Monday, July 14, 2014

The Sedefkar Simulacrum

French artist Delphes Desvoivres has launched a fundraiser to produce the Sedefkar Simulacrum from Chaosium's epic "Horror on the Orient Express" adventure. It's an ambitious project featuring a prop of the figure, a recreation of the Sedefkar Scrolls, and an option to order a full-sized version of the figure that measures 5' in height.  I believe this is the first third-party prop to be approved by Chaosium.

More information about the Simulacrum and it's importance to the story is available over here.  Spoilers ahoy.



3 comments:

  1. It’s an ambitious prop project for an ambitious game. I really like the fact that they have a Persian miniaturist doing the scroll. Toward the lower end of the scale, the package is a nice value and the 37mm version sounds like a good prop. I just hope for 35K Euros, you don’t end up with something that is just a big heavy mannequin covered in Interference paint.

    The RPG game, Horror on the Orient Express is an ambitious assemblage itself with some impressive atmospherics, but I couldn’t see it holding a candle to the venerable Masks of Nyarlathotep for playability. Mind you both these campaigns consume investigators like popcorn at a dollar day showing of the 1972 film, Horror Express, which has some interesting elements for scenario makers, past and present. It’s worth a view for that.

    As for acquiring a copy of Horror on the Orient Express game itself, the true horror is seeing what a vintage copy is selling for on Amazon. Yeow!

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  2. @ CoastConFan

    There's an attention to detail in the project that I really like. You can tell all of the participants have a real passion for it.

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  3. Thank you for these comments ! For the life size sculpture as for the 37cm ones i use a traditional technique which uses successive layers of fine pigments. It allows to increase the effects of colors in a way that the patina is at the same time rich but subtle - thus, the material looks at the same time as metal and copper and wood and ceramic (…) because the Simulacrum is suppose to be made with an unknown material.
    If i am lucky enough to get a command of the life size model, i intend to follow the description of the book concerning the texture of each members « examined closely, perhaps through a magnifying glass or other optical aid, small repeating forms of the segment can be seen to make up a surface design on each segment, as though etched. Thus the head is shaped of tiny heads, the right arm of tiny repeated right arms and so on.. » i will use tiny casts to print the tiny forms on the surface. The french term for this is « estampage » but i don’t know the specific word of english.
    So it will be a rare and strange sculpture tinged delicately from the opalescence to the more lively colors, casted in a strong material but also light because each shapes will be hollow.

    If you have any question, don't hesitate to leave a comment here or on our Facebook page
    https://www.facebook.com/TheSedefkarSimulacrum
    Thank you for sharing !

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