Monday, April 14, 2014

The Tillinghast Specimen

An invisible swarm of creatures surrounds us at every moment.  These unseen organisms exist in an extra-dimensional space beyond our own, part of a vicious, ancient ecology.  Isolated incidents of dimensional crossover have occurred under rare natural conditions, but under normal circumstances our worlds never mix.

At least, that is, until Crawford Tillinghast's invention of the Tillinghast Illuminator.

This is a preserved example of the lifeforms that enter our reality when the barriers are down.     The creature is approximately 6" in length.  Six external mandibles composed of a substance similar to chitin surround the mouth, attached to the internal skeleton with a flexible joint.  Immediately behind the mouth are two grasping arms equipped with spearing points.  The dorsal surface is covered in protective spikes made of the same material as the mandibles.  Three motive vanes line each side of the body.











This was a fun little project.  I wanted something that blended the features of a deep sea fish with a "flying rod", the bizarre creatures that were a cryptozoological sensation a few years ago.  Sadly, they turned out to be an artifact of digital video recording rather than an undiscovered lifeform. 

I'm still trying to create modern gaffs with vintage techniques, so the body was constructed of bamboo and paper mache.  The vanes, mandibles, and graspers are natural materials, but I did cheat and use polymer clay for the back spikes.  I think I've figured out an organic replacement for that in the next iteration. 

8 comments:

Jason McKittrick said...

Nice! I'm actually working on a From Beyond themed set myself.

Dr. Theda said...

Very Cool... and probably my favorite Lovecraft Story as well...

CoastConFan said...

These are pretty good with Old Bay Crab boil, but be sure they are thoroughly cooked. Time ranges from 4 to 9 hours in liquid ammonia, less if a pressure cooker is used. I usually set my titanium pressure cooker to 15 atmospheres at 7 Gs standard.

A gaff made in the classic way.

affliction said...

It is really rewarding to see the progress, through practice and continued research spread over years and spare time, that Prop has made from his first toothy worm to this new specimen.
Super cool.

Propnomicon said...

@ Jason McKittrick

I can't wait to see it.

@ Dr. Theda

Thank you for the very kind words.

@ CoastConFan

"Preparing Extra-Dimensional Wild Game", Third Edition. Heh.

@ Affliction

Thanks. I just wish I had more time to sculpt so the gains were more significant.

Stella Anderson said...

I don’t know exactly why, but this concept really grabs my imagination. I have the same fascination for a lot of Lovecraft’s concepts, but particularly this one. The man was a genius.

I love the surface texture you’ve created with this gaff. That nodular, slightly wrinkled, slightly slippery effect is great and I think your use of colour and varnish does a good job in highlighting the surface texture. What have you used for the mandibles?

Propnomicon said...

@ Stella Anderson

You're very kind. The mandibles are coyote claws from a native crafts store.

Stella Anderson said...

Coyote claws eh? What a clever idea. They make great mandibles.