Week long of props

Just back from a week long adventure in the woods of South Wales, were help plot a week long full of monsters and machine with my follow refs.

Although I have been writing plot for fours years and ref-ing for almost two this was my 1st week long event and it was great, hard work yes, but I helped along with the rest of the crew provide much entertainment for the players which is very rewarding when you get good feedback.

My fellow refs also thanked me for the props I provided which helped set the scenes for many of the encounters, although prize for best looking scene goes to Amy for her bloodied vampire make-up. (see below)


First the new look vampires that walk in the day protected from the sun by goggles and full head and hand covering.


This is glowing spirit capture device which was smashed by the players to release the capture spirits


This device the Rakken Transmitter/Attractor (although not completed in this photo) spent a full evening being turned on and off giving players Rakken on demand.


This fearful looking thing made from a Dr Who mask retrieved from skip by DaveP and then converted by me with pipes, suckers on the reverse and various machine bits, eventually flew and stuck itself to a player character and sucked him dry of blood to provide a black out for the Vampires to attack in daylight.


Here we have a blood powered device, fixed again to player it pumped away his blood to empower the vampire with extra strength.


This prop was last conversion using from some spare parts I taken with me, fixed to prop already prepared by the other refs, the lights gave it extra oomph.

Today Sunday.

Just spent today visiting friends, went to visit Jock and Bridget, knocked on the door and didn't get a answer but as I walked away the old lady a few doors up the street with her black cat said their in you know just knock louder, the street Jock and Bridget live on is obviously a proper old fashioned neighbourhood were neighbours actually speak to each others and know each other business.

Bridget was drying her hair and Jock in the bath, anyway the old lady apparently knows every one's movements on the street via the black cats that talk to her. Not long after sitting down with them for a coffee a 85 year gentleman started shoving chocolate bars through the letter box, something he does regularly according to Bridget, although occasionally its out of date packets of biscuits, apparently he's going a little senile and forgets were he lives, but he's friendly old chap, still wearing the same winter coat this summer he wore 30 years ago and gives big exuberant waves to everyone like he knows you.

This photo deserve a explanation but I won't give it.


After spending a couple of hours with Jock and Bridget, I went on to visit Andy and Linda, mainly to drop off Andy's birthday card.

I arrived in the midst of crisis Andy had attempted to cut off his finger with the electric hedge cutters, but luckily was unsuccessful and just managed a horrible mangled looking cut which did not want to stop bleeding, still a bandage later he had regained his lost hit point.

Linda then showed me her bra and told about the sponsored moon walk she did for breast cancer with Freda who is currently recovering from her Chemotherapy, a 15 mile fast walk which started at midnight through to the early hours, which is probably why its called the Moon Walk. Back to the bra the participants all had to wear decorated bra's, Linda's was pink and covered in lights.

Linda's bra



While I'm posting bad photograph here is one of Ste at Andy and Linda's BBQ a few weeks ago.



While I think about it Katie who is currently in USA on a 4 week camping trip showed me her new tattoo on her foot at the same BBQ.


This is better photo, taken by somebody else.


Before visiting my friends I went to Tansley's massive car boot, which was very busy with the nice weather, but saw nothing I wanted. I was mainly looking for junk to use for props, but nothing inspired me. I did go skip diving earlier in the week and recovered a Dr Who Tardis that was spotted.



Junk is great, as you can see below this is what you get from old brass imitation light, a draw handle, a old table leg and drainer. Yes you get a steam punk elemental powered drill, obviously :).

Thunders weekend.

Kit making and acquiring frenzy for last event over and I'm feeling totally worn out, although I think most of that is down the change of weather over one week from frosty mornings to humid temperatures in the high twenty's.

The AscendancyLRP event I helped AndyL put together was set in the Thunders a land mainly based on historic & mythical Japan & China. For this event I decided we needed a bit of extra kit, mainly because we set the event in monastery.

So I made four Buddhist robes, they were very simple based on the real thing which is basically a couple of large rectangles of fabric tucked under the arm and over the shoulder, so all I to do was do straight hems no pattern to follow.

This photo is a example.


I also recycled a robe made by Julie for a post apocalypse game we played and turned it into the kit of the Incredible Wang, which although made from wool, not your traditional oriental fabric looked great with the hat and sash.

Photo of the Indiscernible Wang.


My other bit of costume was purchased direct from China and is a copy of Qing Dynasty Imperial Suit, I did have to spent a couple of hours re-working the belt which despite the size description was made to fit around the waist of someone four inches smaller in circumference than me. I think it looks great with its many embroidered dragons and well worth the price paid, which was only a bit more than the shipping cost.

Photo of the now dead Shogun wearing the costume, although he is now the new Golden Vampire, so the costume use will continue.


I also painted up masks for the Puppet master and Yo-Yo, found some really cheap fans and oriental hats.
The fans can be seen in the picture below, found in a shop in Ripley for 50p each and well used given the heat during the event.


The last thing I made was three clockwork bullets for use by an assassin, although due to massive crop of nettles he found himself cornered when he wanted to escape and fire his last bullet.
Bullets.

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

Beetroot Fair

Inspired by the idea of brownies with with prunes made by Julie last weekend I decided to make my own.

I've never baked before, so these were no cheap brownies since I had to buy everything bar a bowl to melt chocolate in, including the baking parchment and deep baking try I think I spent around 8 quid, taking away the things I can use again the cost is possibly nearer 3 quid, although cost doesn't really mater its the fun of making your own and the novel ingredients you can put in.

For my brownies I used Delia's on line recipe for Brownies with prunes and then swapped most of nuts for beetroot.

The chopped beetroot and prunes.


The recipe was simple, no technical cooking terms, a bit of maths to adjust the quantities to suit my baking tray and then nothing harder than mixing stuff in bowl.

The melting chocolate and butter.


The final mixture was a possible a bit too moist since Delia said to spread the mixture, my mixture was quite fluid and filled the baking tray without any spreading, I had a egg left so chucked it for good luck, possibly not the wisest decision.

The runny mixture.



After the required period in the oven the brownies were taken out and the hard top had raised leaving the moist brownies to crumble apart as I cut them, perhaps to long in the oven or some other mystery of cooking that I'm not aware of.

Just out the oven with the unwelcome crust.

The final result tasted wonderful and I have eaten about a third, which is probably a good 200 grams of sugar and butter based on the ingredient used, yikes that's a lot of calories to burn off.

Yum :)


On Saturday before making the brownies I went to the Living History fair with Julie and Dave, ran into very few people I knew Doug and Izsy from Larp and Alan and Jayne from reenactment, I'm never quite sure why this fair is not as popular as TORM since in my opinion it is the slightly better fair.

The car park though was a quagmire on yellow clay mud, which plastered everything, Dave described the mud on the tracks as potters slip, which about some it up, since it splashed up you jeans.

While there I bought some animal skins and Larp safe spear, I nearly didn't buy a hat, but while walking by the fudge store with Julie, she pointed out a tall hat on stall, which I found attractive and within no time I had my cash out buying the hat in the photo below.



Julie bought some smoke peanut butter, but also tried some citrus relish on the same stall Martins Jerked Meat which made her eye water since I think it should have been labelled citrus chilly relish. The smoke beetroot on the same stall was also nice, but the small jars a tad expensive.

Mole Machine and Some Painted Figures

I have completed several other projects during this month for use in various table top games

The 1st game was a repaint of space gorilla's provide by AndyL into cybernetic steam punk gorilla's controlled by a group of goblins



Then on a similar theme the dungeon in my previous post needed a way to get the player characters out, Von Dumas was the rescuer so we decided on mole machine coming up through the dungeon floor.



This was built in one morning before I went to work from a bit of rolled up cardboard, a cardboard spiral and some rocks from the garden. The cone at the top is a missile pod from a old air fix kit.



The rocks and machine were then given a quick paint and this is the result an hours work at the most.



And lastly a few new oriental figures acquired from Perry Miniatures.

Dungeon Build

This is my latest secret project, a dungeon for a table top skirmish role play game played yesterday.



Built from all sorts of bits, but mostly polystyrene covered in filler then sprayed black and dry brushed. It also included parts from a friends Van Helsing toy, cardboard tubes and old Citadel Miniatures (now Games Workshop) doorways.

I took photographs of the finished item in the dark with the flash deliberately so the depths of dungeon look lost in the dark.




This photo shows the steam punk machines the players found in the dungeon.



And the players enjoying the game.