The Dagger of Algiz

Clayton brings us the Algiz dagger, made from carved and polished antler.

The Sea Bishop

Giulio Artioli brings us this curious specimen of a "sea bishop", one of the classic cryptids. Browse through the rest of his gallery and you'll find some other interesting items suitable for a cabinet of curiosities or sideshow attraction.

Vintage-Style Laboratory Equipment

"i-Zombie" brings us this wonderful accessory for a vintage mad scientists laboratory. It's based on a similar piece from the craftsmen at Stelter Creative, which was itself inspired by the pioneering prop design work of Kenneth Strickfaden.

The Book of the D'ni

"Ravingspawn" brings us this exellent reproduction of the master linking book from the "Myst" series of interactive adventures. Browse through their gallery for an incredible selection of props from the games.

The Mountains of Madness Project

"In spite of all the prevailing horrors, we were left with enough sheer scientific zeal and adventurousness to wonder about the unknown realm beyond those mysterious mountains. As our guarded messages stated, we rested at midnight after our day of terror and bafflement - but not without a tentative plan for one or more range-crossing altitude flights in a lightened plane with aerial camera and geologist’s outfit, beginning the following morning. It was decided that Danforth and I try it first, and we awaked at 7 A.M. intending an early flight; however, heavy winds - mentioned in our brief, bulletin to the outside world - delayed our start till nearly nine o’clock."

- H.P. Lovecraft, "At the Mountains of Madness"

On January 26, 1931 Prof. William Dyer and graduate student Paul Danforth set out on the aerial journey that would culminate with the discovery of an ancient city high atop the Antarctic plateau.

What was found in that city is at the heart of Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness", and one of the primary motivations for the creation of Propnomicon. For years I've been working on the my personal collection of items based on the story, a process documented in the "From the Mountains of Madness" posts. Now I'd like to build on that process.

In a few weeks I'm going to start another Kickstarter drive to fund the "At the Mountains of Madness" prop set. In many respects it will be similar to the earlier Arkham Sanitarium and Miskatonic University efforts, but kicked up a notch. As before, the emphasis will be on items that can't be easily reproduced at home. It doesn't make sense to do a run of prop documents that can be just as easily released as PDFs and printed at your convenience.

At this point I'm aiming to have a basic package that includes the period map of Antarctica I first posted back in 2009, a schematic of the modified Dornier Do-J Wals used by the expedition, an art deco travel-style poster for the departure ceremony in Boston, an expedition equipment sticker, and a postcard for the stop in Hobart, Tasmania. The target for that is around $12-$15 plus shipping.

The next tier will include new versions of the expedition patch, the small fieldbooks, and a cloisonne lapel pin. Since so many of you already have the old versions I wanted to avoid forcing you to buy the new ones just to get the other stuff. The target for that is roughly $20-$25 plus shipping.

I have a few ideas for items to include in a deluxe tier beyond that, but I want to firm up the details of the basic packages first.

One question that may have occurred to you is why I'm announcing the project before I actually launch it. You can credit that to my well documented paranoia. It's inevitable in any human endeavor that there will be delays and things will go wrong. To the greatest extent possible I try to avoid those issues by having all the design work done before I ask anyone for money. If everything is ready to go into production the instant the project gets funded there are far fewer chances for something to go wrong.

As always, your thoughts are appreciated. Particularly if you have any suggestions for cool stuff I haven't thought of. The only restriction on additional items is that they should be able to fit inside a 25" long, 3" diameter mailing tube.

Cheap and Easy Mold Making

"Matrix" brings us this tutorial on low budget mold making using silicone caulk. This is ideal for projects when you just want to quickly run off a few copies. Is the mold as detailed as one made with low viscosity casting silicone? Of course not. But most hobby propmaking doesn't really need that level of quality, particularly for the intentionally primitive artifacts we've been discussing recently.

The Sigil of Akatosh

With well over five million copies sold it's safe to say that "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" is a huge success. The game has a great blend of action and storytelling depth, not to mention some wonderful design work. Allan Harwood brings us an example translated from digital to physical form: the Sigil of Akatosh.

"My first step was figuring out a size I wanted to work with. After scaling the above image, and doing some quick sketches and measurements, I settled on 2.75″ for each side of the diamond shape. I then cut out a rough rectangle in thick white styrene board (I don’t remember the thickness, as the sheet was bought months ago), then penciled down the layout after figuring out the angles of each side. After that, I did some experimentation on the thickness of a boarder, as I wanted this to look like an amulet, or some form of badge of office or worship. I then cut those sides out in styrene, then super glued them to the diamond."

The finished Sigil is over here.