Balrog's Cousin

The gates of Hell have opened wide to deliver this fine specimen. It was supposed to be another skull, but the creative sparks flew when a piece of cardboard from a dry cleaner's hanger entered the equation. It became the support for those menacing jaws.

Here's a close-up of the paint job using red as a base, orange for highlights, a black wash and yellow highlights. The hands are attached to wooden posts.

Throw a black, torn cloth over it to create a full-bodied work.

The original skull plan is almost done.

MCAS Miramar Air Show

I went to the MCAS Miramar Air Show, yesterday. The car traffic was a mess as expected. Then, the security line took about an hour to check bags. Next time, I'll leave the camera behind so that I can skip the bag check.

Canadian Snowbirds

I guess security missed a few as several bombs went off during the show!

Several vintage aircraft were on display.

Walking (not flying) Blue Angels

Skull Project

The monster project inspired me to try out a few skulls to see how they'd perform on Halloween.

My Monster, Part 2

It's time to assemble the hands, feet, legs, arms and jaws. It's all being held together by a lot of tape. One mistake that I noticed is that I painted too much of the outside jaw section. This interfered with taping the jaw to the rest of the body. So, I brushed some glue over the paint and later taped over that section.

I added some horns to the back and the end of the tail. I was planning on adding twelve horns total, but this would make the project too complex. Its left foot is being held up by a glass bowl of marbles. Come the final step, I'll replace the glass bowl with something else.

I added a piece for the nose and placed another horn through it. Once the extra glue on the painted mouth area dries, I'll tape the nose down firmly. I tested out clay balls for the eye placement but, I'd prefer bigger eyes.

...more to come.

My Monster

Last weekend, I came across this book with "MONSTERS" in the title by Dan Reeder and just couldn't leave the bookstore without it. I tried out Papier-mâché once before, but this book had a lot of helpful hints. Plus, the dragon "trophy" was very impressive. It looked like something I could easily follow. So, first, I decided to try out the instructions for the sample monster.

I had a stack of newspapers ready to go, but had to hunt down some wire hangers around the house. Then, I bought a gallon of Elmer's glue, paint, tape, clay and other recommended supplies. The Papier-mâché recipe is just flour and water. And, part of the technique is to NOT DIP THE STRIPS! After the pieces hardened overnight, I added feet and hands to the limbs.

I went with the knarly hands method. This is just balled up newspaper for knuckles taped to the wire fingers.

This is a Papier-mâché ball that has been cut open for jaws and clay "teeth" glued to it using a glue gun. Along with the tongue, the instructions are copied straight from the book.

The jaws are prepared with strips of an old bed spread dipped in Elmer's glue. What a mess to work with hands covered in glue! The tongue is wrapped in one, long strip and allowed to sit in the lower jaw where it will bond. I made stands using old toilet paper rolls to make it easier for drying.

...more to come.

San Diego Zoo Orchid House

The San Diego Zoo Orchid House is open once a month and I happened to be there on Sunday. The variety of orchids never ceases to amaze me.

Oatman, AZ

From Laughlin, NV last weekend, it was easy to take a GPS-guided trip to Oatman, AZ. The small (ex?) gold mining village had shops, ice-cream, beer, etc.

There were a lot of old things to check out like this car and gas station.

Several wild donkeys, deserted from past gold miners, were allowed to roam the streets. They used to be fed by the locals, but now they're trying to cut down on that practice.

At high noon, the main road was closed off as a shoot out broke out. These three amigos were planning to rob one of the local stores.

But, they killed each other off as they got greedy with the loot!