Kassia's newest project! (now about 90% complete!)

Kassia - Mon, 12/27/2010 - 13:03

so, i think some of you have heard about the WoW weapon contest that i've been interested in, and i thought it would be fun to document my process :)

i'm officially doing the [zhardoom, greatstaff of the devourer], and these are my basic drawings of it:

and i figured i could make it using a 3D method i know; styrofoam and plaster. it's easy to shape and light weight.i'm using coat hanger wires to connect the long part of the staff, and i'm gluing it all togehter using wood glue. after it dries i'm going to shape the foam to be as detailed as possible and then put the plaser on in a relatively thin coat and use various tools to give it the final texture. when that's done it's going to be painted and the eyes are going to be glued on, and insto presto! a greatstaff!

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feh.

Kassia - Sat, 01/22/2011 - 12:10

SO i was hellbent on finishing it for the deadline yesterday, but shit happened and i lost all motivation to even bother. BUT i will finish it eventually just for the experience.

Sweet!

Xyro - Sat, 01/22/2011 - 12:16

Lookin good Kass! You have far more patience than I do, if it doesn't have a motor, wheels or a CPU I would have never even gone near it =P

it's getting there..

Kassia - Wed, 01/12/2011 - 20:03

i've done a LOT of sanding and replastering and sanding, and the pinchy things ALL broke off, but i found a better way to get them on the head, so they're there pretty good now. tomorrow i'll do the final plastering and sanding if i can get motivation (rought week -.-) and hopefully it'll be detailed and painted before friday :)

Looking creepy!

kibito - Fri, 01/07/2011 - 15:01

Looks really good so far Kass! Though, I kind of think it's looking a little short?

eh, it's just the angle of the picture

Kassia - Fri, 01/07/2011 - 16:04

if i put both pieces together it stands almost as tall as me, and i'm like 5' 7"

MOAR PIX

Kassia - Fri, 01/07/2011 - 14:21

so i realized it's been a while since i updated, and it's possible people are curious as to how this is working for me. WELL. let me tell you. as soon as i started plastering complications arose. i got too excited about the fact that i was progressing when i first started plastering, and tried to move the staff too soon after the first plastering. it was still very fragile but now had some weight to it, and it snapped in 4 different places. not good. so i've spent the past few days slowly fixing it and trying to make where it broke stronger. and so far it seems successful. i started to smooth it out a little with a rasp (i know those are ment for wood, but they tear through plaster like it's playdough) and i've done another coat of plaster. there's still some foam spots every now and then, but i'll touch those up on the final coat. then it's off to crazy painstaking carving detail! i'm going to carve out the texture on the top of the zergling and cut off the lower jaw so i can hollow out the head (lighten it up) and re-attach the jaw so it's open and do a REALLY light coat of plaster on the inside so it's not bare foam. then, it's time to make clay pieces (the little antenae things and teeth will be clay), gluing them on, gluing the head to the rest of the staff, and paint and detailing! (or at least that's how i hope i can do things)

i've found it easier to do the staff in two pieces, when it was complete it was really hard to move around and get everywhere with the plaster, that's the one break that i think acutally worked for me.

:D phase 3:

Kassia - Tue, 12/28/2010 - 22:21

i got the small pieces together, and it's all glued and ready to go for plaster :) it's coming out quite nicely, the little tenticle-like things are going to be made in clay and glued on later.

phase 2:

Kassia - Tue, 12/28/2010 - 13:51

the main part of the body is now shaped out for the most part, gonna re-glue with stronger glue

The name of the staff

fiermi - Mon, 12/27/2010 - 22:04

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z'ha'dum_(planet)

I don't know if this is what inspired the name but it seemed like it to me

!

Tranquility - Fri, 01/07/2011 - 15:26

IF YOU GO TO ZA'HA'DUM YOU WILL DIE

Maybe try some rattan ? I use

mcrourke - Mon, 12/27/2010 - 19:42

Maybe try some rattan ? I use rattan from hh perkins for stick fighting, its light and firm, plus its easily sandable into shapes etc, might make a decent core to work with?? Good luck

Neil

You could also try...

Warfury - Tue, 12/28/2010 - 03:59

...fiberglass poles; my fighting group uses them as the core for a lot of our weapons. Just a thought.

hmm..strength may be an issue.

Siopao - Mon, 12/27/2010 - 13:24

See..

http://volpinprops.blogspot.com/2010/05/light-staff-final-fantasy-xi.html

this guy is sick!

well, if i had more time..

Kassia - Mon, 12/27/2010 - 14:15

and a shit ton more experience, i'd LOVE to make the staff the way he is. but, with the time restraint and my knowledge foam and plaster is going to work just fine. the only part i'm worried about is the long part of the staff, but it's easily reenforced with the wire hangers i cut and speared through the foam, and once the plaster goes on it'll be pretty solid. i learned this technique when i made an organic object for my 3D class; the sleepy hallow tree:

Oh wait.

kibito - Mon, 12/27/2010 - 14:38

you should use a core like pvc pipe or something. That will give it a solid feel to it. you can mold/carve the foam around that. You can blame Thack for that little bit of knowledge.

Eh.

kibito - Mon, 12/27/2010 - 13:32

If it's mostly foam, it shouldn't be much of a problem.