Last Post!

 

Alright, this is my last post before I completely transfer over to my new site www.shutupnerds.com
and it is only to post a picture of the finished steampunk Boba Fett rifle and lure you to my new site so you can see all of the sweet details.

Steampunk Boba Fett Blaster and New Website

Hey everyone. I am moving the blog to an actual website www.shutupnerds.com. It might take a week or two but while I am doing that I am working on my next project, which I will release on the new site.

 

People seemed to enjoy my steampunk gun post, so I thought I would steampunkify this toy Boba Fett blaster. Anyway, check out the new site an a week or so for that. In the meantime, shut up nerds!

Captain America Helmet and Shield

So I really wanted to be the WW2 Captain America for Halloween but I wanted a quality shield and helmet. Now, if you have had the same idea I'm sure you figured out that it is A - impossible to find a good shield for a good price that isn't a 400 dollar replica and B - just plain impossible to even find an actual CA helmet and not some crappy mask.

So what do I do?  Well I have never sculpted before so that is kind of not an option. I can't cast mold one because, well I don't have template to make a mold. So like most of the stuff I have posted I like to build off of and modify things that already exist to reach my goal. Lets start with the shield.

 

I shopped around for a decent shield on amazon and came up with the Captain America Adult Movie Shield by Disguise. This is is honestly a total piece of flimsy crap but that's why we modify it right? So I cut off the original arm straps and build and insert made out of black foam board and white foam disks. Basically I built a foam shield and glued it to the back of the actual shield.

 

Before I glued it I inserted these old army straps left over from an old project and custom fit them to my arm. Then I painted the entire back with silver acrylic paint to give it an old brushed steel look.

 

From there I just decided to and paint the bullet mark details and what not with black and silver acrylic and of course, clear coat. Now the helmet.

The helmet took quite a bit of trial and error to get right. The main piece is an actual little kids mask. On amazon once again, I found the Marvel Avengers Movie Hero Roleplay Mask Captain America by Hasbro. From there I went to Toys R Us and bought a little kid's Tony Hawk skateboard helmet, gutted it and cut about a quarter of the front off and riveted them together. I'm sure from the vents in the helmet you can tell its a skateboard helmet but hey, no bodies perfect. 

I use automotive paint for almost everything. For this project I used Ford Royal Blue.  

I hand painted the wings because I could not find decals anywhere on the planet. It kinda looks like crap but I can live with it. Haters gunna hate. 

Here I added some actual leather where the gap is in between the skate helmet and the masks fake leather. If you do decide to do something like this, drill ear holes in the leather so you can actually hear stuff. Anyway, I had extra leather and a plastic clasp so I went ahead and added the chin strap.

So here is how horrible it looks on the inside but it gives you a good look at how everything was modified together. A plus from the skate helmet was that it also provided me with the padding, which is nice, so don't throw it away if you go this route. 

All in all this project, not including shipping, took about three days and cost me roughly 120 bucks for both the shield and helmet. 

Tron Tables

These are some tables I modified for a Tron fan film that was not able to be completed. I didn't want them to go to complete waste so I figured I would share them with you guys.

The table above was a foyer table I bought from Amazon that already had removable, frosted glass panes in it, which was nice. This was supposed to be in a bar scene so I got futuristic looking stools for it, also from Amazon. For the lights I went to Home Depot and got a few small, wireless, fluorescent lights that you use under cabinets and whatnot. This would allow for the tables to be easily moved and for no cables in shots. 

This table took a bit more work. It is an outdoor coffee table, also from Amazon. It originally had no walls around it and was completely see through. I frosted the bottom side of the glass with can of spray on frost from any hardware store. Then I used black foam board and cut out a panel for each side of the table that I could pop in and out for easy access to the lights. I also used white foam board on the inside to get a little extra pop from the lights. 

Bullet Shield Plate

This is a prop I made for a short film called Tracked that will be coming out in a few months. In the film it is a metal plate that gets shot with a large caliber bullet.

I took some cardboard from some boxes I had around and cut out how I wanted the plate to look. I did some layering to make it look like someone had made it out of scraps since the movie is in the post apocalyptic future.

I cut out a bullet hole with an exacto knife. Then I painted it with fiberglass resin from Autozone. The resin basically turns the cardboard into hard plastic. After that I covered it in Bondo body patching mold also from Autozone which gives it that tan sculptured look. From there it was just sanding and painting. I used black matte acrylic paint for the base and then silver acrylic paint for the metal sheen.

When I was all done with the plate I made a mushroomed bullet out of the cap of a paint pen. The mushroomed part is just hot glue that I layered up around the base.

Total finished product.

Portal Companion Cube Ring Box

 

This project was pretty simple. My girlfriend (wife now btw) lived 1,500 miles away and I wanted to do something special for her for Christmas that brought us closer. I had seen a concept for Portal engagement rings but I couldn't find anything I could actually buy. The box, I'm sure you can tell, is made out of cardboard. The rings took me a while to hunt down and get the right Portal colors. Finally, I found Tungsten Rings Mall, where you can find any ring with almost any color or design ever.

Wasteland Costume and other Steampunk Accessories

This is my Halloween costume this year. I'm not sure what to call it. It could be a Brown Coat costume from Firefly/Serenity. Maybe a Wastelander from Fallout 3/New Vegas. Or perhaps some random ass dude from some Steampunk world. All I know is, it looks pretty sweet.

The goggles are modified welding goggles you can get at the hardware store. I glued on random clock parts to them and replaced the black tint with amber colored tint. Then I painted them brown with brushed silver in different places for a wood and metal effect. 

I have had the belt for years. Its and old, brown, walmart belt with a warn, gold buckle. The small pouches are Chinese military goggle cases that I got from a military surplus store for 4 bucks a pop. The holster I hand made from leather scraps of previous projects.

The duster jacket I found at a motorcycle rally for 200 bucks, brand new. To all of you who cringed, it was originally 350. I mean its a head to toe, authentic, leather jacket and they are not cheap. Wait for summer and go to your nearest swap meet or rally where you can get some cool, cheap leather jackets if your looking for one.

The boots are infantry, green, slip over, mud boots. These were 2 bucks a piece at the surplus store because, who the hell is going to buy those?  They slip over your shoes, so you can walk around in some comfort. 

Down below are some other accessories I found that fit the look as well.

These are Harry Potter Quidditch goggles that I found at the halloween store. They were black and silver, so I had to paint them brown and copper. The brown acrylic paint holds surprisingly well to the black leather. Don't paint the back side or you will eventually get brown smudges on your face. 

This is just a random flight cap that I found at the Halloween store also. No adjustments. I hope you enjoyed. Check back for more.

To see the steampunk gun click here.