Monday, October 3, 2011

Carved Wooden Cthulhu Idol

I finally completed the wooden Cthulhu fetish I first mentioned back in July. While I didn't fiddle with the idol's finish I did try a new treatment for the accompanying storage box.





To get the grungy effect of accumulated dirt and grime the box received a rubdown with "schmutz". The base for that is furniture paste wax and some shavings from a brown and burnst sienna crayon melted together in a double boiler. You then abrade some fine powder from earth-toned chalk pastels with fine grit sandpaper, add it to the liquid wax for a little color variation and texture, and stir well before decanting into an old Altoids tin and letting it harden. Apply it with a rag to anything in need of some age and you get a wonderful accumulation of grime in all the crevices.

If you like it, the idol is currently available on Ebay.

6 comments:

  1. Looks really great! A very different take on the Cthulhu Idol!

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  2. Gorgeous. The container takes it from "cool" to "creepy." Love that air of authenticity.

    The finish is beautiful. I will absolutely have to try that!

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  3. This is one of my favourite idols of all time, I'd definately buy it if you shipped outside of America.

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  4. @ Jason McKittrick

    Thank you for the kind words. Considering the quality of your own work that's a high compliment.

    @ Naamah

    I wish I could take credit for coming up with "schmutz", but it's one of the aging techniques used by old school gaff makers.


    @ TheRedneckScientist

    Thank you for the kind words. Unfortunately, I've had terrible experiences sending packaged props across the pond. I've very, very rarely had a problem sending small items like the patches and pins, but almost every time I post something larger there's some kind of damage in transit.

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  5. Thanks for the tip on the crayon/paste wax/pastel trick. I would love to see a tutorial on that. Sounds like a really handy substance.

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  6. I have the Cthulhu Idol from "Carved Metal" I want to put together the same kind of display you have for your fetish idol. Where did you obtain the box? Was it hand made or was it a found item that you altered? Any information would be helpful.

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