I don't throw around the word "disturbing" lightly, but these face masks from the Shoggoth Assembly definitely qualify. It's the realistic skin tone that really cranks the creep factor up to "11".
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Face Off
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The Innsmouth Look
Anthony Kosar brings us this beautiful Deep One bust. His photo gallery includes detail shots of the original sculpt and the casting process.
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Cthulhu Fhtagn! Broers Edition.
This Piltdown Cthulhu from Joe Broers is an awesome piece of work.
Despite the hundreds of sculpts featured here on the blog only a handful try to recreate the look of a truly primitive Cthulhu idol. To be honest, I didn't fully appreciate this one until I had it in my hands. That's when you can see, and feel, the detail work that went into it. The sculpt faithfully recreates the look of a stone idol scribed and pecked into shape with hand tools. That's no small feat. On top of that, the finish work is a perfect reproduction of the burial rime found on stone artifacts.
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Despite the hundreds of sculpts featured here on the blog only a handful try to recreate the look of a truly primitive Cthulhu idol. To be honest, I didn't fully appreciate this one until I had it in my hands. That's when you can see, and feel, the detail work that went into it. The sculpt faithfully recreates the look of a stone idol scribed and pecked into shape with hand tools. That's no small feat. On top of that, the finish work is a perfect reproduction of the burial rime found on stone artifacts.
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Zelian Runestones
Chimera Dragonfang (which I somehow suspect is a nom de plume) brings us this set of Zelian runestones. The metallic blue inking really brings out the interesting glyph designs.
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The Runes of Wintermark
The UK-based "Empire" LARP brings us their in-game "Wintermark" rune alphabet. The 26 character font is downloadable from their website in both TTF and vector formats. It's used for both magical rituals and items in live action events, and ideal for re-purposing.
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The fact they have their own font gives you an idea how immersive "Empire" is. Browse the rest of their website for some glorious LARP porn, including costumes and themed camps.
Update: In the comments Nicholas Avenell pointed out I wasn't the first to think about re-purposing those glyphs. Harry Dresden beat me to it. Heh.
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The fact they have their own font gives you an idea how immersive "Empire" is. Browse the rest of their website for some glorious LARP porn, including costumes and themed camps.
Update: In the comments Nicholas Avenell pointed out I wasn't the first to think about re-purposing those glyphs. Harry Dresden beat me to it. Heh.
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Special Collections
I started working on this project almost a year ago, and I'm finally in the home stretch.
You know what's held me up? Bags. I wanted a cool Miskatonic specimen bag for the Cthulhu tokens, but every kind I ordered ended up being far too sheer. After the third time I just went ahead and ordered...wait for it...real specimen bags.
I'll have more to show after Labor Day weekend, but I think you're going to like it.
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You know what's held me up? Bags. I wanted a cool Miskatonic specimen bag for the Cthulhu tokens, but every kind I ordered ended up being far too sheer. After the third time I just went ahead and ordered...wait for it...real specimen bags.
I'll have more to show after Labor Day weekend, but I think you're going to like it.
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The Dunwich Horror
Hollywood effects artist Joel Harlow brings us this work-in-progress conceptual sculpt for the elder Whateley brother from "The Dunwich Horror". This would look fantastic on the big screen. I'm amazed that there hasn't been a decent adaptation of the story. It's easily the most action-oriented and commercial of Lovecraft's tales, which makes the rather dullfilms that have been released even more puzzling.
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Atlantis Shepherd's Journal
Interested in making your own tomes? Then you'll love this recreation of the Shepherd's Journal from Disney's "Atlantis". Artist Janet J. Res has a three part build log (1, 2, 3) of the project that covers everything involved in putting it together, from forming the text block to creating a working cover hinge.
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Treasure Chest Kickstarter
A treasure chest? Made of real wood and steel? For $40 For $54, shipped?
Sign me up. It might be worth hopping on.
I don't normally flog Kickstarter projects, but I think this one is worthsupporting keeping an eye on. The chest from Fantasy Coin, LLC is a natural outgrowth of their numismatic efforts and features solid construction, a functional lock, and a selection of three skeleton keys. The finish is a bit meh, but that's easy to fix. What makes this a really good deal is that shipping is included in the pledge price. The topper is that the sponsor has a solid record of delivering what they promise. Given the rampant fraud and under-performance that infests Kickstarter (I'm looking at you, Chaosium) that's a major plus.
Update: It appears shipping isn't actually included in the pledge price. Christian Haunton brought that fact up in the comments, pointing out that shipping is added after you pick a pledge tier. I had interpreted this statement to mean shipping was included:
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I don't normally flog Kickstarter projects, but I think this one is worth
Update: It appears shipping isn't actually included in the pledge price. Christian Haunton brought that fact up in the comments, pointing out that shipping is added after you pick a pledge tier. I had interpreted this statement to mean shipping was included:
Ah yes, the dreaded shipping! Sending packages overseas can be expensive, especially for a heavy item such as these chests. The prices shown in the reward tiers are the actual costs to ship a Medium Flat Rate box. USPS has been the most reliable and cost effective in our experience.With an extra 30% tacked on for shipping this isn't nearly the deal I thought it was. That could change, based on the extras thrown in if the campaign hits it's stretch goals. For now I'm going to pass on it.
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The Crawling Chaos
Ukrainian artist Sadania brings the horror of Nyarlathotep to life. The sculpt features some fantastic anatomical work. Browse the whole gallery for a panoramic view of the piece.
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Making Monsters
The makers of Super Sculpey have a great tutorial video with artist Jake Corrick on creating a creature bust. It's an easy to follow introduction to sculpting technique aimed at beginners. The biggest takeaway is probably the difference between form and texture and how the two interact, but it's worth a look even if you're not into creature gaffs.
Anyone who does work with sculpey should pay attention to the alcohol wash technique for removing tool marks and fingerprints. Our brains are wired to recognize a fingerprint pattern because we've seen them every time we look at our own hands. Seeing it on a creature instantly breaks immersion and identifies a gaff as a created work instead of a living thing. It's inexcusable to leave them on a sculpt when they're so easy to remove.
Anyone who does work with sculpey should pay attention to the alcohol wash technique for removing tool marks and fingerprints. Our brains are wired to recognize a fingerprint pattern because we've seen them every time we look at our own hands. Seeing it on a creature instantly breaks immersion and identifies a gaff as a created work instead of a living thing. It's inexcusable to leave them on a sculpt when they're so easy to remove.
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Magic Circle
Another piece of magic circle clip art for use in paper props. Just right click and open in a new tab for the full-sized version. It's a clean image, so you can apply weathering and effects, as in the example below, as you see fit.
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Egyptian Elder Thing
Daryl Toh brings us this curious archaeological find from an unidentified Egyptian tomb- a shabti that appears to depict an Elder Thing. One wonders how many Mythos artifacts like this have been overlooked by scientists unaware of their significance.
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Hail to the King
Michael Shreeves isn't waiting until the stars are right to declare his allegiance. His flesh now bears the Yellow Sign, courtesy of tattoo artist Matt Shiflett.
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Cthulhu Fhtagn! Gentry Edition.
I was sorry to hear Shaun Gentry won't be doing a run of these, but the finished piece is quite nice. Projecting wings on an idol like this are always problematic, since there's so much risk of them being damaged during shipping.
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Cairo, City of Adventure
Wikimedia has a beautiful vintage map of Cairo by cartographer Alexander Nicohosoff. It dates to 1933, but would be ideal for any classic-era adventures in the city.
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Update: Raven is a god amongst men. He left this as a comment, and it's awesome:
Point of special interest at F-5: the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.
If you would like to follow Harry Houdini's travels (or travails) in "Under the Pyramids" by map, here are grid references:
... we halted at the great Gare Centrale ["Main Station" at C/D-7/8].
... whilst the very theatre where I was vainly requested to play, and which I later attended as a spectator, had recently been renamed the "American Cosmograph"[period program; now the Cosmos Cinema, still at E-7].
We stopped at Shepherd's Hotel [actually "Shepheard's Hotel"E-7]....
Guided by our Baedeker, we had struck east past the Ezbekiyeh Gardens [E-8] along the Mouski in quest of the native quarter....
At length Abdul took us along the Sharia Mohammed Ali [F-8 → I-9] to the ancient mosque of Sultan Hassan [I-9], and the tower-flanked Bab-el-Azab [the original *gate* of Saladin's Citadel], beyond which climbs the steep-walled pass to the mighty citadel [J-10] that Saladin himself built with the stones of forgotten pyramids. It was sunset when we scaled that cliff, circled the modern mosque of Mohammed Ali [K-11], and looked down from the dizzying parapet over mystic Cairo — mystic Cairo all golden with its carven domes, its ethereal minarets, and its flaming gardens.
Far over the city towered the great Roman dome of the new museum [the Egyptian Museum at F-5]....
The next morning we visited the pyramids, riding out in a Victoria across the great Nile bridge with its bronze lions [Qasr El Nil, G-4], the island of Ghizereh with its massive lebbakh trees [covers B-2+3 to H-3+4], and the smaller English bridge to the western shore [H-3]. Down the shore road we drove, between great rows of lebbakhs and past the vast Zoölogical Gardens [K-2] to the suburb of Gizeh [on map as "El Giza"N-1+2], where a new bridge to Cairo proper has since been built [Abbas II Bridge across Roda Island, L-2+3+4]. Then, turning inland along the Sharia-el-Haram [L-2 → M-1 and leaving the map]....
Update: Raven is a god amongst men. He left this as a comment, and it's awesome:
Point of special interest at F-5: the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.
If you would like to follow Harry Houdini's travels (or travails) in "Under the Pyramids" by map, here are grid references:
... we halted at the great Gare Centrale ["Main Station" at C/D-7/8].
... whilst the very theatre where I was vainly requested to play, and which I later attended as a spectator, had recently been renamed the "American Cosmograph"[period program; now the Cosmos Cinema, still at E-7].
We stopped at Shepherd's Hotel [actually "Shepheard's Hotel"E-7]....
Guided by our Baedeker, we had struck east past the Ezbekiyeh Gardens [E-8] along the Mouski in quest of the native quarter....
At length Abdul took us along the Sharia Mohammed Ali [F-8 → I-9] to the ancient mosque of Sultan Hassan [I-9], and the tower-flanked Bab-el-Azab [the original *gate* of Saladin's Citadel], beyond which climbs the steep-walled pass to the mighty citadel [J-10] that Saladin himself built with the stones of forgotten pyramids. It was sunset when we scaled that cliff, circled the modern mosque of Mohammed Ali [K-11], and looked down from the dizzying parapet over mystic Cairo — mystic Cairo all golden with its carven domes, its ethereal minarets, and its flaming gardens.
Far over the city towered the great Roman dome of the new museum [the Egyptian Museum at F-5]....
The next morning we visited the pyramids, riding out in a Victoria across the great Nile bridge with its bronze lions [Qasr El Nil, G-4], the island of Ghizereh with its massive lebbakh trees [covers B-2+3 to H-3+4], and the smaller English bridge to the western shore [H-3]. Down the shore road we drove, between great rows of lebbakhs and past the vast Zoölogical Gardens [K-2] to the suburb of Gizeh [on map as "El Giza"N-1+2], where a new bridge to Cairo proper has since been built [Abbas II Bridge across Roda Island, L-2+3+4]. Then, turning inland along the Sharia-el-Haram [L-2 → M-1 and leaving the map]....
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Curse You, Pittsburgh
I was planning on offering up my first prop set in years tomorrow, but that's not going to happen. A package containing Arkham Library bookmarks and Tillinghast Field warning stickers has been sitting in Pittsburgh for two days. At the earliest they'll get here on Saturday. If so, I'll have the package available on Monday or Tuesday.
Delays like this are why I'm so paranoid about having things in-hand before I offer them for sale. Ideally, I'd like to offer a short run of 10-12 sets on a Friday, mail them on Monday, and have them in your hands by Thursday at the latest. Quick and simple.
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Delays like this are why I'm so paranoid about having things in-hand before I offer them for sale. Ideally, I'd like to offer a short run of 10-12 sets on a Friday, mail them on Monday, and have them in your hands by Thursday at the latest. Quick and simple.
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Wings of the Dragon
Miel Jolie has a great tutorial on creating a pair of costume dragon wings. What I really want to draw attention to is her technique for creating the wing membranes with Mod Podge. It's a brilliant idea, perfect for making fins and wings for creature gaffs.
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Cthulhu Pendant
Vallhallarts brings us this nicely done Cthulhu pendant carved from real mother of pearl. I love polymer clay and resin pieces, but appropriate natural materials take Mythos works to a whole new level.
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Cthulhu Fhtagn! Nagle Edition.
Artist Shawn Nagle brings us this kaiju-style Cthulhu figure. In an alternate universe a man in the full sized rubber suit version of this concept battled Godzilla, or possibly the Power Rangers. I can't quite decide if that idea is three flavors of awesome, or absolutely terrifying.
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