El Vampiro Y La Mosca

Umbratheca's "vampire" is pretty awesome, but mounting it and the accompanying accoutrements in a coffin-shaped shadow box takes it next level.

 

 

Momento Mori

The remains of the late Johan Stuger come to us from Spooky Jack, with lettering and art from artist Carlo Russo.

Old One in Bronze

French purveyor of oddities Insectes-Fossiles-Curiousites brings us this faux bronze Cthulhu bust.  It's a beautiful sculpt complimented by the nicely done patina.

 

 

"At the Mountains of Madness" Printable Airplane Blueprint

We wrap up the week with a fun little printable prop- a blueprint for the Dornier Wal Do-J flying boat used by the Miskatonic University Antarctic Expedition in Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness". You can click through on the picture below for a higher resolution graphic, or download an 11 X 14 PDF over here.
 

In the upper left you'll find the rundown of the plane's electrical system. That information is based on the stock Wal's 24 volt configuration, modified by the addition of two heavy duty batteries and a backup two-stroke gasoline generator. In flight the craft can function perfectly well with the current from the airstream generator on the top deck. The secondary generator is used primarily to power the engine warming gear when the plane is on the ground.

The engine specs in the middle left are based on the ones used by Wolfgang von Gronau on his around the world flight. This is the one place where I engage in a bit of handwaving. Although the engines are close to stock I've assumed that the Miskatonic expedition used aviation gas with an octane rating of 93 or above. Fuel of that quality was available within the time frame of the story and would be commonplace by World War II, powering the high compression engines of cutting edge fighters.

 

There are a few modifications to the stock airframe that aren't noticeable on casual examination. I've shortened the body and assumed that some of the steel frame has been replaced by machined aluminum, cutting the weight of the plane. Extending the lifting surface of the main wing helped generate more lift and significantly dropped the overall wing loading.

 

I combined some details of the radio sets carried by the first Byrd Antarctic expedition of 1928-1930 with the ones used by Charles Lindbergh and his wife during their Pacific survey flight in 1932. Although the Lindbergh flight occurred later in the timeline it's equipment (the Pan-American 10C) was first available in 1929. The 50 watt telegraphic transmitter on board the Miskatonic Wals would have given them a communications range of over 2000 km, while the emergency transceiver would have been limited to around 650 km.

 

Finally, the blueprint mentions the "fuel-warming and quick-starting devices worked out by Pabodie". This material was based on the modifications made to aircraft used by both arctic and antarctic expeditions throughout the twenties. It includes a rubberized canvas shroud for insulating the engine pod during warmup, electrical heating elements for the engine oil, and a backup system of kerosene heaters and an ether injector. 

 

Idol of Sheogorath

"Sheogorath, Daedric Prince of Madness. At your service."

Pushels Craft returns to our pages with this excellent idol of Sheogorath from the Elder Scrolls game series.

Great Cthulhu

 Elisabetta Visentini brings us nicely done traditional-style Cthulhu idol.

 

The Three Lobed Burning Eye

“I see it—coming here—hell-wind—titan blur—black wings—Yog-Sothoth save me—the three-lobed burning eye. . . .”

- H.P. Lovecraft, 'The Haunter of the Dark"

   The talented Morgan Loebel returns to our pages with this horrifically well done three-lobed eye.  My first thought was of the final image poor Robert Blake saw before his unfortunate disappearance in Providence.

Morrowind Ash Statue

Valara Atran returns to our pages with one of the more obscure items from the Elder Scrolls video game series- an Ash Statue from Morrowind. 

 

 

Tome of Stone

Mille Cuirs returns to our pages with another masterful example of tomecraft.  This time it features a hand-tooled leather cover reproducing the look of mossy stone.

 

 

Tabletop Cube Puzzle

MattsWithTatts has posted a fun little DIY for creating a cube puzzle for players in his Dungeons and Dragons game.  The only caveat I would offer is that buying or producing 27 individual foam cubes, and then assembling them, probably isn't the easiest way to bring this particular style of puzzle to your tabletop.  Commercial cube assembly puzzles are cheap and widely available.  If you want to be particularly fiendish you can always use a Soma cube.

 

The Old Gods

Slagovir continues to keep the Old Gods alive, this time bringing us an idol of Kolyada carved from aged oak.

"The god Kolyada, also known as Kolyadnik, is a figure of Slavic paganism associated with the festivals and rituals of the winter solstice. In Slavic mythology, Kolyada is associated with the return of the sun and the beginning of a new cycle of nature. His cult was widespread among various Slavic tribes. The holiday of Kolyada was usually celebrated in late December or early January, and this time was accompanied by various rites and rituals aimed at ensuring fertility and prosperity in the new year. In some beliefs, Kolyada represented a young god with whom hopes of renewal and rebirth were associated."

 

 

Ukrainian House Demon

Alisa Tochylovska returns to our pages with another example of the Ukrainian Khovanets, a house demon that brings good fortune to it's master by stealing it from the neighbors.  Click through for a full gallery of pictures.

 

Up From the Depths

Italian artist Valentina Curto brings us this sideshow-style Fiji Mermaid gaff.  

 

The Crossover Grimoire

I've never seen either show, but there was apparently a crossover episode between the serial killer procedural "Bones" and the supernatural show "Sleepy Hollow" several years ago.  The only reason I'm aware of it is the fantastic prop grimoire that appears in the show.

"The scripted prop was a Grimoire-esque, ancient tome.  Referred to as both the Book of Shadows and the Book of Immortality, replete with ancient runes, latin, freemason symbols, ancient greek and sanskrit, the challenge, as usual, was to come up with this antiquity in 7 to 10 days.  Ideally made out of heavy leather and vellum, there was only one problem... our lead actor was vegan so we could use neither."

Propmaster Ian Scheibel has posted a complete gallery of the book, which was created by master craftsman Ross MacDonald.  You can check out more of Mr. MacDonald's incredible work in our archives.

 

 

Fae Under Glass

This nicely done mummified fairy specimen under glass comes to us from French curiousity shop Insectes-Fossiles-Curiosites.

 

 

Graboid Trophy Mount

This full-sized recreation of the graboid trophy mount from the Tremors franchise comes to us from Bigbore 729 on Reddit.  The entire thing was 3-D printed, a process that took months to complete.

 

 

Witchfinder Armor

Luca of Arte sul Cuoio returns with this Warhammer LARP Witchfinder armor, complete with purity seals,