Astyanax's Makes, Builds and Acquisitions: 2024

[Astyanax]

August 8, 2024

I finally got around to putting together this build of Gemma's Candle from Severance (TV). It was modded from a real candle purchased from "A. Dodson's" online.



The candle is roughly 3" in diameter and 4" tall. I first "aged" the candle by lighting it for awhile, and used a pipette to drip some of the melted wax around the edges. After that, it needed some cleanup. Next, I took out the wick and drilled an 11/16" hole all the way through with a Forstner bit.

I disassembled a battery-operated, remote-controlled "moving flame" taper candle, connected it to a USB cord for power (It expects 3 volts and works fine under 5), and embedded it in the hole I had drilled. No glue necessary!

Here it is in action:

Really happy with how it came out, and it was only about a 2-3 hour project! And thanks to ssdesigner for the inspiration and for blazing the trail!

 

[Astyanax]

August 10, 2024

I finished this Atreides Personal Shield Generator from Dune (2021), 3D printed in resin from files downloaded from 3Demon. I think these files are the most accurate versions available.



The shield generator was 3D printed in 8 parts and each individually painted in three different metallic colors. Most parts were coated in satin clearcoat as well to bring down the shine. Having them as separate parts made it easier to paint, although much masking was still necessary. The strap is cheap elastic cord found on Amazon, and the "rivets" holding the strap on are actually real rivets properly installed painted to match!

The "mottled" texture on the underside is actually the result of an adverse reaction some of my paint had to a premature clearcoating! Gotta love the happy accidents!

 

[Astyanax]

August 12, 2024

I received this TVA Handbook from Loki (TV), purchased from a seller on Etsy. This is the Lukatoys version.



It's a really nice quality, fully-bound sketchbook. The first and last page are designs from the show, but the rest of the interior pages are blank with the TVA seal in the lower outside corner.



(Maybe I'll add some show-inspired sketches at some point later on.)

 

[Astyanax]

August 14, 2024

I finally finished my build of the Map Puzzle Ball from Star Wars: Ahsoka (TV). It's a kit from RPF users Wonder Knight and eethan , 3D printed plastic plates on a Megaminx ball.



After removing the supports, washing, and sanding the undersides of the plates, I glued them on each Megaminx segment with CA glue. (Rather than work on each plate before its glued, I wanted to view the whole ball more holistically.)

I then sanded the whole thing with 800 grit, and painted it with Tamiya TS-14 black gloss and TS-21 gold. I topped off with a clearcoat of Alclad Aqua Gloss via airbrush.

The weathering is two shades/layers of acrylic brown, applied with sponges, dabbed up a little with sponges as well, and then allowed to dry. Once dry, I took a wet rag and wiped off much of the brown to give it that more "caked-on" look.

Finally, I touched up some edges and filled some of the smaller circles with gold chrome marker.



Looks good in the Star Wars section of my display while I wait for my Ahsoka saber hilts to arrive!

 

[eethan]

Awesome, thank you so much for sharing

 

[Astyanax]

August 14, 2024

And today I received the two Lightsaber Hilts from Star Wars: Ahsoka (TV), purchased from a limited run by Anakin Starkiller.



The hilts are metal and resin, and came nicely painted and partially weathered. I weathered them a little further with a black wash and a touch of brown.



(There are a few left! Get them while you can!)

 

[Anakin Starkiller]

August 14, 2024

And today I received the two Lightsaber Hilts from Star Wars: Ahsoka (TV), purchased from a limited run by Anakin Starkiller.

View attachment 1850562 View attachment 1850563 View attachment 1850564 View attachment 1850565

The hilts are metal and resin, and came nicely painted and partially weathered. I weathered them a little further with a black wash and a touch of brown.

View attachment 1850567 View attachment 1850568 View attachment 1850569 View attachment 1850570

(There are a few left! Get them while you can!)

Love the weathering. Those pics are gorgeous. Thanks for posting them. Mind if I share them on my Instagram fee?

 

[Astyanax]

Love the weathering. Those pics are gorgeous. Thanks for posting them. Mind if I share them on my Instagram fee?

Not at all, go for it!

 

[Astyanax]

August 16, 2024

I received this Prescription Bottle & Pills from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), purchased from a seller on Etsy.



Very nicely done, looks just like the version in the movie. The capsule are empty, of course.



(I definitely need a Freddy Glove to go with it!)

 

[Astyanax]

August 17, 2024

I received this Melody's Diner Matchbook from Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024), from a seller on Etsy.



This matchbook is pretty convincing, and I think the strike strip is real. Only one match is left, like the ending of the film.



(Needs Garaka's Orb to go with it, which I hope to do in the next month or two!)

 

[Astyanax]

August 19, 2024

I finished this Mask of Loki from The Mask (1994), 3D printed in resin from a file found on Thingiverse.



This thing took a fair amount of resin; it's heavy! The paint consists of many brown and dark brown washes over some painted stripes in various shades of green and brown, and then drybrushed on top with a little bit of green-gray.

The nose piece is bronze paint given a green patina with an activator solution. This was followed by a black wash, and a little bit of bronze drybrushed on top.

 

[greenmachines]

August 19, 2024

I finished this Mask of Loki from The Mask (1994), 3D printed in resin from a file found on Thingiverse.

View attachment 1852062

This thing took a fair amount of resin; it's heavy! The paint consists of many brown and dark brown washes over some painted stripes in various shades of green and brown, and then drybrushed on top with a little bit of green-gray.

The nose piece is bronze paint given a green patina with an activator solution. This was followed by a black wash, and a little bit of bronze drybrushed on top.

View attachment 1852059 View attachment 1852060 View attachment 1852061

I love it but I am seeing some "authentic battle damage" on the upper left of the screen version(when looking at it rather than the character's left). The ocean pic is tipped at just the right angle to hide it.

 

[Astyanax]

I love it but I am seeing some "authentic battle damage" on the upper left of the screen version(when looking at it rather than the character's left). The ocean pic is tipped at just the right angle to hide it.

Ah, cool, never noticed that before!

 

[ssdesigner]

I love it but I am seeing some "authentic battle damage" on the upper left of the screen version(when looking at it rather than the character's left). The ocean pic is tipped at just the right angle to hide it.

I think that what you may be seeing is a dark shadow silhouette of the back side of the mask? Here is the real one that was auctioned off. There is a distinct indent above the right eye, dead center. That indent matches up with the movie still, so I believe that these are the same mold.

MASK, THE (1994) - The Mask of Loki

The mask of Loki from Chuck Russells action-comedy The Mask. During the opening scene of the film, an underwater welder was struck by a pipe and caused the Mask to be released from a chest buried in the sand. brbrThis version of the mask is made of a special light-weight foam urethane allowing...

propstore.com

 

[greenmachines]

The prop store matches the screen grabs (backwards in the mirror one) with 2 actual chip damage locations but the print version above has neither the chip slash on the left nor the chip slash on the right.

Prop store:

But, I'm blowing up your showcase post when we are talking about replicas. Sorry.

I think I only noticed because the lighting in the mirror shot makes it stand out:

 

[Astyanax]

But, I'm blowing up your showcase post when we are talking about replicas. Sorry.

Nah, you're totally welcome to, it's all good!

 

[Astyanax]

August 24, 2024

I finished these "Too Many Secrets" Scrabble Tiles from Sneakers (1992). These are from a real Scrabble game picked up on eBay.



This was a very fun and simple small project that will adds some gravitas to the display. The tiles were superglued onto strips of black Bristol board, with a very small separation between each to let a little light in.

My tiles are also glued in the same vertical alignment as found in the film's closeups.



(Since Scrabble games have enough letters to make this phrase twice, I have an extra set of tiles if anyone wants them. DM me!)

 

[breen2057]

Great idea, and so easy to do as well. love seeing Sneakers props, such a fun movie. Why don't you use the extra letters to make Setec Astronomy.

Also if you could find the answering machine that was used to disguise the code breaker in the movie, it would be a cool addition to the tile display.
I think it was a PANASONIC Auto-logic Easa-Phone answering machine model KX-T1450.

 

[Astyanax]

Great idea, and so easy to do as well. love seeing Sneakers props, such a fun movie. Why don't you use the extra letters to make Setec Astronomy.

Also if you could find the answering machine that was used to disguise the code breaker in the movie, it would be a cool addition to the tile display.
I think it was a PANASONIC Auto-logic Easa-Phone answering machine model KX-T1450.

Very good calls, both, thanks! I just picked up a broken old KX-T1450 on eBay...won't need to weather it!

Thanks so much for the tips!

 

[Astyanax]

August 25, 2024

I finished this Polaroid Photo from Time Bandits (1981), made from scratch and not simply printed on photo paper!



The digital photo was found online, and I "downgraded" the color and sharpness to make it look a little more authentic and retro, as there are some too-decent versions of the photo out there! I then sent away for high quality, high-gloss prints, because Polaroid photos are supposed to be very glossy.

The frame is a real vintage Polaroid photo that was purchased on eBay. I carefully cut out the TOP LAYER ONLY of the photo itself with an x-acto knife. The replacement photo was carefully cut to size and glued in with liquid superglue.



(Yes, the photo is not a perfect match, but there are at least two variants shown in the movie!)
(Yes, I tried the Polaroid Lab Printer, but the app does not work properly on high-res Android phones and they weren't going to fix it for me!)

UPDATE 9/9/2024:

I was ultimately unsatisfied with this rendition, but I found someone on Etsy making more authentic Polaroid photos using the POlaroid Lab printer. So much more realistic!