Old And Ancient Wood

I came across a great tutorial on artificially aging wood over here at Xrestore, a clock restoration site.

New wood looks a lot different than old wood. Old, unfinished wood often has a dark, dull gray color resulting from oxidation over time. When stained and/or finished, new wood will continue to look noticeably different than old. In order to cleanly integrate new parts into an old case, the new wood needs to be aged.......

Aging of wood cannot be achieved with stains or finishes. What is needed is a means to actually oxidize the wood fibers, but in a much short time than occurs naturally.

There are products on the market for aging wood and they all work to one degree or another. As an alternative to commercial products, I have found that some common household products can be used to very effectively oxidize and age wood.

The needed solutions are simple to make an use. The results are very impressive..............

Combine this treatment with some careful physical distressing and you can convert a cheap craft box from Michael's or the Hobby Lobby into an ancient coffer suitable for all kinds of eldritch artifacts.

Behind the Pallid Mask

While I appreciate the link from Behind the Pallid Mask, I do have to admit I found some of his dreams somewhat disturbing. Then again, that's rather the point of his blog. If his planned scenario is half as good as some of his dreams are it's going to be a must-have.

At The Mountains Of Madness Expedition Patch Sample

Here's the final sample of the ATMOM expedition patch in physical form. The project was slightly delayed because there were some small problems with the initial embroidery patterns, but those were easily fixed thanks to the great folks at the company that's actually producing the patch. Just click on the picture to see the full-sized scan.