This Week's Crass Commercialism, Featuring Miskatonic Madness!

I'm an idiot.

I was planning on tossing the last of the Miskatonic expedition patches up on Ebay tonight, but while I was revising the listing I learned my feeble feedback of "7" isn't high enough for a Dutch auction. Bleh. I didn't even think to check that ahead of time.

On the bright side, I finally replaced my horrible scanner shot of the patch with some much better pictures featuring some of my other ATMOM props. I still suck as a photographer, but I think the documents and items I've collected look pretty cool like this.



Clockwise from top left we have a brass surveyor's transit (meant to duplicate the one in the photo directly below it), Lake's preliminary sketch and notes on the anatomy of the Elder Things, a brass solar compass, 1914 pattern brass binoculars, three core samples from Pabodie's drilling rig, a navigator's compass, a photo of one of the dog teams transporting part of the drilling equipment, two crinoid fossils, a photograph of two expedition members taking solar readings, and another photo of one of the dog teams. Underneath everything is my aged and weathered period map of Antarctica.





If you'd like to create a similar display you'll find most of what you need right here. The photo's featured in the above layout are over here, while there's another set here. I haven't posted my 1920's era Antarctica map, but I do have an engraved map from 1855 that would make an awesome background for a shadowbox display. And, of course, you can buy a Miskatonic patch over here, or find it, along with a copy of my "Contact Deep Ones" scroll, on Ebay.

If you like the display make sure you stop by during the week. I have something I think you're really going to like.

Insanely Great Zombie Makeup

Nomad over at the FXLab forum has posted a tutorial on how to create some amazing zombie makeup. What makes it even more impressive is that it's done mostly with off-the-shelf materials like plastic wrap, available at any grocery store, and liquid latex, found in the molding and sculpture sections of most craft stores.

I've been experimenting with prop photos created using makeup and costumes, so this jumped right out at me when I saw it.

Another Arcane Circle

This is another embellishment you can use to dress up your occult documents. It's either an arcane circle or a diagram of some kind of astronomical clock. I'm not sure which. As always, click through for the full-sized version.

Aging Metal

Risachantag over at Deviant Art has a great tutorial on creating realistic metal finishes on props. It's aimed at the cosplay/anime crowd, but the technique is applicable to anything that needs to look of real metal.

Miskatonic Patch, Part Deux

I'm going to be doing another run of Miskatonic expedition patches in time for Christmas, but I still have a few left over that I'm going to be offering here until Sunday the 26th. Anything left after that I'm going to toss up on Ebay.

If you're a collector this is going to be the last time you'll be able to buy the original version of the patch. Based on your feedback there will be a few changes to the design for the next run and I'll be using a different company to actually produce them. I should have samples up by the middle of November and actual patches available in early December.

More "At the Mountains of Madness" Prop Photos

Here are some more shots you can use as relics of the original Miskatonic expedition. I love photos like this for two reasons. First, they're cool. With a little physical weathering and a spritz of tea they become a convincing peek into what the day to day life of the expedition was like. Second, they're cheap. With digital prints costing about 15 cents you can put together an entire album of material for the price of a cup of coffee.

As always, click through on the pictures for the full-sized versions.

Master Of The Art

One of the things I've been trying to accomplish with my Call of Cthulhu props is a heightened sense of realism for players. Because of the relatively short time-frame of most scenarios both the tabletop and LARP styles of play have inherent problems when it comes to drawing players into the story. Props help alleviate that issue by providing a more immersive experience that helps ground the fantastic events of the story in a real world populated by real people.

That's not something unique to CoC, of course. It's the whole reason there's an entire industry busy providing props for films and theater. One of the masters of the art is Ross MacDonald, who helpfully provides an incredible look at some of the props he's produced at his website. You've probably seen his work before without even realizing it in films like "National Treasure: Book of Secrets", "Van Helsing", and "Zorro".



You'll find some amazing work over there, but I think the "Book of Secrets" and "Frankenstein's Diary" would be of particular interest. The level of detail and artistry is both inspiring and intimidating.