
I promised sketches, but I realized something - I'm not that good at sketching. But that's not the only method you can use to create a new design. Being a seamstress, I usually start off by draping, so that's actually what I did to design my "bug-like alien" costume.
I draped a piece of muslin (scrap fabric) onto Manny and drew the shape of the chest piece. This is what I will use as the pattern to cut out the chest piece. If you don't have an assistant like mine, you can certainly employ a friend to help with this part.
You could also use poster board to create the pattern, or whatever method you prefer, but I highly recommend creating a pattern or using some sort of template first before you start cutting!! - which will be the topic of my next post.
Meet my assistant, Manny:
Manny is wearing a purchased black flight suit (about $40 from DarkThreads.com) - this is what I am using as the base for the costumes because it comes in a range of sizes, and I think it will be easy to work with.
My plan is to make a bug-like exoskeleton consisting of segmented pieces, and then attach them to the suits with velcro. I will sew strips of the loop side to the suits, and attach the hook side to the bug armor pieces.
Materials
As for what to make the armor out of, there are a lot of possible options, but I think that those interlocking foam floor tiles - the kind you can get at the home/hardware store - will be inexpensive and easy to work with. I found them at Big Lots for about $12 for a package of 4 - 2' square tiles.
Here is a great video tutorial by Indy Mogul on how to use those foam tiles to build futuristic armor:
I am going to take the same idea and apply it to my "bug exoskeleton."
Design
I promised sketches, but I realized something - I'm not that good at sketching. But that's not the only method you can use to create a new design. Being a seamstress, I usually start off by draping, so that's actually what I did to design my "bug-like alien" costume.
I draped a piece of muslin (scrap fabric) onto Manny and drew the shape of the chest piece. This is what I will use as the pattern to cut out the chest piece. If you don't have an assistant like mine, you can certainly employ a friend to help with this part.
You could also use poster board to create the pattern, or whatever method you prefer, but I highly recommend creating a pattern or using some sort of template first before you start cutting!! - which will be the topic of my next post.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Monstrous Hybrids: The Dhampir
Following is the Dhampir, a hybrid race of half-vampire creature that ties in with William T. Thrasher's article "Monstrous Hybrids" in d-Infinity Volume #3: Children of the Night. Creatures in that article include the Beast-Kin, Half-Ghoul, and the shape-shifting Vardoger (which also appears as bonus content on this site). Another sort of monstrous hybrid, the Half-Hag, appears exclusively on d-Infinity Online.
Dhampir
Dhampirs are half-undead beings, their births the result of vampiric perversion and seduction. For every dhampir sired by a seductive vampire count working his whiles upon a buxom village maiden, there is another conceived in the red horror of a rapacious vampire’s lust. Objects of embarrassment at best and outright hatred at worst, Dhampirs are perpetual outcasts within their families and communities, having little place among humans and less among the ranks of the undead.
___Physical Description: Dhampirs range in height, as do humans, although their slender builds tend to make them appear taller than then actually are. A Dhampir’s skin is pale, often ashen or alabaster. All Dhampirs possess at least one physical trait in common with their undead parent, such as pronounced canines, red-rimmed eyes, elongated yellow nails, or a suggestively bestial countenance. Despite their unusual appearance, dhampirs can easily pass for human.
___Society: Generally speaking, Dhampirs have no society of their own, typically living on the fringes or margins of the human society in which they were born. In the harsh and shadowed climes where vampires rule with absolute authority, entire villages of Dhampirs are rumored to exist. It is from these isolated communities that vampire lords frequently select favored lieutenants and enforcers.
___Relations: Dhampirs are regarded with a mixture of shame, pity, and fear by their human relatives. As the black ¬— or, in this case, pale — sheep of the family, Dhampirs have tumultuous relationships with their human parent and other immediate family members. However, where a dhampir can expect derision from her human parent, from her vampiric parent she can expect nothing more than cold indifference. As a byproduct of a vampire’s rampant lusts and perverse hungers, Dhampirs are viewed as little more than the disposable byproducts of a casual tryst. The few Dhampirs that have been taken in and raised by their vampiric parent receive little in the way of familial love, being regarded as amusing pets, cherished toys, or expendable resources.
___Alignment and Religion: Dhampirs have tepid relationships with religion at best. Only the foulest deities of death and magic suffer the existence of vampires. However, Dhampirs can sometimes be found in service to gods of honor and mercy, who can see beyond their state of half-undeath into the core of a worthy soul. Unfortunately, most Dhampirs never make it that far, all too often repelled from hallowed ground like their undead parents. A Dhampir who does become a cleric or paladin fights with all the fervor of the staunchest convert. Dhampir druids, if they ever existed at all, are currently unknown; aligned as there are to undeath, the forces of the natural world have no truck with dhampirs.
___Adventurers: Dhampirs engage in lives of adventure for all the typical reasons, including power, fame, idealism, and wealth, but all too often their motivation is revenge, seeking out the means to destroy their vampire parents. Still others go on to careers as powerful wizards and sorcerers, blessed with an elongated lifespan to dedicate to esoteric studies.
___Male Names: Boian, Crnobog, Dimitri, Dragomir, Vladimir, Volos.
___Female Names: Borisslava, Danika, Dragana, Katarina, Magda, Morana, Nika, Zaria.
DHAMPIR RACIAL TRAITS
___+2 to One Ability Score: Dhampirs get a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Dhampirs are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
___Normal Speed: Dhampirs have a base speed of 30 feet.
___Darkvision: Dhampirs can see in the dark up to 60ft.
___Thing of Darkness: Dhampir’s are detectable by spells and effects such as detect evil regardless of their actual alignment. Furthermore, Dhampirs suffer a -2 penalty on all rolls while on consecrated ground or any area aligned with or consecrated to a Good aligned deity or power.
___Vampire Blood: Dhampir count as both humans and undead for any effect related to race or creature type. 1/day a dhampir may cast vampiric touch as a spell-like ability with a melee bite attack. This power cannot be used on constructs, elementals, or other creatures without blood.
___Undead Immunities: Dhampirs get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects, death effects, paralysis, poison, sleep, stun, disease, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless).
___Languages: Dhampirs begin play speaking Common. Dhampirs with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Abyssal, Aklo, Infernal.
Dhampir
Dhampirs are half-undead beings, their births the result of vampiric perversion and seduction. For every dhampir sired by a seductive vampire count working his whiles upon a buxom village maiden, there is another conceived in the red horror of a rapacious vampire’s lust. Objects of embarrassment at best and outright hatred at worst, Dhampirs are perpetual outcasts within their families and communities, having little place among humans and less among the ranks of the undead.
___Physical Description: Dhampirs range in height, as do humans, although their slender builds tend to make them appear taller than then actually are. A Dhampir’s skin is pale, often ashen or alabaster. All Dhampirs possess at least one physical trait in common with their undead parent, such as pronounced canines, red-rimmed eyes, elongated yellow nails, or a suggestively bestial countenance. Despite their unusual appearance, dhampirs can easily pass for human.
___Society: Generally speaking, Dhampirs have no society of their own, typically living on the fringes or margins of the human society in which they were born. In the harsh and shadowed climes where vampires rule with absolute authority, entire villages of Dhampirs are rumored to exist. It is from these isolated communities that vampire lords frequently select favored lieutenants and enforcers.
___Relations: Dhampirs are regarded with a mixture of shame, pity, and fear by their human relatives. As the black ¬— or, in this case, pale — sheep of the family, Dhampirs have tumultuous relationships with their human parent and other immediate family members. However, where a dhampir can expect derision from her human parent, from her vampiric parent she can expect nothing more than cold indifference. As a byproduct of a vampire’s rampant lusts and perverse hungers, Dhampirs are viewed as little more than the disposable byproducts of a casual tryst. The few Dhampirs that have been taken in and raised by their vampiric parent receive little in the way of familial love, being regarded as amusing pets, cherished toys, or expendable resources.
___Alignment and Religion: Dhampirs have tepid relationships with religion at best. Only the foulest deities of death and magic suffer the existence of vampires. However, Dhampirs can sometimes be found in service to gods of honor and mercy, who can see beyond their state of half-undeath into the core of a worthy soul. Unfortunately, most Dhampirs never make it that far, all too often repelled from hallowed ground like their undead parents. A Dhampir who does become a cleric or paladin fights with all the fervor of the staunchest convert. Dhampir druids, if they ever existed at all, are currently unknown; aligned as there are to undeath, the forces of the natural world have no truck with dhampirs.
___Adventurers: Dhampirs engage in lives of adventure for all the typical reasons, including power, fame, idealism, and wealth, but all too often their motivation is revenge, seeking out the means to destroy their vampire parents. Still others go on to careers as powerful wizards and sorcerers, blessed with an elongated lifespan to dedicate to esoteric studies.
___Male Names: Boian, Crnobog, Dimitri, Dragomir, Vladimir, Volos.
___Female Names: Borisslava, Danika, Dragana, Katarina, Magda, Morana, Nika, Zaria.
DHAMPIR RACIAL TRAITS
___+2 to One Ability Score: Dhampirs get a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Dhampirs are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
___Normal Speed: Dhampirs have a base speed of 30 feet.
___Darkvision: Dhampirs can see in the dark up to 60ft.
___Thing of Darkness: Dhampir’s are detectable by spells and effects such as detect evil regardless of their actual alignment. Furthermore, Dhampirs suffer a -2 penalty on all rolls while on consecrated ground or any area aligned with or consecrated to a Good aligned deity or power.
___Vampire Blood: Dhampir count as both humans and undead for any effect related to race or creature type. 1/day a dhampir may cast vampiric touch as a spell-like ability with a melee bite attack. This power cannot be used on constructs, elementals, or other creatures without blood.
___Undead Immunities: Dhampirs get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects, death effects, paralysis, poison, sleep, stun, disease, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless).
___Languages: Dhampirs begin play speaking Common. Dhampirs with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Abyssal, Aklo, Infernal.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
'Ask the Rules Lawyer' #1
QUESTION
Dear Rules Lawyer,
I have a question about magic resistance; been awhile since I've used, or fought against, MR creatures. Does MR affect non-pure-force damage from spells, like elemental and physical damage from a created effect? For example, obviously Magic Missile is affected by MR, but [is] fire damage from a Fireball that explodes near a MR creature, too? Isn't the fire from the fireball spell still just fire? Does MR affect breath weapons? What about non-damage spells, like Entangle and summoned monsters? And, lastly, what about the effects of enchanted weapons? Is damage from a +2 flaming sword affected and, if so, which parts -- the +2 and/or the flaming?
Mayhap a stupid question that is answered directly in the DMG, but I can't remember and don't have a copy on hand, so there!
Roberto De Moraes
ANSWER
Dear Roberto,
Yes, that is a stupid question (a series of them, actually). Lazy, too.
You also failed to specify the edition you are inquiring about.
As such, I will choose to answer regarding the edition I personally prefer. 3.5.
The answer can be found on page 298 of the 3.5 DMG.
But, since you asked ... First off, there is no “MR” in 3 and 3.5. These editions incorporated “Spell Resistance”. That said ...
No, Fireball fire is derived from a magical spell and resisted by SR ... breath weapons are not protected by SR ... non-damage spells are resisted by SR and weapon enchantments are not resisted or neutralized.
Pretty simple ... If the source is a spell or spell-like ability, you’re protected. If not, no SR protection. Extraordinary and supernatural abilities (including enhancement bonuses on magic weapons) are not resisted. Also, and as an example, a cleric’s spells are subject to spell resistance, but his use of positive or negative energy is not.
Jonathan B. Reichman, Esq.
The Rules Lawyer
Dear Rules Lawyer,
I have a question about magic resistance; been awhile since I've used, or fought against, MR creatures. Does MR affect non-pure-force damage from spells, like elemental and physical damage from a created effect? For example, obviously Magic Missile is affected by MR, but [is] fire damage from a Fireball that explodes near a MR creature, too? Isn't the fire from the fireball spell still just fire? Does MR affect breath weapons? What about non-damage spells, like Entangle and summoned monsters? And, lastly, what about the effects of enchanted weapons? Is damage from a +2 flaming sword affected and, if so, which parts -- the +2 and/or the flaming?
Mayhap a stupid question that is answered directly in the DMG, but I can't remember and don't have a copy on hand, so there!
Roberto De Moraes
ANSWER
Dear Roberto,
Yes, that is a stupid question (a series of them, actually). Lazy, too.
You also failed to specify the edition you are inquiring about.
As such, I will choose to answer regarding the edition I personally prefer. 3.5.
The answer can be found on page 298 of the 3.5 DMG.
But, since you asked ... First off, there is no “MR” in 3 and 3.5. These editions incorporated “Spell Resistance”. That said ...
No, Fireball fire is derived from a magical spell and resisted by SR ... breath weapons are not protected by SR ... non-damage spells are resisted by SR and weapon enchantments are not resisted or neutralized.
Pretty simple ... If the source is a spell or spell-like ability, you’re protected. If not, no SR protection. Extraordinary and supernatural abilities (including enhancement bonuses on magic weapons) are not resisted. Also, and as an example, a cleric’s spells are subject to spell resistance, but his use of positive or negative energy is not.
Jonathan B. Reichman, Esq.
The Rules Lawyer
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