Easter week.

Easter weekend I started a weeks holiday with lots of plans starting with a trip to Stratford upon Avon with JulieS to visit the Butterfly Farm which was great, especially to practise your camera skill, took loads of photos a small sample below (wish I took my SLR). The Butterfly Farm is quite warm being kept between 25 and 30deg C, and at 80% humidity since its full of tropical butterflies as well a few fish, reptiles and birds that don't like the taste of butterflies.





This photograph is stolen from Julie and shows me with a butterfly.


Photo of Julie taking a photo


Mr Iguana


After the butterfly farm we had quick wander around Stratford, which looks interesting, didn't visit any of the other attraction or Shakespeare properties although we did pop in Nash's house garden which was free and full of odd but interesting sculptures inspired by Shakespeare plays.



During the following week I mainly spent my time making steam punk guns, a sniper rifle and kind of grenade launcher which I converted into stun gun for the weekends larp event.



The sniper rifle was made from a old cap gun stock,plenty of screws, bit of brass tube, some smaller tube cut to act has spacer for a toy telescope sprayed with brass paint for the gun site. Added to this was decoration in the form the nozzle from old brass paraffin blow torch,some drawing pins, and a bit of wood stain/varnish.


The grenade launcher used the rest of the paraffin blow torch, a cardboard tea tube, a couple of pipe fittings, a sink strainer, another old cap gun stock, a few screws, a bit glue and some more brass spray paint.


After several days of searching for bits I now have lots more junk to make several more steam punk guns or gadgets.

Last weekend I crewed a larp event and got to play a new long term character, currently called the Hermit, he was a bit of grumpy and plenty of fun to play.



The crew (excluding me and AndyL)


The weather on Saturday was the warmest of the year and with lots of carrying kit up and down slopes quite hard work for a unfit chap like me. Sunday was much better, well cooler anyway.

ChrisA with his new steam tech gun and also the one I made.


Took plenty of photos most are the ascendancy website.



I did also go to see Kick Ass, yet another new movie based on a comic book. Enjoyed it, although found myself quite shocked by the language coming out the 13year old girls mouth, I suppose that was intended. Very funny dark humour, don't go and see if don't like comics books

Steam Punk Stuff

I finally get to post about some steam punk props made for AscendancyLRP that I started a month or so ago but since I wanted them to be a surprise at the event I couldn't show them here.

I had been busy collecting junk as can be seen below


Which I liberally spread around my house


This my Steam Rifle, made from a crossbow stock, a candle stick, a fire extinguisher and a dial from a foot pump.



Next we have a brain in jar, this is made of biscuit tin, part of a cyberman toy, some cutlery drainers, a bit PVC strip and a latex brain from the Adventurers Emporium

Then a brain transfer device which was mainly made from the back half of a cyberman toy helmet.

This mechanical arm was made from a Dr Octopus toy arm, I then added the innards of a electric drill and few pipes

The memory crystal is basically a bit of brass wire from hobbycraft, a candle stick, a old box and crystal prop I had lying around, glued together with a hot glue gun.

This is my mind testing device, basically a couple of dismantled alarm clocks, which I printed new dials for and Vitalator bought from a junk shop for £8

I have some other steam punk props to post about which I will do separately when I have chance to photograph them.

Photgraphs from the event they where used in can be seen here, including photos of the cybernetic gorilla, brought in by the Goblins

Steam and websites

Last night I whipped together a website (take a look here) for my brother Robert for his driving school since he's competing against ever growing number of instructor and thinks he needs a web presence to for a younger audience who no longer use the yellow pages, but search the Internet.

Today I needed to make a Steam punk weapon for AscendancyLRP, lots of bits of brass including a candlesticks and the end of curtain rail, along with a fire extinguisher sprayed with brass paint. Yes and just my luck it was dry this morning the minute I popped outside to spray the extinguisher it started raining making the paint bubble, so I had to start again and fume up the house. Hopefully I will get photo while its being carried in costume tomorrow during the game.

I also went to see AndyT holiday cottage just finished, well he was still putting a door handle on, Phil and several others larpers from London will be staying there for 3 nights and it looks smashing, they will be the newly renovated houses first guests.

Craft and Chimera

What a lovely bright weekend. Yesterday (Sat) I went to visit friend Martin whose wife Jo teaches ceramics, she was displaying some of her own work at a local craft fair in Wirksworth where they live. Wirksworth is beautiful town, that somehow has managed to hold onto its independent stores owned by the residents, built into a valley the houses rise steeply from the meandering main road. Parking was horrendous, I ended up almost out of town, as well as the craft fair the town was having local farmers market.

(Below Martin and Jo)

The craft fair was spread over the Town Hall and the Parish Rooms, I found Jo and she phone Martin who took me to his house to show me Jo's kiln and workshop. Martins house is well up the hillside and he has no way of parking his car anywhere near his house. I met his cat, 22 years old, blind, shaky back end but very cute, she can't go out, not because of traffic, but 20 foot drops from the garden to the next house below. Martin showed me his other garden with the Kiln which involved getting a extending ladder to climb up too.

(Below Martins Garden)

(Below view from Martins Garden)

After leaving Martin I found a brilliant antiques come junk shop, the sort where the items are just piled on top of each other in giant heaps and you have to clamber your way through, to make matters worse the shop has no natural light and is lit by a single sodium lamp giving everything a yellow/orange tinge. I found some bits of brass and a old brass blow torch, how much for these, hmm seven quid said the owner, not what I was expecting, I will be back again to look through his junk, (DaveP if you read this you would love it).

I bought some of Jo's work for Christmas presents. Her work the Raku work, basically pottery firing at low-ish temperature then dropping into sawdust while still fire hot to remove the oxygen, most of the other work was well out my pocket, paintings for fifteen hundred quid and more, un-priced bits of very arty bent metal that each have a story and photographs to explain how they where conceived they have to be expensive. Wirksworth is one of those town where Arty type accumulate.

(below some of Jo's pottery)

On Saturday evening I went to Chimera Christmas works meal, somehow I got invited, basically all the shop staff Becky, Leah, Mike, Rich, owners AndyL and Heather plus Jock & Bridgette who helped man the shop during the summer and me, who spends far too much time there. We went to Frankie and Bennys and it was good fun night, a few photos below, AndyL and Heather paid has a thank you to everyone which was a pleasant surprise, should have ordered a dessert ;) then again I think I would have exploded trying eat anymore.

(below outside F and B)

(Below Jock)

(Below Bridgette)

(Below Mike and Leah)

(Below Rich and a sleepy Becci)


(Below Bossman himself AndyL)

I do have photos of Heather but she would not thank me for posting them.

After that I spent the rest of my weekend wrapping present, everyone is now done apart from one yet to be delivered by the Online supplier, but that should be here sometime next week, then that's it all done well ahead of schedule. I had to be since my Mums goes on her Panama cruise with my sister this Friday so she won't be around for Christmas, which is going to be very odd, in fact I delivered her presents, and my brothers and sisters today.

Is it only the 1st week of December, it does seem odd.