Very nice!
Jim Henson's Labyrinth - My Collection (Dec 2023 Update: Red Goblin Rider Helmet)
- Thread starter KOMakesThings
- Start date
The Cannonball Goblin is one of my favourite characters! Every time I revisit this thread there's something new and wonderful to see!
KOMakesThings
Well-Known Member
Thank you to everyone who's commented recently, it makes my day to read your kind words! I feel like I'm just starting to feel confident about the quality of my prop builds so I really appreciate any kudos I receive.
Here's my most recent build, and current darling of my collection: The 13 hour Lantern Clock that appears at the end of the film, during Sarah and Jareth's final confrontation.
This particular clock gets precious little screen time, but thankfully we have a few decent reference photos of it thanks to a user on Twitter/Reddit who revealed that their Uncle owns the prop used in the film.
To make my version of the clock, I started off with doing my best attempt at replicating the corner columns with some found objects. From left to right there's a wooden thimble, a mini baseball bat (With an o-ring to cover the seam), a sawed off candle stick (With another o-ring on the seam), and a wilton cake decorating column, cut down to size.
The main body of the clock was made by constructing a base of foam core with 1 inch insulation foam glued into the corners. I cut into the insulation foam to form divots that the columns could slot into, then I cut basswood trim and glued it around the columns/edges of the box. I used wood filler to fill in the gaps between the basswood trim and the columns, added some cut balsawood edging to the top and bottom edges, and then used some of those adhesive wall tiles cut to size to fit into the inset areas of the clock body (Excluding the front, that one is left plain to match the real prop).
The top and bottom pieces of the clock were made the same way, by gluing two sheets of bass wood together (With one slightly smaller than the other, to add a bit of detail). I drilled holes into the corners so I can eventually connect the top and bottom pieces to the main clock body with wood pins. The bottom piece of the clock got a trap door added to it because I'm going to use a clock mechanism for this build and I need to make sure I can still access the battery once it's all assembled. The bottom piece also got some wooden door knobs glued to it to act as the feet of the clock.
To create the straps on the top of the clock I used some EVA foam cut to shape and curved slightly with my heat gun. The edges of the foam will butt up against some decorative finials, I just glued some finials I got off Etsy into a few small discs I had in my craft supply and trimmed one side flat, which will be the side that butts against the EVA foam. I left one base uncut, for the top most finial.
The dome is just a plastic Christmas ornament I cut in half, with a bit of plastic I carved off the back of a hot wheels track glued onto the bottom to try and give the cut edge cleaner finish. The dome is held in place with this little wood pin I made (Out of a dowel and more round discs), which slots through an opening in the Christmas ornament into a hole I drilled into the top-most finial.
The fretwork I outsourced, I found someone on Etsy who offered laser wood cutting/engraving services so I sent them my design and they sent me four of these beauties back. The only thing I added was a small bit of wood to the back to help provide a more stable base for gluing.
The clock face was made by cutting a wood circle out of some basswood and gluing it to an embroidery hoop. My local craft store didn't have a thin wood round in the size I wanted so this was my way of getting around that. I cut a circle out of the basswood prior to gluing it onto the embroidery hoop, then glued that onto more foam core.
Here's how everything looked prior to priming/painting. The main components of the clock haven't been glued down for this photo, I saved that for after the priming/painting steps.
I used Filler Spray Primer to help smooth out some of the wood texture, sanding it between coats. My preferred gold spray paint is Rustoleum Specialty Metallic Gold, so I applied that and followed it up with some acrylic paint to try and age the clock a bit. I ended up adding some Pebeo Gilders Wax in the "Empire" shade, as I felt like I over did it a bit with the acrylic paint and wanted to bring some of the gold shine back. The EVA straps were primed with Plastidip, given a base coat of PlaidFX gold paint, then topped with "European Gold" Rub n'buff. The dome shape was primed with glossy black paint, sprayed with some silver spray paint, and followed up with a layer of "Silver Leaf" Rub n'buff.
I designed the clock face in Illustrator and cut it out on some vinyl with my Cricut, and then applied it to the clock face. Just a note, this was a huge pain in the butt thanks to the gilders wax. My lines are all wobbly because the vinyl had to be coaxed onto the waxy clock face, so my recommendation for anyone wanting to replicate this project is to skip the wax there. Anyways, once that was finally done I installed the clock kit, the clock was finally ready for final assembly.
And here it is in all it's glory. I'm super pleased at myself with this one, it managed to live up to the lofty expectations I set for myself. Here's hoping my prop replica skills haven't peaked with this particular build, it's definitely going to be hard to top this one.
(The bricks in the background are just some more pink insulation foam carved with an exacto knife, rolled with a ball of tinfoil for texture, and painted using various washes until I was fed up with waiting for paint to dry.)
Here's my most recent build, and current darling of my collection: The 13 hour Lantern Clock that appears at the end of the film, during Sarah and Jareth's final confrontation.
This particular clock gets precious little screen time, but thankfully we have a few decent reference photos of it thanks to a user on Twitter/Reddit who revealed that their Uncle owns the prop used in the film.
To make my version of the clock, I started off with doing my best attempt at replicating the corner columns with some found objects. From left to right there's a wooden thimble, a mini baseball bat (With an o-ring to cover the seam), a sawed off candle stick (With another o-ring on the seam), and a wilton cake decorating column, cut down to size.
The main body of the clock was made by constructing a base of foam core with 1 inch insulation foam glued into the corners. I cut into the insulation foam to form divots that the columns could slot into, then I cut basswood trim and glued it around the columns/edges of the box. I used wood filler to fill in the gaps between the basswood trim and the columns, added some cut balsawood edging to the top and bottom edges, and then used some of those adhesive wall tiles cut to size to fit into the inset areas of the clock body (Excluding the front, that one is left plain to match the real prop).
The top and bottom pieces of the clock were made the same way, by gluing two sheets of bass wood together (With one slightly smaller than the other, to add a bit of detail). I drilled holes into the corners so I can eventually connect the top and bottom pieces to the main clock body with wood pins. The bottom piece of the clock got a trap door added to it because I'm going to use a clock mechanism for this build and I need to make sure I can still access the battery once it's all assembled. The bottom piece also got some wooden door knobs glued to it to act as the feet of the clock.
To create the straps on the top of the clock I used some EVA foam cut to shape and curved slightly with my heat gun. The edges of the foam will butt up against some decorative finials, I just glued some finials I got off Etsy into a few small discs I had in my craft supply and trimmed one side flat, which will be the side that butts against the EVA foam. I left one base uncut, for the top most finial.
The dome is just a plastic Christmas ornament I cut in half, with a bit of plastic I carved off the back of a hot wheels track glued onto the bottom to try and give the cut edge cleaner finish. The dome is held in place with this little wood pin I made (Out of a dowel and more round discs), which slots through an opening in the Christmas ornament into a hole I drilled into the top-most finial.
The fretwork I outsourced, I found someone on Etsy who offered laser wood cutting/engraving services so I sent them my design and they sent me four of these beauties back. The only thing I added was a small bit of wood to the back to help provide a more stable base for gluing.
The clock face was made by cutting a wood circle out of some basswood and gluing it to an embroidery hoop. My local craft store didn't have a thin wood round in the size I wanted so this was my way of getting around that. I cut a circle out of the basswood prior to gluing it onto the embroidery hoop, then glued that onto more foam core.
Here's how everything looked prior to priming/painting. The main components of the clock haven't been glued down for this photo, I saved that for after the priming/painting steps.
I used Filler Spray Primer to help smooth out some of the wood texture, sanding it between coats. My preferred gold spray paint is Rustoleum Specialty Metallic Gold, so I applied that and followed it up with some acrylic paint to try and age the clock a bit. I ended up adding some Pebeo Gilders Wax in the "Empire" shade, as I felt like I over did it a bit with the acrylic paint and wanted to bring some of the gold shine back. The EVA straps were primed with Plastidip, given a base coat of PlaidFX gold paint, then topped with "European Gold" Rub n'buff. The dome shape was primed with glossy black paint, sprayed with some silver spray paint, and followed up with a layer of "Silver Leaf" Rub n'buff.
I designed the clock face in Illustrator and cut it out on some vinyl with my Cricut, and then applied it to the clock face. Just a note, this was a huge pain in the butt thanks to the gilders wax. My lines are all wobbly because the vinyl had to be coaxed onto the waxy clock face, so my recommendation for anyone wanting to replicate this project is to skip the wax there. Anyways, once that was finally done I installed the clock kit, the clock was finally ready for final assembly.
And here it is in all it's glory. I'm super pleased at myself with this one, it managed to live up to the lofty expectations I set for myself. Here's hoping my prop replica skills haven't peaked with this particular build, it's definitely going to be hard to top this one.
(The bricks in the background are just some more pink insulation foam carved with an exacto knife, rolled with a ball of tinfoil for texture, and painted using various washes until I was fed up with waiting for paint to dry.)
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Beautiful!!
KOMakesThings
Well-Known Member
Thank you both! This was a really fun project to do, it was never really high on my Labyrinth 'to-do' list and yet now that it's here it's one of my favourite builds to date.
Speaking of that to-do list, I have a resin Goblin Knight helmet that I've had for ages that I've yet to customize/paint. One of these days I'm gonna have to get my butt off and finish that one off, I kept putting it off because I wasn't sure my painting skills would be up to snuff but maybe I've improved enough in the last year or so that I can finally give it a go. Otherwise the only other project that I currently have my sights on is to make Hoggle's pouch of goodies. I think this will be a fun one to make, lots of found objects to grime up with aging. I guess I'll have to be on the look out for some vintagey-looking scissors (And whatever the heck that metal thing on the top is, a spoon?)
KOMakesThings
Well-Known Member
I decided I wanted to try my hand at making some Goblin weaponry, so I dug around on various prop auction sites and found myself inspired by a particularly fun shaped weapon (That my co-workers have dubbed the 'Swaxe'). Not quite a sword, not quite an axe, this guy gave me a fair bit of grief over the last few months!
After having the unfinished sword sit on my shelves for a good long Michaels started putting all their cosplay stuff on clearance, so I ended up getting some black Worbla and covered the entire sword.
Worbla has a bit of a texture to it, so I then added a layer of liquitex modelling paste over that. I smoothed the paste on the blade with a wet finger tip, sanding it down relatively smoothly, while I stippled the paste onto the grip. That's not accurate to the original prop. I just thought the difference in textures would look nice.
KOMakesThings
Well-Known Member
Certainly! I didn't take many pictures of the painting process unfortunately, but for the blade of the sword I used PlaidFX Chainmail, then followed that up with some watered down black acrylic paint for some aging. I found the best way to apply the black aging was to brush it on and then immediately sponge most of it off with a damp paper towel.
I used Folk Art's Milk Chocolate for the spots of rust, I started off by stippling it on with a small brush but I actually found it looked the most natural when I used my fingers instead (Probably because it forced me to be a bit more random with it). The Milk Chocolate colour was also watered down in some spots to give the rust a bit of variety in how transparent it was.
For the grip I used Krylon's Specialty Gold Metallics for the base coat, then I used a few layers of watered down black/brown acrylic paint to age things up. I also applied the watered down black/brown paint to the twine and the faux suede.
Also I forgot to mention in my original post, but before applying the paint to the faux suede I went at it with a bit of sand paper to add some wear and tear, and I also rubbed on a light tan and black chalk pastels in some spots to add a bit of dust/grime.
KOMakesThings
Well-Known Member
No new prop builds to share, but I did complete a few upgrades to my earliest Labyrinth prop replica, the wooden maze game that appears in Sarah's bedroom.
I talked about this build in one of the first pages of this thread, but to give a quick summary: I bought the wooden Labyrinth on eBay after being inspired by Howlrunner's thread. I pried off the existing walls, cut new taller walls, painted them green, and glued them in place. I hand carved, molded, and cast the obelisk pieces, which as you can expect made for some kinda rough looking obelisks.
Years later the obelisks were the main thing I wanted to upgrade, and I got myself a 3D printer a little while ago so it was the perfect tool for the job. I modelled the obelisks in Sketchup and printed them. It was my first foray into 3D printing so it took a few tries, but eventually I successfully manage to print all of the obelisks (And the little vaguely person shaped figures that sit on top of some of the walls in the Labyrinth).
(Apparently I didn't take a single photo of all of the obelisks together, so enjoy this single obelisk alongside part of Glitch from ReBoot that I also printed).
I then painted the obelisks with some spray paint then replaced the old ones with the new ones on the board, and now I'm a lot happier with my build! Here's another pic, this one inspired by Labyrinth poster by Laurent Durieux.
I'd like to do more 3D printed Labyrinth projects, one of my big wishes is to redo the Jareth statue that cameos in the above image. I don't have a ton of experience with 3D modelling so I'll have to teach myself first before I attempt the Jareth statue, but I'd love to have a super accurate version one day and I think 3D printing is my best chance of that.
I talked about this build in one of the first pages of this thread, but to give a quick summary: I bought the wooden Labyrinth on eBay after being inspired by Howlrunner's thread. I pried off the existing walls, cut new taller walls, painted them green, and glued them in place. I hand carved, molded, and cast the obelisk pieces, which as you can expect made for some kinda rough looking obelisks.
Years later the obelisks were the main thing I wanted to upgrade, and I got myself a 3D printer a little while ago so it was the perfect tool for the job. I modelled the obelisks in Sketchup and printed them. It was my first foray into 3D printing so it took a few tries, but eventually I successfully manage to print all of the obelisks (And the little vaguely person shaped figures that sit on top of some of the walls in the Labyrinth).
(Apparently I didn't take a single photo of all of the obelisks together, so enjoy this single obelisk alongside part of Glitch from ReBoot that I also printed).
I then painted the obelisks with some spray paint then replaced the old ones with the new ones on the board, and now I'm a lot happier with my build! Here's another pic, this one inspired by Labyrinth poster by Laurent Durieux.
I'd like to do more 3D printed Labyrinth projects, one of my big wishes is to redo the Jareth statue that cameos in the above image. I don't have a ton of experience with 3D modelling so I'll have to teach myself first before I attempt the Jareth statue, but I'd love to have a super accurate version one day and I think 3D printing is my best chance of that.
KOMakesThings
Well-Known Member
Thank you so much! I appreciate this prop getting a bit of love, I'm pretty sentimental about it because it's what got me into prop building. Seeing Howlrunner's thread got me thinking "Hey, I could maybe do that build too", and by the time I finished was fully bitten by the prop replica bug. Strange to think that this one unassuming prop that doesn't get much screen time paved the way for me to learn a lot of new skills (And fill my shelves with a lot more Labyrinth prop replicas).
OzReturner
Sr Member
Per your request in my Return to Oz thread, I've tried looking for the Wizard of Oz book seen on Sarah's desk. It's the large size and thinness that is really stumping me. It seems too thin to be the actual, original book, even taking into account it's larger dimensions. It also doesn't say "Wonderful Wizard," which is usually listed if it is the actual story. It seems more like the kind of book you would get at a school book fair, like a storybook or picture book of sorts. I've tried searching for storybook, story book, picture book, activity book, Scholastic (book club), and 1980s (it seems brand new and shiny in the screenshot). I will try to search some more when I can, but I at least hope this different take and search parameters helps you out, and can guide you in the future to find what you are looking for. All the best of luck!
KOMakesThings
Well-Known Member
Thanks for giving it a shot! I agree, I think it's probably a storybook or picture book adaptation of the story (Possibly an adaptation of the movie specifically?). Last I googled I couldn't find any trace of something similar with a primarily black cover (And what is presumably one of the characters holding up a flag?).
Thanks for looking! It actually never occurred to me to check Etsy, I'll have to give them a look through on the off chance they have something there.
I think the "red flag" <hehe> is a red herring. If you look close, it might be the red spine of the book in front of it.
