When My Brain Leaks, the Drops Drip Here.

Word of the Day: Neologism

2012-02-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

From Merriam-Webster: NEOLOGISM [pronounced nee-ol-uh-jiz-uhm]a new word, usage, or expression a meaningless word coined by a psychotic A "neologism" is a new word introduced into the language. I ran across this new word for the first time today. According to my research, it's first recorded usage was in 1803. It is not a neologism. If only there were an adequate antonym... .

Ready to Drop

2012-01-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

So the HALO short film I made all those props and costumes for last summer is finally going to be released online. Tomorrow! Check it out at helljumper.com.

Random Animal Picture of the Day

2012-01-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a chicken standing on a sheep: The last time I tried to take this picture, my camera was destroyed in the process. I felt it was worth the risk to be able to share this. You're welcome. .

Prop Building 101 Part 1: Building a Helmet from Pepakura

2012-01-20T13:02:00.000-08:00

I get a lot of people asking questions about how I make the many things I make. Either that or commenting on how they could never do the things that I do. So lately I've decided to share my knowledge and write up descriptions of different ways I build things. The posts labeled "Propbuilding 101" will detail techniques ranging from those that require specialized skills to those that require

Coming Soon: Combat Garden Gnome Officer with Pistol!

2012-01-15T10:46:00.000-08:00

Dawn. The morning sun peeks over the top of the distant, gently rolling hills to the East. The dew glistens in the golden light of early day. In the growing light, the silence is only broken by the occasional chirping bird. The ball goes up. A shrill whistle. The distant thump of a field gun. The dogs of war unleashed, gnomes charge across the plain, shouting their ferocious battle cry

HALO Inspired Vacformed First Aid Kit Case

2012-01-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

It happens every so often. No matter how careful I am, no matter how slowly and thoughtfully I work, I find myself bleeding in the workshop from time to time. I understand that once in a while the Project Gods demand blood sacrifices to ensure successful completion of whatever I'm working on. Still, hemorrhaging bodily fluids have a tendency to mar my careful paint jobs if not taken care of in

Now Available: Ninja Garden Gnomes

2012-01-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

The Ninja Garden Gnome is a master of sabotage, infiltration, and martial arts. A shadow in the darkness, he moves like the wind. The ninja garden gnome is as elusive as a raindrop in the ocean. You will never see the ninja garden gnome. You will never hear the ninja garden gnome. At best, you can only suspect that the ninja garden gnome is there. When you place your order, you will

Shiny New Camera

2012-01-09T23:45:00.000-08:00

Back in August of 2009 I bought a Canon point-and-shoot digital camera. Specifically, it was a Canon PowerShot SD1400IS. I liked it. It was orange. Unfortunately, I carry my point-and-shoot everywhere. If I'm driving, it's in a cup holder, when I'm in the workshop it's in my chest pocket, and when I'm sailing, it's sitting in the cockpit next to me. It gets hot and cold and surrounded by

In the Game of Garden Warfare, Escalation is Everyone's Enemy

2012-01-05T00:43:00.000-08:00

The garden gnomes started by giving each other dirty looks. Then there were angry words, thrown stones, and the occasional late-night assault. Then, before you know it, they're firing explosive ordnance at each other. When the time for carnage inevitably comes, there's no better choice than the Ruchnoy Protivotankovyy Granatomyot, hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher. Known more famously as the

Star Wars Republic Commando Helmet Part IV: Now it's Just Getting Ridiculous

2011-12-24T23:02:00.000-08:00

A while back I posted a series of articles about the creation of my Boss helmet from Star Wars Republic Commando. In the first article I explained how I built the prototype. In the second article I detailed the process of making the mold. In the third article I walked through the painting process. Here's what it looked like when it was done: The problem is, that was only the leader of

Current Works in Progress

2011-12-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've had anything finished to the point where I can post an article about any of my projects, but I don't want anybody to get the idea that I've been slacking off. In the past month I've made small progress on all sors of things. Here's the current state of a few of them... As a follow-up to my build of the M-3 Predator heavy pistol from Mass Effect 2, I've been

Custom-Pierced Tire

2011-12-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

The other day I borrowed a truck from my dad so I could run around and pick up some materials I needed. At the end of the day I returned it and he noticed that I'd picked up a nail in the right rear tire. I don't know how I managed it, but it looked like so: He tells me it looks cool enough that he's just going to leave it there.

FrankenBarn, the 2011 Barn Raising Project

2011-12-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

For years now my father's been complaining about his shortage of indoor parking spaces and workspaces. He's been converting all of his outbuildings (mostly disused 100-year-old chicken barns) into garages and putting up tents and lean-tos wherever he can hide them out of view from his house. Still, this isn't enough. He's also been compulsively squirrelling away a respectable stockpile of heavy

At Long Last: Sailing Home Aboard the Heart of Gold

2011-12-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you may remember that I dropped my boat, the Heart of Gold, off at Svendsen's Boat Works back in June so that they could replace the mainmast damaged in a disagreement with a drawbridge. While she was there, I went ahead and had them haul her out of the water for new bottom paint and some much needed maintenance. Five an a half months later

Isaac Clarke Meets His Makers

2011-11-29T21:33:00.000-08:00

After pictures of my Isaac Clarke costume from Dead Space 2 started making their way around the internets, it turns out my work was eventually noticed by some of the crew at Visceral Games, the studio responsible for creating the original concept that it was based on. A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Ian Milham, Art Director for the Dead Space series, inviting me to come down and visit

Heart of Gold Repair Update

2011-11-29T04:50:00.000-08:00

The last time I wrote about the ongoing drama surrounding the rigging repairs on board my boat following my disagreement with a drawbridge, I stated that "with any luck I'll have the boat back sometime this month." That was early October. I have no luck. Clearly. Over the following six weeks or so, I've had two separate occasions to go down to Alameda and look over the work in progress. I

Dear America, You Missed a Few

2011-11-28T14:35:00.000-08:00

What you're looking at are just four of the forty or fifty wild turkeys that have been waddling around in the street and blocking traffic for months now as I drive out to my workshop. So far I've been content to sit and wait while conscientious drivers ahead of me stop for however long it takes these moron birds to cross the street in their own good time. Meanwhile, I idle away thinking of my

I Need Cash to Pay for my Projects Again

2011-11-22T23:55:00.000-08:00

So I'm selling another batch of my Combat Garden Gnomes. Here's a crappy cellphone pic showing them all lined up on the table: You can buy them (and see better pictures of them) in my Etsy shop: http://etsy.com/shop/thorssoli. Get them while they're hot.

HALO: Helljumper Update

2011-11-12T10:22:00.000-08:00

Those of you following along at home will remember that a while back I was asked to make some props and costumes for a fan-made HALO short film titled HALO: Helljumper. The other day, they released a new poster: More impressive, they've also finally released a full theatrical trailer: I was pretty excited to see the finished product before. Now I'm on the edge of my seat. The pilot is

Helmet Display Stands

2011-11-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

I spend a lot of time on my replica helmets. The paintjobs usually involve several layers of finishes in various shades and sheens even before I start on the weathering process where I'll add half a dozen more colors and who knows how many hours of labor. Then I set them on a shelf or pile them in a box or hang them from the rafters in my workshop until some nebulous future date when I'll have a

Halo Spartan Armor Photo of the Month

2011-10-31T11:02:00.000-07:00

Photo: Melissa Howell Props and Costume: Shawn Thorsson Model: Shawn Thorsson

Video from the Maker Faire

2011-10-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

I did an interview about some of my build processes at the Maker Faire back in May. The video finally posted to Youtube the other day. They've got me explaining the steps that went into building the weapons, but what's really great is the opening sequence. Enjoy. Everybody in costume really looked great, but I can't help thinking I kinda sound like an idiot. Nice to finally see the video.

Isaac Clarke's Engineering RIG Costume

2011-10-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted about building the helmet for Isaac Clarke's engineering RIG from Dead Space 2 Wearing the helmet and nothing else looks wrong. Plus, it tends to disturb the other patrons in the coffee shop I frequent. This means I absolutely had to build the rest of the RIG. Here's the end result: For details on how I made it (and a few better pictures), read on. I started with

Now Available: Combat Garden Gnomes with Grenades

2011-10-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

First off, here's a picture of the finished sculpt next to the standing and kneeling versions: As you can see, this guy is the heaviest gnome I've made yet. Here's the first copy out of the mold: As usual, the original sculpt did not survive the molding process: I don't have any painted ones just yet, but when I do I'll be posting them up as well. If you'd like an unpainted one, I've got

More Pics from Jia Jem's Photoshoot with my M3 Predator Pistol from Mass Effect

2011-10-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

The other day I got a few more pics from Jia's photoshoot with my pistol. Here's my favorite: