New Prop: personal advisor

Lidl is selling sudoku machines for a tenner. They're perfect for futuristic, Blackberry-style cogitators. Just look at it- once painted it will look just right...

Update

I have a Mandarin resit this Friday, hence the lack of much happening beyond writing complicated pictograms and trying to remember the tone and meaning for what is basically the same word.

But there's still something I can update on. When I initially planned my game, it was going to take place on Rampart. I had a bunch of reasons behind this, such as the social conflict, oriental flavour and others, but one thing I needed was player infodumps.

So I made a tourist sheet, distributed by the Guilds and costing only few Crests each.


Obviously it's unfinished, but I think you can see the way I'm trying to provide details though both infodumps and style.

And yes, the Mandarin symbols actually mean stuff. And should be grammatically correct...

[Props] More Data Units

Remember back when flash memory hadn't been invented yet and sci-fi shows still used CD-type data storage modules?

I do. That's why I'm also using these micro CDs as props.


I got them from my fiancee actually, who got them from some conference she went to. They had an inside sticker/cover, but I pulled that off, using a damp cloth to coax off any bits that wanted to stick.

I think I'll probably have to put a makers' mark on them.

[Props] Data Chips

Hermesetas; a nice replacement for sugar in my tea and also a nicely-shaped data module; some kind of plug-in Data Storage Device.

Specifically, they remind me of the Ancient data modules in Stargate: Atlantis.

While I think it might be easier to make the Ancient-style DSDs from thick plastic card, the hermesatas plug-ins work as removable data modules. Problem is, I'm still working on how to give them the crystal look using paintjobs. I figured that I can draw on silver/gold circuitry, but need a glass/crystal effect for the pieces themselves.

Any suggestions?

Guns, Guns, GUNS!

Let's talk guns.

Typically LARP weapons are fairly easy to get hold of, because they're usually swords and you can buy lots of those. But sometimes what you need is a large piece to go off in your hand (fnar).

So...guns. They're harder to rule for in LARPS, but that's not the point of this piece - it's to show how to bring the pretty from a limited budget. So let's go. I have two words for anyone wanting to physrep guns: Children's Toys. All of the weapons shown below are children's toy weapons. Nerf weapons comes later, i.e. when I've disassembled and painted them.

What makes children's toy gunes awesome? Well, let me show the ways:

• They don't look like real guns. I swear most of the designers are frustrated sci-fi fans - amongst my collection I have a not-PPG and a not-Robocop gun, as well as other futuristic designs. This is important because no-one wants to get mistaken, not with the police's twitchy trigger fingers. It also brings me to point two:
  
  
• They also look like sci-fi weapons. And that's awesome because it saves you lots of trouble.
  
  
• They're cheap. None of them cost more than £3 each. Not essential, but always a cheeky bonus, especially for a student like me.
  

So, let's have a look (click through to see larger versions of the images):

I think I got this from the Wilkinsons chain for a couple of quid. One quick paint job later, it looks good.

I love this design. Again, only a couple of quid (plus paints). It has light and sound, but I hate that stuff.

A not-PPG from a remainder store. It was originally suposed to fire pellets (they didn't hurt though, which would be useful if I knew where the pellets went), but I turned the pellet cap into a plasma fuel cell.

There two are a pair of water pistols from Poundland. They have a wonderfully exotic shape. As you can see, the first one has a streaky turquise area to it, similar to the cap for the not-PPG.

This was a deliberate choice on my part to paint all exposed parts of plasma engines in this stylised way. Specifically I decided that plasma should look like a stylised watercolour, streaked with energised particles. Now, everyone who knows anything about plasma knows that it looks like a star within a cloud (see Gizmodo's interesting piece), but Fading Suns has always been stylised and I wanted to keep that style.

Making

I started off by getting some black undercoat, laying out the weapons and spraying them, letting them dry then turning them over.

For actual paints, I decided not to carry on spraypainting and do it by hand. I used a mix of MP, GW and Game Color paints, depending on what I could get.

The plasma effect was achieved by daubing on a thick layer of the ordinary colour. Then, while it was still wet, I daubed on a ligher more of the same colour. Then, while that was still wet, I took a very thin brush and some white paint and swiftly marked out delicate lines, to give the impression of particle trails. That was it.

Where to look:

Obviously these may not apply across national boundries, but I went to:

• Poundland - a cheapo chain that's sprung up lately. Everything is, as it says, a pound each.
  
• Wilkinsons - a home goods chain (everything from house plants to toothpaste).
• Remainder shops (I think the big UK chain is The Works).
• Supermarkets.
• Anywhere with a kids' toy section, basically.
• The local street market. They're great for toy guns.
  

Well, that's that. Enjoy.

[Props] Gas Mask

Yesterday I went down to B&Q after finding some nice dust filters on their website.

Typically I couldn't find what I wanted so I went across the road to a plumbers' supply shop, where they had what I wanted - and cheaper, too.

There's something inherently amusing about a slightly camp, unshaven goth guy in a floor-length leather cassock-style coat reading a catalogue of mens' toys while surrounded by burly Eastern European construction workers.

But I have it. It cost £10.79 (inc. VAT), it's comfortable and has freakily large filters.

It also makes me look cross-eyed.


I am definitely going to paint this thing, although I'm not sure how yet. I may just go black for generic use with a little text on it, but I also like the idea of an Avestite mask carefully hand-painted with holy flame. Something like this, maybe.

Tomorrow I plan to get up early and go to Leisure Games, who seem to have a nice selection of branded paint lines, before going to uni.

[Props] I'm A Maverick!

I have a Maverick pistol!

It's bigger than I thought. It basically has the proportions of Hellboy's oversized pistol.

I like it. It has a nice heft to it, as well, in case I need to pistol whip somebody (I don't know why I'd need to pistolwhip anybody except when working on group projects at uni, but you never know).

Sites seem to suggest using proper plastic paints, but I want more attention to detail than that and think that I may try with typical acrylic miniature paints, as I know how to use them.

Prop Talk: Nerf Pistol

I've ordered a Nerf Maverick pistol after having it repeatedly crop up on steampunk sites as a favoured sidearm. More importantly, oversized weapons a la Chronicles of Riddick (get used to hearing about this film - you don't get many Byzantine-styled SF films) and Warhammer 40,000 are also an element of Fading Suns.

Here's what it looks like out of the box:



And here is an idea of what I might do with it: specifically I'm thinking of the rich colours and the worn look. An added bonus is that all I really need to do is give it a new paint job.


(Image from the very cool Terminally Incoherent blog).

Does anyone out there have personal experience of modding a Maverick and would like to share?

UPDATE: In a strange bit in internet synchronicity, I have just found links for a site about modding Nerf guns. Nice.

Prop Talk - Ammo Boxes

OK. I'm working on a props essay, but it's getting quite conceptual.

In the meantime, I wanted to show you something I picked up last weekend in town - one of two ammo boxes.

Here is a picture of the original, with the original text. Under that is a photoshop of what I want it to look like once I've figured out how to take off the original lettering.

(Click on the images to see a larger version.)

This is an example of what I call 'small proppage'. While big props (set dressing like statues, banners, etc.) help create a general feel, it's the small things that you can pick up and handle that add to the feeling of 'presence' - of being inside a setting. As well as littering a battle scene, a nice metal box like this could be used to pass on something very different inside, smuggled through the military bureaucracy.

Oh, and the bottom line of new text says 'use by non-Imperial forces is punishable by crucifixion'. It seemed like a nicely medieval touch and the fact that it will becovered in Imperial Phoenixes should be enough of a hint to keep the serfs away.