Polynesian Cthulhu Relic

 I just realized that I'd completely abandoned this blog, I haven't updated it since December of last year - and maybe no one really gives a shit anyway, so this is all just for me. BUT, I felt it was time for a quick update as I've finally done a new Cthulhu piece. Inspired by the collectable relics from FarCry 3.

What you're seeing here is Polynesian Cthulhu #1 specifically.

Each one will look a little different, some minor discolouration, maybe some chips, flaws or air bubbles - these are all meant to be by design, making each one slightly unique by itself. They're not meant to be perfect, flawless statues.

I will be doing these a lot differently than how I used to, just as an experiment for now. These are not limited edition, but they are all numbered. I will be making no more than 3 per week, and only making more when the current three have sold and shipped - just so I don't need to make space in my already overcrowded workshop and keep a steadier more reliable, easier to work with production schedule.

They are made from a quick setting concrete and so far appear to be quite durable. Almost 3 inches across at the base. 3 1/4 inches tall. Around 430 grams, the weight varies slightly from statue to statue by around 10 grams it seems so far.

I'm selling them just through Etsy for now, 3 listings added on a Sunday or Monday depending on my time and then I'll wait until all three sell out and make three more and list them for the next coming Sunday or Monday, and on and on until I simply have no time or I go mad, whichever comes first.

They will all be listed separately, so you can see the exact version you're buying, all the flaws and discoloured spots are pictured so if you don't like some aspect of that element, check out the next available listing, or wait until the next round. I won't be doing custom orders or bulk orders or anything outside of this schedule.

This is the plan for the foreseeable future, and might change depending on the number of sales, but this is it for now.

You can visit my Etsy shop to find them, if you don't see them, they're already sold, so wait for the next round.

70s Demon Roller Girl

I've been wanting to do a shoot like this for ages now, the biggest stumbling block was the skates. Brand new they're too expensive, 2nd hand they're okay but limited and I'd have to hope to eventually find someone just the right size who could even use them - so the idea just sat on the backburner for years now.

A couple months ago, a model who I work with on occasion posted a video of her in roller skates so it pretty much fell into place right away at that point. It took a while to source all the costume, oddly enough none of these pieces are immediately available in Canada - at least not where I live and even then, very limited elsewhere.

But that was the hardest part really, just picking things out that looked and felt 70s enough, ordering them online and waiting.

Oddly enough the hardest element of all this was the shirt. I didn't want a blank, single colour shirt, I really wanted that 3/4 length sleeve look and specifically with pink sleeves, but I would've settled with red. I actually found a printer online who actually carried this style, but for some reason cancelled the order without telling me - I made the design myself, so I'm not sure to this day what the issue was.

Not a big deal, I found a wholesaler in Canada, ordered 2 just in case, and use those printer/iron transfers from Staples to do the image - while is slightly more authentic anyway, and cheaper, and worked perfectly.

Polynesian Cthulhu

It's been a long time since I did some prop work and /I've been planning this little piece for a long time, just finally a matter of having the time to do it.

Inspired by the collectable relics from the game Farcry 4, I came up with a little Polynesian Cthulhu Idol. It's about 3 1/2 inches tall.

I did an initial test run in resin, tinted a light grey and given a rough finish with black to bring out the details. I just had then at a local con and sold a few, for the moment I only have 2 left with no real idea when I might make more - my plan is for the final pieces to be actual stone, I just have to experiment with a few things before finally starting on the actual run - which might not be happening for another month or two as work has picked up again unexpectedly.

I am offering these 2 up for sale, $33.00 through Etsy, or just contact me directly through my email, themonkeyrodeo@gmail.com for only $30.00 (cheaper to buy directly since I'm needing to compensate for how greedy Etsy has become) - plus shipping of course.

I thought I'd make a few more of my Norse Cthulhu Effigy piece, but a new variations. A faux bronze version. It's the same mould as the original, just cast in black resin and given a faux bronze finish with acrylic paint and a sealer.

I'll only be making 5 of them, maybe a year and occasionally for conventions, this these 5 are all you'll be seeing online for sale this year. $30 each, plus shipping. And if you're in the US, take advantage of our crappy Canadian dollar because that's $30 CAD.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/265644184/faux-bronze-norse-cthulhu-effigy 

Tribal Cthulhu Wall Hanging.

This was one of those pieces I made more or less just for fun.I've done a few different "cultural Cthulhu" and wanted to try something a little different than just a sculpture that sits on a shelf. I thought about making an actual mask, but the size and proportions didn't feel right - so I settled on a flat piece, very simple in overall shape, that would just hang on the wall.

The final piece is made from Smooth-On's Free Form Air Epoxy, it's a 2 part dough. The mould is just a large flat piece, silicone of course, and the dough is just pressed into it. I had some experience doing this in the past and noticed that while it works really well, it's not always perfect. I wanted it to look like wood and be a little worn looking, so this method allows for a certain amount of random defects and deformities and once cure it actually feels like a dried chunk of wood.

Painting them is a bit of a pain in the ass, but I don't intend to make too many of them. This was done for myself, but it's a reusable mould, so I'm doing a very limited run of only 10 of them for online sale, at $40 each.I'm not making a huge profit off this piece, but it recoups the cost of making it in the first place and my time for making each one.

It's about 10"x10", weighs next to nothing and comes with a hanging wire already attached. I've only got 2 ready to go at the time I'm writing this, I'll probably make new ones early next year.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/255512979/tribal-cthulhu-wall-hanging

Limited Run Buddha Cthulhu

I finally have a few of these ready for sale as a Limited Run, they're for sale on Etsy for the moment. $35 each, limited run of only 30 for online sale. I have 3 ready to go, as well as a reject - you can view all this on Etsy.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/234557008/buddha-cthulhu

Buddha Cthulhu

Not really sure if I should call it a Cthulhu Buddha or a Buddha Cthulhu. Either way it's a little awesome.

I just have three for right now, I need to  redo the mould and then they'll be up for a limited online retail run of 50 at $35 each. 3 inches tall, cast in resin with a faux brass look and given a hard gloss coating to protect the finish. I might adjust the faux brass look with a base coat of brown rather than black. I tried a patina on it and wasn't really happy with it, it lightened it up too much.

 The three I have are currently for sale, I'll be posting them on Etsy, but you don't have to go through that site if you don't want to. Shipping is as low as $15 in Canada, 9 days or $18 for 3 days on average. $13 to the US, 6-10 days, other options are available though. And overseas $21, 6-10 days - on average.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/234557008/buddha-cthulhu?ref=shop_home_active_1

Mini Mounted Cthulhu Head

I've been into make little mounted beast heads lately, one of those prop ideas I came up with years ago and threw on the backburner since I wasn't really sure how I could pull it off. I just finished my third one, a mini Cthulhu head. I've been keeping them small-ish to keep the price down since they do take a lot of time and money to make a single one.

I did a Pygmy Blood Troll and an Albino Cyclops Faerie, so Cthulhu seemed the next logical step.

I had recently purchased a small jar of Glow Worm, from Smooth-On, it's a really strong glow-in-the-dark powder that gave me the idea to give him glow in the dark eyes just for fun. I wasn't going for an ultra-realistic final piece, but something slightly cartoony and stylized - it kind of has an unintentional Mike Mignola feel to it I think, which I'm pretty happy about.

I wanted to keep the paint job bright and simple as well, I didn't want it muddied down with excessive details and colour schemes, just a nice bright, clean green with a little red and yellow accenting - again, keeping it cartoonish.

The eyes just pop into place, I don't bother gluing them or anything - since I didn't want to risk getting glue everything pressing the eyeballs into the sockets, but they didn't need it anyway, they slip in really easily while the latex is still fresh-ish, it tends to stiffen up a bit after a couple days from the mould, which should hold the eyes in as well as anything - but I'm sure if you go looking to jab them out, you probably can, like anything if you want to destroy it, it's pretty easy.

The glow-in-the-dark effect is pretty awesome, the Glow Worm is really bright and even obvious in broad daylight if you're in shadows. Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out, it's a totally different take on Cthulhu than I usually do and I think it's one of my better pieces.

I'm selling them in a limited run of 10 right now, $85 each. I'll be selling a small handful at the few Cons I attend each year as well. The plaque is almost 7" and the head itself is around 6", made from latex skinned polyfoam. Comes with the hanging hardware already attached, so it's ready to hang right out of the box.

Cthulhu Prosthetic

I finally got this bad boy finished and ready for sale, the Cthulhu Foam Latex Prosthetic Appliance, and the first in a series of what I'm calling "The Innsmouth Collection", all Lovecraft inspired pieces.

Now, this is not something I'd really recommend for beginners, it does require a little preparation work - unlike any other of my prosthetics. And, like all my other prosthetics, it comes unpainted - so be prepared for a paint job to make it work.

And the vision is limited, I wanted to make a piece that totally disregarded human features in order to make it more Cthulhu-like, so the vision comes from the small dark "spots" on the brow. While it is limited, it's not that bad depending on what you want to do with it - operating heavy machinery as Cthulhu is not recommended.

These "spots" need to be cleaned up on each piece - special instructions will be included. As well as a small area that will allow you to breath through your nose will need to be cut out - your choice though, but the area is totally hidden under the tentacles.

The piece is available for $130, which is admittedly much more expensive than my usual pieces, however this piece requires nearly 5-6 times more foam than a regular face piece and a bit more work than the typical prosthetic as well. I will point out, because it's a much thicker piece, the thinnest point is along the forehead - which is the only area you need worry about really blending - this piece is much more likely to be reusable than any other piece I make, information on that will be included in the special instruction as well.

For right now it comes with 4 tentacles as well, each are about 5 inches long, although I do have plans for much longer ones in the near future, so you'll be able to pick what size and style of tentacle you want - at least that's the plan, don't hold me to that.

The Cthulhu Prosthetic is available ONLY as special order, I don't plan on keeping them in stock, only making them as they're ordered. Allow up to two weeks for manufacturing, so if you're in a rush, you might be out of luck. And as far as wholesale goes, I will take orders for it - however, there is a limit per order (nor sure just yet, but no more than 5 per order mostly likely) and they'll be $80 each.

Occasionally rejects will be available as well since this piece does have a much higher rate of defects, most of which can be easily patch and are unnoticeable, but sometimes there's just too much or too great of a defect.

And that's pretty much it. Any questions, you can email me at foxhenderson @ themonkeyrodeo.com

My Last Movie...more like fake movie trailer really.

I've been thinking about this off and on over the last few months, and nearly every time it came to mind I always thought an interview with Patton Oswalt I once heard., he was discussing his thoughts on being a successful comedian. I'll admit I don't recall some exact points, but the basic idea was that he believed in order to be a success in his business (and I think it translates to any creative business) you actually have to enjoy the work of your peers and allow yourself to appreciate their success in order to become inspired by it. I think I agree with that idea, which is why I don't think I'll ever be successful, even if I wanted to, as a filmmaker  but feel I will find success in doing special effects.

This might offend a few folks, I can't say I really care anymore - because some folks look to be offended in everything anyway, so why bother tiptoeing around the point. What it comes down to is this, I don't care about indie/amateur movies overall. I don't enjoy watching them, I can't stand people going on and on about their "awesome script". I just don't give a big, fat, wobbly ass about them. I think I did at one point, but because of so many negative experiences I've grown to kind of hate the whole idea.

There are a small select few, locally speaking, whose talent and dedication to what they do, that I respect and actually enjoy working with. And let me say it again for the cheap seats...A SMALL SELECT FEW.  I think about 4 or so, they should know who they are.

And this has nothing to do my own abilities as a filmmaker vs someone else's,  I make bad movies on purpose because it allows me to cut corners with a justification of "it's supposed to be that way", so don't read this and think this is some personal slam of my movies vs yours (or theirs), I AM NOT AND WILL NEVER BE A FILMMAKER - so let's leave it at and don't worry about it.

So the actual point of all this is why I feel I might find success doing SPFX, because I do see things being made by my peers (albeit online only since I'm the only one locally that I'm aware of) that I enjoy and find inspiring, I'm happy for their successes (even when I'm in a constant state of disappoint about my lack thereof), I enjoy talking to some of them even when we don't agree on something - to me it's a dialog about something we both love, not an argument about who sucks and why - although they do happen, but it's usually a pretty one sided conversation about an individual, or group, bent on ripping people off with crap quality. There are those who are negative and just want to tear things down, they exist everywhere and I've learned to suss them out and just sidestep or ignore them.

And even to elaborate a touch more on my whole anti-FaceOff seeming rant, I never intended it to come off like that - it's something I do enjoy watching and talking about and there are definitely some works being made on that show I find to be just amazing to look at and have even seen a few concepts here and there I've wanted to steal to incorporate into my own designs, I just don't like the idea of televised/heavily edited competition in a field I don't feel I'm into.

I'm friends on Facebook with more random makeup artists than filmmakers, and most of them added me because they somehow found my work - again, in special effects, not as a filmmaker. I've never had a random filmmaker see my work and actually comment about how they appreciated it or anything really like that, with makeup artists, it happens quite often.

I've gotten more work as an makeup artist, I've made more money, I'm less stressed (and oddly enough I enjoy the stress of it), I enjoy the collaboration with the few folks I've done with for - to be perfectly honest, I never really had any of that as a filmmaker.

So, because of all this I'm done making movies. I always said I did it for fun and when it wasn't fun anymore, there was no point in doing it. Now I've got 3 movies all shot and mostly edited that need audio work I'll probably turn out over the next year, first being Moonshine of the Damned lined up for early October, but I've one last project that's been gnawing away at me that I'd really love to do and then just drop the whole thing.

I've had this idea for an HP Lovecraft/Alfred Hitchcock movie, the concept is continually changing, but visually I can already see it in my head. I want to create an epic looking, almost Lord of the Rings Lovecraft movie with Hitchcock cinematography and plot. It's a bit of a tall order, but I think the two can actually blend together brilliantly since both heavily feature paranoia as an overall theme in their works.

The new title to the project is The Thief of Innsmouth (tentatively, it's changed so many times already). Originally the lead was to be a Demon, as I seem to love putting Demons into movies for no good reason, I'm changing that to have a lead who's a human in order to play up the horrific elements of the good townsfolks of the mob controlled town of Innsmouth. I'll borrow a lot from The Shadow Over Innsmouth story for the setting and throw in a more of a Hitchcock twist of a case of mistaken identity as a man is hired to do something (I've no idea yet what the motivation is here) to the crime lord of Innsmouth, Cthulhu himself and weird shit like that.

It's an odd twist on the whole thing. It's an incredibly expensive endeavor - which is why this project will only be a trailer. A roughly 2 - 3 minute trailer of the most awesome, epic, mutant fish people gangster/horror movie ever. And I'm not really a Gangster movie fan, it just feels like the right element to throw in there.

I'm only looking at a 2 - 3 day shoot, as many makeup FX as I can possibly muster, which will be easy since I'm already embarking on a slowly growing line of Lovecraft inspired prosthetics - so this trailer will in fact also be a commercial for all that awesomeness as well. I'll try to do some location shooting, but possibly a lot of studio/greenscreen stuff as well since we're pretty limited for really great locations for this sort of thing.

And that's it. I'm done making movies. Next spring I'm planning on one last fake movie trailer - there's always the possibility of collaborations, but only where I'm not the one pushing the project forward on my own, I'll just be following someone else's lead.

However, there is always the slightest possibility that if the trailer turns out and I can create a brilliant script, I might try the grant thing again and that is the only way I'd ever attempt to do a movie again, none of this out of pocket shit anymore. It's just not worth it.

Norse Cthulhu Effigy

I realized I really liked simple, old, worn, kind of cruddy looking artifacts. Slightly broken, chipped and just generally used looking. Not only because it lends itself to my sometimes lazy and impatient sculpting skills, but because it tends to have an air of reality about the final pieces. That's not to say I don't care for or appreciate the hard work that goes into creating something finely detailed and pristine looking, it just all depends on the look you're going for I guess - but old and cruddy tends to be more authentic feeling.

I had already done a somewhat realistic piece of Cthulhu and even a crude Mayan Totem, and I liked the idea that perhaps other cultures had encountered Cthulhu and created their own concepts of him. It's been done before, so I don't make any claims to be it being an original idea, but it's a cool concept regardless.

I knew I wanted to make a small, more affordable item - although I'll admit it's been awhile since I've had to listen to people bitching about cost when they had no interest in buying anything in the first place - and a smaller piece as well. So what I ended up with was a Norse inspired Cthulhu effigy, I spent several days searching for examples of Norse art and found most of it was pretty simple and crude - and the rest was all modern versions and way too elaborate.

The back story of the effigy is that Vikings going on long sea journeys fearing an encounter with Cthulhu would carve these effigy that were kept on the ship as a sign of respect and would supposedly allow them to sail without fear of being destroyed by Cthulhu. I wanted it to look like it was carved in bone as well.

It's about 2" wide and 3" tall, made of resin, and while this isn't a solid plan yet, once it goes online I'm looking at $20 with a limited run of 30. Not sure exactly when it'll be on the website since I'm in the midst of updating it, but anyone interested can email me at foxhenderson @ themonkeyrodeo . com.

The Cthulhu Project

I mentioned this very briefly, and somewhat abstractly, over on The Monkey Rodeo Facebook page this week, that I was starting work on a new project (amongst many others) that very well might be the most awesome thing I've ever done.

And if I can pull this off, it will indeed be the most awesome thing. So, I'm going to officially state what this Cthulhu related project is, and it is a full foam latex Cthulhu body suit. For those of you suddenly yawned, this has never been done to my knowledge - there's been a few homemade Cthulhu cosplay costumes but they're nothing compared to what I want to do (with all due respect to the creators who must have spent a long time doing these things), I want to create a good, old fashion "guy in a monster suit" version of Cthulhu. It won't be scrapped together from random materials, it'll be a fully sculpted, moulded and cast in foam latex traditional monster suit.

Now comes the question "why?" Well, there's a lot of reasons, one being simply because I've never done something like this before and I think now's the time to give myself another push and see what happens. But the main reason is I've been finding it really difficult to draw any attention to what I do. I've done over 100 different Demon photo shoots, tried using more iconic characters in hopes someone might care - but nothing. I have to come to the conclusion I either actually suck at what I do or what I've done just isn't enough to stand out.

I'm hoping it's not that I suck at this and just the later that might be the case. I don't have hundreds or thousands to shell out on all these dodgy internet add things. I've tried Facebook and other than getting a few more likes to the page it has yet to translate to anything meaningful, like actual money being made from new customers. So, why not try this and see what happens rather then just resigning myself to whine about not being noticed.

Of course creating a custom made Cthulhu monster suit isn't going to be easy or cheap, which is why in the early part of 2014 I'm going to try another fundraiser. I'm hoping with the Cthulhu name attached it might be more visible and folks will be more interested. And every single reward will have a Cthulhu related prop to it, so you won't just be spending money for me to do a little monster in a suit project. I've already got a few related props made, so over the next couple months I'll be creating a few more just for this.

I've already got the guy in the suit already picked out, John MacDonald for those who might know him - I mean if you're going to make a human into Cthulhu, you want the biggest guy you know, right? I'll be moulding his entire body and the suit will be made bit by bit over the course of next spring/summer. Once it's done I've got a photo shoot planned, we'll be doing a commercial/video of sorts as well and it'll be a bit of a stepping stone in moving towards the Lovecraft/Hitchcock movie I want to do.

First comes the design phase, which I might be starting in the next couple weeks and looking towards how much money is raised I'm aiming for two versions, the "Modern Cthulhu" and the "Classic Cthulhu". The Modern is be the cheaper, easy to make for around $750, and be a Buffy the Vampure Slayer inspired character, not a full suit, but head, hands and feet in an actual suit. A little campier, but it'll still look cool. And the Classic being way more expensive and the full complete suit.

I'm not doing animatronics because I want this to be something that just stands on its own without group of people tied to it with cables following him around. Although I might see about rigging something simple like a lense that blinks and it would be awesome to develop something that shifts and wobbles the tentacles when he speaks. I have met a pretty good animatronics guy whose brains I might pick on this to see if there's something that can be done - and self contained, more importantly.

It'll be totally made using Monster Makers foam latex as well, I've spoken with the guy who runs Monster Makers briefly a couple times and I'm hoping this is something they might be interested in as well - not as a sponsor or anything, but just helping promote it since it will be their product on display should it get some attention.

So there it is, that's my awesome Cthulhu project. To my knowledge I've never even seen something like this in a movie - I'm not saying it HASN'T been done, just that I've never seen it or heard of it.

Cthulhu Chess Set Concepts

This is one of those ideas I'm on the fence about, should I or shouldn't I? I want to do a Cthulhu themed chess set. Yes, it's been done before so I know I'm not being totally original here - but that's kind of beside the point I think.

I'm trying to suss out if it's worth the effort or has it been done to death? I'm looking at a limited 5 set edition cast in (most likely) Aqua-Resin, it gives a nice, almost unusual fake stone feel. Estimated price will be $350 and will include a fully sculpted and appropriately themed board as well.

I'm debating on the style. Realistic and slightly abstract have been done, both to very good results. I'm not looking to one up anyone, I just wanted to attempt more functional pieces. I'm not into chess, but I know plenty who are. So my thoughts immediately turned to "what would be the best style for this?" Are people looking for such an item more interested in a semi-realistic approach or would a cartoonish, somewhat Mike Mignola-esque take on Cthulhu be interesting enough?

My concepts are rough, I think the Cartoon version will have somewhat more detail and will also be fully painted with colour variations to represent each side, whereas the Realistic will just be simple light and dark variations with some minor antiquing to bring out the details.

I might, over the next couple weeks, actually sculpt both pieces and look at this again to see what opinions might be.

For those who think $350 is too expensive for something like this, I can't help but point out the sheer amount of work involved and expense of the materials. I won't be getting rich off this. I'm aiming for somewhere below the line of the serious collection (for which this would be easily affordable) and the higher end of the casual collector (those that might not be rich, but appreciate the work that goes into something like this). If I were to do just one set, I would charge way more, but I feel that a limited edition of 5 sets is more than reasonable.

I might also make a couple sets available cast in resin, without the board, to appeal to those with are really interested but feel the price is too out of reach. Don't know for sure, I'm open to opinions on this as well.

Basically, should I do or not? Is there already enough of this kind of thing out there? Is Realistic the way to go or perhaps some want to see a different, more Cartoon approach to it? After collecting a few opinions on pricing, I feel $350 is a very fair price for this - anyone else feel different? Just thinking out loud on this for the moment, it's very possible it won't even happen if I get enough negative feedback on the idea, I don't want to do something that there's no interest in - especially something that will require this much work.

Concept: Cthulhu Chessboard

This has been done a few times already, some are just the pieces from what I've seen, some a really good and some are just decent, so I doubt I'll be setting the world on fire with this idea but I'm looking to create a very limited edition Cthulhu themed Chess set along with a board.

Right now it's in the very, very early concept stage - there's nothing even on paper yet. I do know full well if I'm going to do it, it HAS to be awesome to hold up against the work already circulating out there. My basic idea is to do all the pieces, much like the others that have been done and to do a fully sculpted chessboard as well - I've spent more time concerned about the board than the pieces themselves at the moment.

So far I haven't seen anyone who has done a full board as well - but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I just haven't seen it myself in all the searches that I've been done. I saw something that looked like a custom board, but it didn't really scream Cthulhu when I saw it, so it might have been totally unrelated and just used to show off the pieces.

It will be a non-traditional looking board, at least I'm hoping that'll be the case. The pieces will all be as uniquely styled as I can manage, using various Lovecraft creatures and my take on them - trying to keep them as close to any current ideas of how they should look as well.

I'm going to make 5 of them, cast in aqua-resin. I like the stone type feel of aqua-resin, it's feels more expensive than regular resin and actually is more expensive I believe. And if I can figure out the process, I've seen it done, 1 set in pewter - but it would be tinted pewter to make telling the side apart easier. The pewter set might not happen if I can't figure out some method of tinting, although I've seen other do it a quick search turned up nothing but a few images of it having been done. Nor do I really understand anything about the quality of tinted pewter, other than it does look nice.

The price would be expensive as well, based on the time spent, cost of materials and overall uniqueness of the final pieces and board as a sculptural piece of art, however I'm also trying to avoid overpricing. I did some looking around as well on what some others were charging, some I think were way too high considering the materials used were incredibly inexpensive, and some were very reasonable priced for the exact opposite reasons.

I'm looking for any feedback on the idea if possible. Has it already been done to death? how much is too much to charge? Is 5 sets a reasonable number for a limited edition? Concepts to avoid and ones to focus on that might not have been done yet by other artists? Anything would be appreciated at this point and I'll keep things updated as I work on the idea over the summer - I'm hoping to have them ready in the early fall.

Quasi-disturbing silicone imagery.

I was planning on keeping things simple and cheap as I'm getting deeper into the special effects for Moonshine of the Damned.There's a quick sequence where I thought having a fake hand would help things, so using material onhand (as usual) I was hoping I could manufacture a decent silicone hand for the scene.

Well, it looked alright, but I was using a really stretchy silicone and it came out like a jello hand. Too bad, bit of a waste of silicone, but  you never know what I could end up using this for. I've already re-used the alginate mould and made a clay version which I'll be making an Ultracal 30 mould of and making a latex hand instead.

The shot it's needed for is so quick and darkly lit that a latex hand will more than suffice, which is good since I've no intention of wasting time, money and material trying this again. And the Ultracal mould will yield several hands - so I can even make several and reuse them elsewhere in the series.

And here's the quasi-disturbing silicone imagery. I made up way too much silicone when I did the hand above and didn't want it to just go to waste curing in the container, so I grabbed the nearest mould and used it. What I used was the Mayan Cthulhu Totem and now I have what can only be described as possibly an ancient Mayan Cthulhu sex toy.

It actually just looks like it was made from Sculpey, but it's stretchy and wobbly and in person just kind of looks wrong.