Monday, July 19, 2010

"The Pen Is Mightier than the Sword..."

...But I don't know how well a pen's going to do against a troll.

Hey there wanderers of the internet! It's time for a kick-ass update/tutorial! I know, you're all just giddy with excitement. So let's get down to it!

Today I overhauled the paint job on this little number:

As you can see, the paint job done when it was produced isn't very good. The blade was atrocious and the gold was haphazardly put on:
Plus, I wanted the sword to coordinate with my viking Iceland outfit, which uses blues, browns and silvers.

Part 1: The Blade
So, the first thing I did was the blade:
1. First thing's first, I taped up the hilt so I wouldn't get spray paint on it.

2. Then I spray painted the blade using Rust-Oleum Bright Coat Metallic Finish in Aluminum.

3. As you can see, the spray paint is a very bright, metallic silver. This is fine for most props, but I wanted my sword to have a more realistic feel to it. So then came the texturing.
To texture the blade I used a foam brush used for most crafts and a mixture of gray and silver acrylic paints. I lightly covered the brush in the paint and then very lightly and quickly ran the brush over the blade from the center to the edge. Here you can kind of see the before and after:
When it's all done, the blade should look something like this:

Part 2: The Scabbard
So, I spent quite a bit of time on this scabbard, and I'm really pleased with how it has turned out, so let's get cracking shall we?
1. I painted over the black base with a dark blue acrylic paint using another foam craft brush. I also made sure to use horizontal strokes and to let some of the black show through so it would look more realistic.

2. Then I overhauled the detailing. To start with, I took a mixture of silver and gray acrylic paint (same mixture as on the blade)and the foam brush and painted over all of the gold. I made sure to go a little heavier on this part since I didn't want any of the gold to shine through.

3. Next comes the tedious work: Going back over where you have just painted and taking a small paintbrush (and also a toothpick in my case) and painting the sunken in parts black. Do this to give the detailing depth. Also, don't worry about it being super exact. The next steps will rectify the little oopsies.

When you're done with this step, it should look a little something like this:

4. Now you're going to take another one of your friends the foam craft brushes and lightly brush black over the silver. Then take the silver craft brush and go lightly over the detailing again. This is done to create the wear and tear and highlights to make the details look more realistic.

5. Finish up the hilt by going back over any parts of the blue you may have accidentally gotten silver/gray/black on. Make sure to use the technique in step 1 so everything looks the same.
6. Repeat steps 2-4 on the hilt of the sword.
7. Very, very, very lightly go over the detailing on the scabbard and hilt with just the silver paint. It really brightens up the "metal" and adds a nice touch.

8. Ta-da! Now you have your very own over-hauled plastic sword! Hooray!


Well, I hope this walk-through has been helpful! If you have any questions about what I've used or done in this thing, don't hesitate to ask. And just because you were so nice and made it to the end of this thing, here's a bonus pic of the completed sword:

I'm off to bed now. I have so much to do before AI gets here it's not even funny. Until next time, Cynical Pie is as good as unconscious.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Savor the last bit

I reached a routine milestone about a moment ago bloggity. I am on the last page of my sketchbook. Number 70. The last stroke of entirely new creation in this pad of paper I have lugged around since October. No, I won't be rid of the spiral- bound book just yet: there are pictures that must be inked and colored, sketches decided on whether or not to save, a folder insert that must be sorted and weeded through before I can entirely leave this dog-eared pad of paper behind.

But it's always a little sad to reach the end of one of these. In my mind I know that there will be plenty more sketchbooks where this one came from, that this isn't goodbye to the ideas and imaginings that make up what a sketchbook really is. But this one, this particular sketchbook is so very precious to me. This is the one that saw me through my first year of college. It has been my daily companion through boring English Comp classes and history lectures. It's been lugged to Minneapolis and Chicago and various places along the way. It's been hugged tight to my chest as I run through snowstorms and downpours. It's gotten me through bad days, worse nights, and the shittiest weeks I've ever had. My fandom came alive in this sketchbook. My creativity flourished Fairies shifted to Hetalia to original characters and back again. As I did the inevitable maturing college supposedly brings, my style matured, as evidenced in these 8 1/2" by 11" sheets. Throughout the course of these 70 pages, I have grown. Lines have become cleaner, details have appeared, anatomy has started to fall into place.

It's so hard to give up one of these blasted things after so long. I feel like I'm saying goodbye to an old friend for the last time. These simple 70 pages of sketch paper have been more than a friend could ever be to me over the past few months. This sketchbook is a window into my musings, dreams, fantasies, and my soul.

So goodbye, old friend. You've been good to me. I doubt I'll forget you anytime soon. We've had a good time together. Au revoir mon ami. La séparation est douce tristesse. (Yes, it's google translate. Don't rain on my love of french parade.)




"She went her unremembering way,
She went and left in me
The pang of all the partings gone,
And partings yet to be."
~Francis Thompson