The Snallygaster

Artist Evan Tortorelli brings us this amazingly detailed recreation of a snallygaster for the Hellfire Sculpting Club's Folklore Bestiary project.  If you're not familiar with this particular cryptid, Wikipedia says:

The snallygaster was described as half-reptile, half-bird having a metallic beak lined with razor-sharp teeth, occasionally alongside octopus-like tentacles. The snallygaster was rumored to swoop silently from the sky to pick up and carry off its victims. The earliest stories claim that this monster sucked the blood of its victims. Seven-pointed stars, which reputedly kept the snallygaster at bay, can still be seen painted on local barns.

 

 

Nostromo Emergency Helmet

 Happy Aliens Day!  

In honor of the occasion, here's one of my favorite Alien prop projects- a complete recreation of the emergency crew helmets from the ill-fated Nostromo.  They're visible above and behind each of the officer stations on the bridge of the ship, most notably in the wake-up sequence at the start of the film.

The originals were made using 70s era found items, including a hockey helmet, vintage pilot helmet, and period greeblies.  Finding those items today is almost impossible.  Deetz over at the RPF forum sidestepped that problem by painstakingly creating a digital model of the helmet, then 3D printing each component.

 

Githyanki Silver Greatsword

I love seeing tabletop roleplaying items turned into physical props.  This massive Githyanki silver greatsword comes to us from Olympian Props.  I'd class this as a videogame prop as well, since it's obviously modeled after the similar item in Baldur's Gate 3.

 

Fallout Propapalooza

If you haven't seen it yet, I would highly recommend Amazon's Fallout series.  It's not perfect, but on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give it an 8.5.  I'll avoid any outright spoilers, but I hopped on the hype train for the second season based solely on the ending of the final episode.  *That* location, and the cameo from *that* character, were a very pleasant surprise.

Thanks to the series, interest in the props from the franchise has hit a new spike.  Luckily, Much Props has a whole series of DIY videos, including this one on crafting a T-45d power armor helmet from foam.  What's wild is that this video is one of just 45 (!) Fallout props he's done and collected into this playlist.

Book of the Skull

Ukrainian artist Sladjana Vukelic returns to our pages with another of her signature distressed tomes.  Part of the fun of propmaking, at least for me, is speculating how a prop was created.  For the longest time I didn't have a clue how she was creating the detailed embossed designs on her tome covers, but I think I finally figured it out.  

 

Portable Cannon

 Artist Tomas Barcelo is the man behind this insanely great portable cannon LARP prop.  Not only is it a beautifully crafted piece, but the level of thought and detail that went into it is mind boggling.  Just look at the gallery of shots documenting how the backpack is positioned to actually fire the beast.  Mr. Barcelo is a shining example of incredible creativity combined with technical ability.

 

 

Unholy Icon

The gifted Maarten Verhoeven returns to our pages with this fantastic piece, Corrupted.  The adornments and spiky halo really give it the feel of an evil religious icon.

 

Kobold Kaboom

You kids today and your dragonkin kobolds don't know how good you have it.  I'm old enough to remember when D&D kobolds were canines.  Now get off my lawn!

No matter what kind of kobolds you favor, including the original Germanic fae, they'll be even more mischievous than normal with this nifty bronze kobold bomb, complete with charging powder, from Burned Raven Tales.

 

Macabre Mermaid

Umbrateca returns to our pages with this dead mermaid specimen.  I can only imagine how long it took to apply all those miniature scales.

 

Dem Bones

This horrible specimen of a deformed juvenile skull comes to us from the purveyor of all things osseous, Spooky Jack.  And by "horrible" I mean fantastic.

 

 

Bound in Flesh

I've been walking this earth for over sixty years, and I'm still stunned that making the binding of a book out of human beings isn't just a horror movie trope.  Luckily, this fleshy tome from Karen Main was clearly bound with the flesh of something definitely not human.

 

Tools of the Trade

This well done LARP healer's kit comes to us from Broken Wand.  All the instruments are cast in combat-safe foam, so you can go from patching up your companions to plunging a scalpel into an opponent.

 

 

Back to the Wasteland

Almost ten years ago I fell in love with Fallout: New Vegas.  Since then there have been two more installments in the video game franchise, neither of which came come anywhere close to the immersiveness and storytelling of New Vegas.  That craftsmanship, and a still thriving mod community, mean I'm still diving back into the game every couple of months.

That's all a set-up to explain why I'm so excited about the new Fallout project.  No, not the long-awaited Fallout series that premiered early on Amazon Prime last night, although I'm jazzed for that as well.  I watched the first episode last night and absolutely loved it.

I'm actually talking about Fallout: Breaking, a direct sequel to the amazing Fallout: Nuka Break fan series.  Zack Finrock has been posting some previews of the project, including some cool prop work, over on his Twitter account.  Based on the previews, and my love of the original, I think there are a lot of reasons to throw a few dollars his way.

 

The Greater Evil

Evil is bad kids, but there's something to be said for the stylish, well dressed kind.  This luxurious LARP costume comes to us from Feral Workshop.

 

 

Art Deco Cthulhu

One of the great tragedies of our times is that Art Deco isn't the dominant design aesthetic of the world.  That's just one of the reasons I'm in love with this amazing Cthulhu idol from "Heyitsdan" over on the Replica Props Forum.  What's really cool about the sculpt is that the side and rear profiles are just as attractive as the front view. 

The Book of Oblivion

I've never seen this done before, but I really like it.  This new Elder Scroll themed tome from Alex Libris has a leather cover featuring the Oblivion symbol and a wildly evocative painting of the crisis itself.  The imagery is just perfect, as is the cracking effect for the painting.

 

Cthulhu Awakens

Artist Sergey Belov brings us his "Idol of Awakening Cthulhu", an interesting take on the traditional depiction of the Great Old One.

 

 

 

The Tome

We've been featuring the work of MilleCuirs here on Propnomicon for years.  He's produced dozens of beautiful prop tomes and journals over that span of time, ranging from Mythos-themed grimoires to Elder Scrolls inspired books.  I think this impressive tome may be the first time he's created one that was heavily distressed and worn from the get go.  Absolutely beautiful work.

 

Making Cthulhu

It's pretty incredible that Propnomicon has featured hundreds of Cthulhu idols.  That said, I think this is the first time we've ever been able to see one being created.  Robert Cseh, a very talented miniature and diorama artist, has posted a video detailing the sculpting of a primitive-style idol for one of his projects.  It's not just an interesting look at the process, but a demonstration of how important the paint job is to an idol's final appearance.

Crown of Flesh

Karen Main has mastered a particularly icky, organic style of sculpting.  It's so gruesomely..meaty.  Her latest is this living crown of flesh, complete with a plethora of eyes and just as many teeth.

 

Great Cthulhu

There's so much to like about this Cthulhu idol from Russian creator Starmi Art.  It's not only an incredible take on the traditional depiction of the Great Old One, but it's also a planter!  How cool is that?