Cthulhu Fhtagn! Schnuth Edition.

Michael Schnuth of Scarecrow Studios brings us this kitbashed Cthulhu idol.  It's crafted from a Halloween skull and Venom superhero model kit detailed with putty.

Classical Cthulhu

This Venus de Milo/Cthulhu mashup comes to us from artist Patrick Bacon.  As with so many other recently featured works it was designed digitally and then 3D printed.

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Adventure Depot Edition.

Double the Elder God, double the fun!  Adventure Depot brings us this pair of clay Cthulhu idols.  The larger piece is wonderfully alien, while the smaller is very similar to some of Copper Centipede's work.

That Voodoo That You Do

Behind the Rows Studio brings us this nicely done voodoo fetish figure.

Species Unknown

This incredible creature is the work of artist Dogzillalives.  The teeth are lobster claws, while the body is made from glass hemispheres embedded in the Super Sculpey skin.

The Solomon Stone

It is said that King Solomon created a vessel in which he trapped many demons.

His vessel was made of brass and bore many strange symbols. Once he had trapped the demons he placed a seal on the vessel which carried another strange symbol. This symbol would prevent the demons from escaping.

The heart of the Solomon Stone is a sphere of solid Silver Sheen Obsidian, which is known to have the ability of drawing and holding dark energies. The brass ring around it shows the symbols that King Solomon placed on his original vessel. The three crystals arranged around the Obsidian sphere, outside the brass ring (Moldavite, Smokey Quartz, Phantom Quartz), enhance the power of the Obsidian and draw the entity in. The symbol on the base then holds the dark entity in place, trapping it in the Obsidian.

This amazing occult artifact comes to us from the workshop of James Ewing. It's just one of the many pieces collected by his ancestor Victor Ewing, a famed occult investigator.

Bottled Nightmare

Andrea Falaschi returns to our pages with this Cthulhu-themed bottle.

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Menna Edition.

The lines between virtual and physical artwork continue to blur.   This work in progress Cthulhu sculpt comes to us from artist Joe Menna.  The original design was digitally sculpted in ZBrush and then 3D printed for final finishing. 

The Old Gent

Virgil Finlay is widely considered one of greatest illustrators of all time.  His classic depiction of H. P. Lovecraft is the inspiration for this nicely done bust from the talented Joe Broers. 

Drow Font

The fun little font comes to us from Urhixidur.  Browse through the rest of his collection for some other fantasy and science fiction sets you may like.  "Drow Rounded" is a modified version of the font originally created by the Elven Kingdom of Arèthane online roleplaying group.

Birthday Gifts

Today is the 126th anniversary of H.P. Lovecraft's birth.  Jason McKittrick is celebrating the occasion with a special limited edition Miskatonic University Antarctic Expedition Kit.  It features a shoggoth tissue specimen, Elder Thing star stone, an "Advent of the Shoggoth" plaque, and some very nicely done paper props.

The Lady of the Night

The talented Jacob Petersson returns to our pages with the preserved head of an infamous Italian witch from the 16th century.

Dominalunae, lady of the night. Dianora Farnese, was executed and beheaded on a cold windy morning the 19th day of October, year of Our Lord 1593, at the outskirts of the small northern town of Corcinesco Trontano, in the heart of the Italian Alps. Her final cry a curse that echoes through the centuries until this very day.

The Great Old Ones

Blue Wolf Art Studio brings us two different work in progress Cthulhu sculpts.  It's interesting to compare how minor variations in technique can significantly change the final appearance of a piece.

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Ancient One Edition.

Over the years we've featured hundreds of Cthulhu idols here on Propnomicon.  Of those, only a handful have been mass produced.  The vast majority are short run projects from individual artists consisting of, at most, a few dozen castings.

That's one of the reasons this idol is so unusual. It was just released as the centerpiece of the "Cthulhu: The Ancient One Tribute Box", a book/gift set by author Steve Mockus.  It's produced by Chronicle Books, a publishing house that specializes in niche tchotchkes. You've probably seen dozens of their products in the browsing racks at your local bookstore.

Todd von Bronkhorst pre-ordered the set over a year ago (!) and received his on the day of release.  He was kind enough to send over his impressions and some pictures that give truer look at the idol's size and finish.

It's solid resin and is 4.5" tall. The inside packaging (which holds the book) also makes a nice display stand. I included a Bic lighter in some photos to show scale and a truer sense of the color than what you see on Amazon.

The book included is nothing much to get excited about -- essentially a collection of trivia for someone who has never read Lovecraft and needs a primer on Cthulhu and its place in pop culture, etc. -- but the statue has some heft to it and is quite a nice sculpt for twelve bucks.  (For the price, I'm tempted to buy a second and use them as bookends.) 

I have to agree.  It's an impressive sculpt, and a steal at $12, particularly if you can get free shipping through Amazon Prime. 

Warrior of the Uruk-Hai

Cosplayer Sesas Creations crafted this outstanding Orc costume.  It's a good demonstration of how effective layering multiple textures is in bringing a costume to life. 

The Horror In Clay

"The bas-relief was a rough rectangle less than an inch thick and about five by six inches in area; obviously of modern origin. Its designs, however, were far from modern in atmosphere and suggestion; for, although the vagaries of cubism and futurism are many and wild, they do not often reproduce that cryptic regularity which lurks in prehistoric writing. And writing of some kind the bulk of these designs seemed certainly to be; though my memory, despite much the papers and collections of my uncle, failed in any way to identify this particular species, or even hint at its remotest affiliations."

- H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu

This tableaux featuring the "Horror in Clay" from Lovecraft's story comes to us from Hall Baltimore. It's a wonderful presentation of the sculpt from artist Girhash Angbandskaya.

Ring of Mara

One of the nicer features of the Elder Scroll games is how in depth the lore is.  That includes multiple pantheons of Gods that change form and function across the many cultures of Tamriel.  Peregrine Studios brings us this recreation of the Ring of Mara from Skyrim, dedicated to the goddess of marriage and family.  It's brass plated with rose gold and features an aquamarine gemstone.

The Hybrids

Hungarian artist Hikigane brings us these curious specimens from parts unknown.

The Small Coetus

Artist Mark Walker brings us the Small Coetus, also known as the Joined Codicils.  What makes this tome unusual is that its interior pages are just as well done as the leather, wood, and copper cover.

Have You Seen the Sign?

This Elder Sign adorned tome comes to us from Eyeballs Studio.  The cover is faux leather crafted from kraft paper with cast resin embossments.

Hail Cthulhu!

Artist Morgan Hughes brings us this well done Cthulhu sculpt.

The Sign

An unknown artist brings us this engraved granite Elder Sign. I've poked around the site and can't seem to find who created it.

Update: It's from the very talented Andrea Bonazzi.  You can find more of his Mythos-inspired work at his full website.

Not of This Earth

This Venusian native comes to us from artist Barthe Florian.  The sculpt was done in air-drying clay and then painted by hand. 

Propology

Propology is a Vancouver based props house that's provided gear for movies and television shows for years.  Their ongoing blog is absolutely filled with all kinds of cool pieces, both custom built and off the shelf.  You could spend hours browsing through their collection.

A "Real" Fairy!

The alt-science and conspiracy communities have recently been all atwitter about the revelation that a Mexican UFO researcher has a specimen of an actual fairy.  If you have some time, watch through the whole video announcing the discovery.  Pay particular attention to the whole "there's no possible way this is a hoax" chain of reasoning.  It has bones, and everything!



Given the focus of Propnomicon you won't be surprised to learn I think this is a gaff.  Other skeptics have pointed out that the anatomy of the "fairy" is consistent with a prop built up with bits and pieces of bat specimens.  Here are some high resolution screencaps from the video.

 For comparison, here's a preserved bat skeleton.  The short humerus bone and long, slender radius and ulna are identical to the ones present in the "fairy".

Based on that I think it's pretty obvious the specimen was built up using parts from at least two bats.  The protruding snout of the skull was trimmed down, hence the lack of teeth in the "fairy".  The original wing membranes were trimmed away from the main body to produce a more humanoid form.  The gaff maker then clipped the arms at the hand joint and glued on a foot from another specimen to serve as a hand.  The legs are a repurposed set of arms. 

The real genius of this piece is how it was glued together.  Just look at how perfectly that was done.  There are no visible seams, the joins are strong and flexible, and the substance used is impervious to immersion in formaldehyde.

I'm going to let you in on a gaff-maker's secret- meat glue.  Or more properly, the enzyme transglutaminase.  With it you can stick body parts together like a real-world Dr. Frankenstein.  I buy mine right off of Amazon.   It was originally used in the food industry to literally weld bits of meat together to form things like chicken nuggets, but it didn't take long for someone to figure out it was ideal for making gaffs.  This article from the International Culinary Center goes into detail about how it works.

Transglutaminase (TG or TGase), better known to chefs as “Meat Glue,” has the amazing ability to bond protein-containing foods together. Raw meats bound with TG are often strong enough to be handled as if they were whole uncut muscles. TG is safe, natural, and easy to use. In the kitchen, TG is primarily used to:
• Make uniform portions that cook evenly, look good, and reduce waste
• Bind meat mixtures like sausages without casings
• Make novel meat combinations like lamb and scallops
• Produce special effects like meat noodles, meat and vegetable pastas (using gelatin as a binder), etc. Additionally, TG can thicken egg yolks, strengthen dough mixtures, thicken dairy systems, and increase yield in tofu production, among other useful applications.

In the kitchen bonding two different animals together might be a cooking disaster waiting to happen, but it's exactly how most chimera-style gaffs are made. What makes TG so amazing is that the bond is incredibly strong even for fine, delicate parts- like the bits of bat that were glued together to form the Mexican "fairy".