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I make toys for kids who don't want to grow up. I'm on the lookout for new projects. If you're interested in commissioning me to build something ridiculous, shoot me an email.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Custom Female Commissar Costume Inspired by Warhammer 40,000

So far I've made quite a few Warhammer 40K costumes.  The Space Marines were pretty big and the Imperial Guard were more comfortable, but none of them have been especially sexy.  I've been overwhelmed by the urge to remedy that lately.

While I'd really like to put together some of the Adepta Sororitas outfits, it'll be a while before I've got the time and resources to do it right.  In the meantime I've decided that I should make a female Commissar to keep the Guardsmen in line.

Here's the finished costume:

Commissar Eyebrow
For details on how it was made, read on...

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

June UFO Sightings in the Workshop

I have a tremendous amount of inertia.  Once the ED-209 project was finished and the Maker Faire was over, it took me quite a while to grind to a halt and get some proper rest.  When I did manage to finally slow down, it took me just as long to finally rally some motivation and sally forth.

Yesterday found me back in the workshop for my first typical 12-hour day since the Maker Faire.  Much of it was spent reorganizing the workshop, shifting back into Combat Garden Gnome production mode, and taking stock of my various projects.  There was no shortage of stuff that had been relegated to the backburner over the past couple or three months and I'm glad to finally get the chance to dust off a few old projects, get the ball rolling on a couple of new projects, and generally get back to my own amped-up version of scattered tinkering.

So once again there's a lot of irons in the fire.  Here's just a few of the UnFinished Objects that were spotted in the shop lately...


First off, another Ironman helmet variant.  I've been making a few different helmets and trading other makers for variants that I don't already have.  Since I haven't found anyone else making castings of the Mk39 "Gemini" variant, I had to go ahead and make my own.  Here you can see it in my standard lightish red prototype color:

Mk39 Ready to Mold

It will be molded and cast in four separate pieces.  The main dome is ready for rubber.  The two eye pieces will be ready to mold soon after.  The "backdoor" insert still needs a bit more fine tuning:
Mk39 Backdoor

Still, I should have a wearable casting of this helmet within a week.

Since I can't get enough HALO to keep me satisfied, I'm still making slow progress on my M729 Squad Automatic Weapon from HALO 4:
SAW Progress Finally

I'd say the main body is about 90% done.  I'm just focusing on all of the small details that are going to drive me insane by the time it's all said and done:
Detail Closeup

While I was going through the pile of stuff I wanted to work on, more stuff arrived.  It included a box from DW Design Studios.  The box was full of awesome:
Chest of Awesome
In case you're not a huge geek, that's the chest piece for a clonetrooper.  The box of awesome contained and entire suit of raw untrimmed parts to build myself a complete set of armor.  Now I just have to make up my mind as to whether I want to do a plain white Episode II clonetrooper, or one of the countless color variants that show up in Episode III.  Decisions...

Since I've just finished my Commissar costume and a set of Space Wolf armor, you'd think that I'd've had my fill of Warhammer stuff for a while.  You'd be wrong.  Instead, I've just begun prototyping a new helmet:
Test Fit Front

This is a Grey Knight Terminator helmet.  It looks a bit funny on my because I'm not eight feet tall (yet)  I'm also not wearing the huge chest armor with the collar that will make this helmet look smaller.
Simulated Collar

There's a lot of tweaking yet to be done before this helmet is ready to mold, but I'm off to a good start.

So that's just a few of the things I've got going right now.  Be sure to check back often for updates.  Better yet, subscribe so you don't miss anything.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Time to Sculpt a New Combat Garden Gnome

It's been a while since I added a new pose to my series of Combat Garden Gnomes. I've carved out a bit of time in this month's schedule and I'd like to know what version you'd like to see next.

Here are your options:


I'm partial to the "bayonet charge" guy myself, but I'd like to hear your feedback. Be sure to add your vote and, if you've got a better pose in mind, add your suggestions in the comments. 

If you'd like to see the rest of the troops and pick up a squad of gnomes to defend your own garden, you can see them in my Etsy shop at http://thorssoli.etsy.com.

Thanks for looking and stay tuned for updates...