kavjapan
New Member
First post!
This is my Harry Potter themed game room. I started working on it about two years ago during quarantine. There's about 300 props so far --228 DIY and 58 bought from places like the Noble Collection. I also built the game table and shelves and sofa, etc. (But they don't count as props
)
My latest build was a full-scale Firebolt broom. It was such a blast to make. The WIP pics are below.
(I've got WIP pics for most of the builds but posting everything would be ridiculous. If anyone's interested in seeing something specific, let me know.)
There's a lot of lights and whatnot for game nights.
Anyway, on to the Firebolt!
Started in March. I like to start by printing out a 1:1 image of whatever I'm building. Makes for a really simple reference as you go along.
Then the first step is happening upon a perfect branch of hard wood (persimmon in this case) just lying on the side of a mountain road!
Basic shaping and carving. The Firebolt design is interesting as it has a smooth polished top and lots of burl on the bottom. This branch was relatively smooth so I had to carve in the rough bits by hand. Then the magic runes on the top.
Next, about a million layers of polyurethane on top, basic stain on bottom, and the runes are inlayed with gold leaf. (This was completely unnecessary but let's me say "It's actual gold!" when people see it. --Though it does give an interesting texture as opposed to just paint.)
A little aging and the handle was done.
Gathered branches for the tail and painted them. (I would end up needing to redo most of it later so this step should have been last.)
Now on to the footrests. Began with two blocks of carbon steel. The main challenge was that the footrest bars are gently tapered. It's a cool, sleek design but, if you don't have a giant metal lathe, it only leaves the option of hand forging. (As far as I know, anyway.)
With a basic tapered cylinder, then came the intimidating task of all the compound bends, which had to be mirrored right and left.
Then grinding and grinding and grinding, but at least it was mid-August.
Had more detail work to do later, but now the basic pieces were there. So I moved on to the cups (which were just some flower pots) and then putting it all together.
Cut slits in the ends of the bars and welded in a slat of mild steel into one of them. Then drilled through the handle. Put it all together and welded the slat to the other footrest from inside the cup. (I did a test run to see what would happen to the wood so close to a welding spot. Nothing dramatically burst into flame.)
Some more detail grinding to get the foot grips and grooves, etc. It was also much easier to mirror the two pieces perfectly once they had been attached.
Then painting and some distressing. (Yes my fellow nerds, I'm aware that the metalwork is Goblin-made and thus impervious to damage, but it just looks better when it's been aged.)
Finally time to reattach the tail. This I thought would be simple but I had to take most of it apart and hot glue a lot of the little forward branches one by one to align and fill out everything. Then paint a lot of it over again. (FYI a bicycle stand is highly recommended for making brooms.)
Finished in early September so about 7 months (but I had some other projects going on as well). Looking through the pics, I'd roughly say about 45 hours.
It's probably my favorite build so far. Really came out nice and adds so much to the room.
Thanks for checking it out!
This is my Harry Potter themed game room. I started working on it about two years ago during quarantine. There's about 300 props so far --228 DIY and 58 bought from places like the Noble Collection. I also built the game table and shelves and sofa, etc. (But they don't count as props
)My latest build was a full-scale Firebolt broom. It was such a blast to make. The WIP pics are below.
(I've got WIP pics for most of the builds but posting everything would be ridiculous. If anyone's interested in seeing something specific, let me know.)
There's a lot of lights and whatnot for game nights.
Anyway, on to the Firebolt!
Started in March. I like to start by printing out a 1:1 image of whatever I'm building. Makes for a really simple reference as you go along.
Then the first step is happening upon a perfect branch of hard wood (persimmon in this case) just lying on the side of a mountain road!
Basic shaping and carving. The Firebolt design is interesting as it has a smooth polished top and lots of burl on the bottom. This branch was relatively smooth so I had to carve in the rough bits by hand. Then the magic runes on the top.
Next, about a million layers of polyurethane on top, basic stain on bottom, and the runes are inlayed with gold leaf. (This was completely unnecessary but let's me say "It's actual gold!" when people see it. --Though it does give an interesting texture as opposed to just paint.)
A little aging and the handle was done.
Gathered branches for the tail and painted them. (I would end up needing to redo most of it later so this step should have been last.)
Now on to the footrests. Began with two blocks of carbon steel. The main challenge was that the footrest bars are gently tapered. It's a cool, sleek design but, if you don't have a giant metal lathe, it only leaves the option of hand forging. (As far as I know, anyway.)
With a basic tapered cylinder, then came the intimidating task of all the compound bends, which had to be mirrored right and left.
Then grinding and grinding and grinding, but at least it was mid-August.
Had more detail work to do later, but now the basic pieces were there. So I moved on to the cups (which were just some flower pots) and then putting it all together.
Cut slits in the ends of the bars and welded in a slat of mild steel into one of them. Then drilled through the handle. Put it all together and welded the slat to the other footrest from inside the cup. (I did a test run to see what would happen to the wood so close to a welding spot. Nothing dramatically burst into flame.)
Some more detail grinding to get the foot grips and grooves, etc. It was also much easier to mirror the two pieces perfectly once they had been attached.
Then painting and some distressing. (Yes my fellow nerds, I'm aware that the metalwork is Goblin-made and thus impervious to damage, but it just looks better when it's been aged.)
Finally time to reattach the tail. This I thought would be simple but I had to take most of it apart and hot glue a lot of the little forward branches one by one to align and fill out everything. Then paint a lot of it over again. (FYI a bicycle stand is highly recommended for making brooms.)
Finished in early September so about 7 months (but I had some other projects going on as well). Looking through the pics, I'd roughly say about 45 hours.
It's probably my favorite build so far. Really came out nice and adds so much to the room.
Thanks for checking it out!
